Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound
Encyclopedia
The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit self-styled environmental organization dedicated to the opposition of the Cape Wind
project and to the long-term preservation of Nantucket Sound. Alliance membership and allies include wealthy residents of Cape Cod, executives in fossil fuel industries, some local towns, Chambers of Commerce, several environmental groups, many fishing and recreation groups, and public figures including billionaire oil heir William Koch, former mining executive Doug Yearley, former candidate for U.S. President and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney
, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy
, Attorney General Tom Reilly
, and Congressman Bill Delahunt
. Its current president is Charles McLaughlin of Harwich. Among its directors have been Dan Wolf
, President and CEO of airline Cape Air
, along with former candidate for Massachusetts governor and convenience store baron Christy Mihos
(source: public records at the Massachusetts Division of Corporations).
wind farm in Nantucket Sound called Cape Wind
. It suffered a setback in 2003 when its spokesperson, retired news anchor Walter Cronkite
in a change of heart, requested that all of his ads in support of The Alliance be pulled, and said he would withhold further judgement until an environmental impact statement is complete.
The Alliance supports wind power as an energy source, and promotes many forms of renewables. However, the organization is opposed the proposed wind power plant in Nantucket Sound due to potential adverse economic, environmental, and visual impacts (the turbines would be easily seen from most Alliance members' residences), as well as the lack of an appropriate review and permitting process and the absence of federal guidelines for offshore wind energy development.
has a business empire based on oil refining.http://www.a3.org/koch_full_bio.html Some of the other members have coastal properties with a direct view of Cape Wind
's future site and consider the windmills an eyesore. That has led at least one environmental group, Greenpeace
(which supports the project), to believe that the Alliance to protect Nantucket sound is just a front group for wealthy landowners who don’t care about environmental issues and do not want to have to look at windmills from their houses on Martha’s Vineyard.http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/copy-of-wind-power/in-support-of-cape-wind/greenpeace-support-s-cape-wind
Cape Wind
The Cape Wind Project is an approved offshore wind farm, on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, proposed by a private developer, Cape Wind Associates, the brainchild of Jim Gordon and a Limited Liability Company set up as a joint business venture...
project and to the long-term preservation of Nantucket Sound. Alliance membership and allies include wealthy residents of Cape Cod, executives in fossil fuel industries, some local towns, Chambers of Commerce, several environmental groups, many fishing and recreation groups, and public figures including billionaire oil heir William Koch, former mining executive Doug Yearley, former candidate for U.S. President and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
, Attorney General Tom Reilly
Thomas Reilly
Thomas F. Reilly is an American attorney and politician who served as the 45th Massachusetts Attorney General. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts to Irish immigrant parents....
, and Congressman Bill Delahunt
Bill Delahunt
William D. Delahunt is a former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1997 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Delahunt did not seek re-election in 2010, and left Congress in January 2011. He was replaced by Norfolk County District Attorney Bill Keating...
. Its current president is Charles McLaughlin of Harwich. Among its directors have been Dan Wolf
Dan Wolf
Daniel A. Wolf is a Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate representing the Cape and Islands district. Wolf is a resident of Harwich and has served in the Senate since January 2011...
, President and CEO of airline Cape Air
Cape Air
Hyannis Air Service, Inc., operating as Cape Air, is an airline headquartered at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. It operates scheduled passenger services in the Northeast, Florida, the Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic States, Midwest, and Micronesia...
, along with former candidate for Massachusetts governor and convenience store baron Christy Mihos
Christy Mihos
Christy P. Mihos is an American politician and businessman from the U.S. commonwealth of Massachusetts. He was an Independent candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 2006 and ran again as a Republican in the 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial election...
(source: public records at the Massachusetts Division of Corporations).
History
The Alliance was formed in 2001 to oppose a proposal to build a 130 turbine renewable energyRenewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
wind farm in Nantucket Sound called Cape Wind
Cape Wind
The Cape Wind Project is an approved offshore wind farm, on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, proposed by a private developer, Cape Wind Associates, the brainchild of Jim Gordon and a Limited Liability Company set up as a joint business venture...
. It suffered a setback in 2003 when its spokesperson, retired news anchor Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
in a change of heart, requested that all of his ads in support of The Alliance be pulled, and said he would withhold further judgement until an environmental impact statement is complete.
Position
The stated goal of the Alliance is to protect Nantucket Sound in perpetuity through conservation, environmental action, and opposition to inappropriate industrial or commercial development that would threaten or negatively alter the coastal ecosystem. The Alliance supports formal designation of Nantucket Sound as a marine protected area. In a candid moment, however, Alliance sponsor Bill Koch confided "I was telling one of my guys when this [wind farm] first came up, 'I wish I'd thought of this!' But as a businessman, I said I wouldn't have put it in my backyard -- I would have put it in someone else's backyard!"The Alliance supports wind power as an energy source, and promotes many forms of renewables. However, the organization is opposed the proposed wind power plant in Nantucket Sound due to potential adverse economic, environmental, and visual impacts (the turbines would be easily seen from most Alliance members' residences), as well as the lack of an appropriate review and permitting process and the absence of federal guidelines for offshore wind energy development.
Criticism
While The Alliance to protect Nantucket sound is an environmental organization, some note that its co-chairman Bill KochBill Koch (businessman)
William Ingraham "Bill" Koch is an American businessman, sailor, and collector. His boat was the winner of the America's Cup in 1992. His last name is pronounced "coke." Per Forbes William Koch's net worth was $3.4 billion in 2010 on oil and other investments-Early life and business...
has a business empire based on oil refining.http://www.a3.org/koch_full_bio.html Some of the other members have coastal properties with a direct view of Cape Wind
Cape Wind
The Cape Wind Project is an approved offshore wind farm, on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, proposed by a private developer, Cape Wind Associates, the brainchild of Jim Gordon and a Limited Liability Company set up as a joint business venture...
's future site and consider the windmills an eyesore. That has led at least one environmental group, Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
(which supports the project), to believe that the Alliance to protect Nantucket sound is just a front group for wealthy landowners who don’t care about environmental issues and do not want to have to look at windmills from their houses on Martha’s Vineyard.http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/copy-of-wind-power/in-support-of-cape-wind/greenpeace-support-s-cape-wind
External links
- Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound
- Cape Wind Project Page
- Draft Environmental Impact Statement - Produced by the US Army Corps of Engineers
- Comments on the DEIS - Nearly 5,000 Written Comments
- Windstop.org anti-wind project group
- Clean power Now pro-wind project group
- OffshoreWind.net- Offshore Wind energy information
- Wind Over Water - a documentary film about the Cape Wind Project by Ole Tangen Jr.