Cape Wind will proceed!

From the Union of Concerned Scientists email I received:

In March, a last-minute, special
interest provision was added to the Coast Guard bill that would have
given the Governor of Massachusetts-an outspoken opponent of Cape
Wind-the arbitrary authority to veto it.

Thankfully, new language has now been accepted to this bill that will
allow Cape Wind to proceed while the Coast Guard retains the
authority to ensure that the turbines pose no threat to navigation.


Ted Kennedy was the one who made the change, so Gov Mitt "Good hair & teeth is all I need to be President" Romney won't have veto power.

because shipping lanes and even small boat passage have to be protected.

The generators will be atop shoals, as I understand it, so they'd be a very convenient marker for both. There is nothing more hideous than the sound of a keel scraping something you didn't know was there because the chart was incomplete. Been there, done that.

If I still lived there, I wouldn't mind looking at them. Pictures of what the project will look like are at http://www.capewind.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=9&page=1
The Craigville picture is the one closest to what Kennedy will see from his summer home.

I can see. living with an amateur astronomer, I have gotten very sensitive to night time light pollution

Light pollution is the least of an amateur astronomer's worries. Three seasons of the year, there's generally a huge fog bank just offshore. It comes rolling on in most nights, rendering telescopes useless for both stargazing and looking for boats coming in. During the winter, it's quite a bit clearer, but it's bitter and not terribly conducive to being out with a telescope. It's been done in the late 1800s from Nantucket, but Cape Cod isn't one of your prime areas for stargazing.

The light pollution is probably going to consist of red aircaft lights on the tops of the poles, not terribly bright but enough to ward off small, low flying aircraft.

adapted eyes

good point about the weather too

The UCS stated they generated 48,000 phone calls, emails, and mailings on this issue, presumably many of them heading Kennedy's way.

With the proposed BUzzard's Bay wind project Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard could essentially generate all their energy use via wind.

That said, the B's Bay project is much trickier compared to Cape Wind due to siting issues and ship traffic. Of course, since that project is located next to the fairly poor communities of New Bedford, Fall River, etc, Mitt Romney and other politicians are all for it.

only that the gov won't have veto power. It still has to be approved by the legislature (and coast guard). Definitely a victory of sorts, but the project itself is not yet approved.