NIMBY concerns and renewable energy

nulcear plant at Cattenom, France

Danish wind farm near Copenhagen

All offshore wind farms plagued by NIMBY concerns

Cape Wind: to be or not to be?

saveoursound.org

view from Craigville…

capewind.org

view from Nantucket

capewind.org

Cape Wind-project of Cape Wind Associates proposed in 2000-130 turbines at 3.6MW each-hub height = 95m-blade diameter = 111m-total farm capacity = 454MW-electricity for 420,000 homes (75% of Cape’s needs)

PROS - 50% of Cape electricity currently generated by Canal Power Plant,

which burns natural gas and crude oil- avoid future oil spills

1976 spill 7.7 million gallons, 2003 spill 98,000 gallons-clean, carbon-free source of electricity-excellent wind resources in Nantucket Sound

SUPPORTED BYMassachusetts Audubon Society (but need more study)81% of Mass residents; 61% of Cape Cod residentscurrent MA governor; legislatureenvironmental groups; organized labor (jobs)

CONS- impacts on tourism, fishing, and shipping non-zero- bad precedent for federal control of public lands for corporate profit

OPPOSED BYgroup of residents who own seaside property (Kennedy compoundwithin view of the wind farm)fishermanIndian tribes

Permitting history2001: Cape Wind applies to Army Corp of Engineers for permit

ACE produces Environmental Impact Statement, which underwent extensive review

2005: federal Energy Bill transfers permitting authority to Minerals Management Service (MMS), Dept. of Interior

Apr 2006: Sen. Kennedy inserts language into a Coast Guard bill to allow MA governor (Romney, opposed to Cape Wind) to veto the project; bill never goes anywhere

Jan. 2008: MMS Environment Impact Statement released; approvalgranted, Cape Wind pursues final financing

May 2009: MA Energy Facilities Siting Board grants permit

late 2009 to present: 2 Cape Indian tribes holding up construction with claim to add Nantucket sound to list of historical sites

Apr 14, 2010: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar predicted to rule on Cape Wind permit

What about solar?-California court rules against homeowner who had unauthorized solar panels on his roof (Nov, 2009)-Sen. Diane Feinstein proposes a bill to make CA sections of Mojave desert a national monument (Dec 2009)

Background:-in 2004, conservancy group orchestrated sale of private lands to government for discounted rate-2005: Energy Policy Act, Bush declares most federal lands open to energy projects that do not involve mining; permitting runs through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)-2010: 14 solar and 5 wind projects proposed for Mojave

Permits will be evaluated over the next 2 years…

"If we cannot put solar power plants in the Mojave desert, I don't know where the hell we can put it,"

--Gov. Schwarzenegger

Yucca Mountain: Nuclear Waste NIMBY

-billions of dollars go into researching possibility of storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

-Bush administration supports using Yucca Mtn.

-Obama administration opposes Yucca Mtn. waste facility

Nevada residents