Politics, Energy, Vested Interests, Consumers Come Last

Keep watching the unfolding saga of wind energy, Boston-style to see if the consumer (you) wins in this deal.

It's interesting that those who protest the potential of some to profit, were silent when a Republican

Congress repealed PUHCA which prohibited foreigners from owning utilities, inter alia.

Were it not for the wealthy few who have fought Cape Wind, this would have/should have been a done deal by now.

Other states will move ahead, as they already have, while the few wealthy stifle wind development to preserve their ocean view in the Commonwealth. Other states are offering low interest loans, grants and incentives. And Massachusetts?

And Middleboro remains in the Dark Ages with no energy policy beyond pass it along to the taxpayer.

Rigging in the wind

By Peter Kenney The smart money knew the fix was in two years ago when word started circulating that construction mogul Jay Cashman would move to erect a 120-unit wind farm in Buzzards Bay. Cashman’s proposal meant building entirely within state waters. And since, at that point, Cape Wind’s Jim Gordon had been jumping through million-dollar hoops for four years to avoid siting any of his 130 wind turbines where the Commonwealth would have the power to deny his application, the Cashman deal smacked of old fashioned Boston politics...rigged. CCT

Has anyone heard 'Energy' mentioned in Middleboro?

Northampton ranks No. 1 in state survey
Posted by The Republican Newsroom November 24, 2007 15:22PM
By FRED CONTRADA

NORTHAMPTON - For the fourth consecutive year, Northampton has earned the highest score on a state report card that measures community commitment to sustainability and smart growth. The city scored 131 out of a possible 140 points on the Commonwealth Capital Application, which assesses commitment to protecting open space, promoting clean energy, expanding housing opportunities and other topics related to sustaining quality of life and preserving the environment. The town of Barnstable on Cape Cod had the next highest score, 117. Wayne M. Feiden, the city's planning director, said Northampton's high achievement on the test has the practical benefit of pushing it to the front of the line for state funding. The city recently received a $470,000 Self Help grant from the state to help it purchase 72 acres of open space near the Mineral Hills Conservation Area and Feiden said that its high ranking in the Commonwealth Capital program accounted for 40 percent of its score on the competitive Self Help application. Its high marks have also benefited the city in applying for development money for the Village Hill Northampton project, he said.

Group opposing wind farm off Cape saw big drop in contributions in '06
By Stephanie Ebbert
Globe Staff / November 25, 2007
Times are tight for opponents of a Nantucket Sound wind farm: Last year, contributions to the cause were less than half the amounts raised in each of the two prior years.
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The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the group fighting the development of a 130-turbine wind farm off the Cape and Islands, raised little more than $2 million in 2006, according to federal tax filings required of the nonprofit and submitted this month.
on legal fees, and $126,072 on travel costs. BOSTON GLOBE