By Diana Connett
As the new home of MASSPIRG's environmental work, Environment Massachusetts can be contacted regarding this op-ed.
Turns out Bob Dylan was right about more than he knew. The answer, my friend, actually is blowing in the wind.
When
it comes to renewable energy like wind power, Massachusetts has done
little to embrace a cleaner energy future. We are allowing old, dirty
and dangerous sources of energy to maintain their stranglehold on the
state’s power grid. It is no coincidence that almost 85 percent of the
electricity generated in Massachusetts comes from fossil fuels and more
than 10 percent from the old Pilgrim nuclear plant, while Massachusetts
consumers were handed the second-most expensive electricity rates in
the U.S. in 2005.
Worse,
prices for electricity are high and likely to continue to rise, in
large part because we continue to rely on the same old energy sources —
mostly, fossil fuels from far across the globe.
Moreover,
our dependence on fossil fuels — burning oil in Sandwich, coal in
Somerset and Salem and natural gas at plants across the region — means
we are relying on energy sources that contribute to air quality
problems in the Northeast. Some of the coal-burning power plants in
Massachusetts have been operating since the 1940s. These big polluters
jeopardize public health, putting out thousands of tons of smog and
soot pollution that triggers heart attacks, asthma attacks and
countless other respiratory problems. Electricity plants are also the
second-biggest contributor to global warming pollution in the
Northeast, meaning that they are major causes of the rising sea levels,
severe weather and species extinctions that scientists are already
observing.
To
make matters worse, the old Pilgrim nuclear plant is a public safety
menace with stores of nuclear waste sitting in “temporary” pools that
have not been disposed of since the plant opened in 1972.
In other words, we’re stuck in the past. Now, finally, we have a better choice: Cape Wind.
When
built, Cape Wind will provide approximately 75 percent of the
electricity to the Cape and Islands. The energy will come from a
non-polluting, local source and the project will position our state as
a leader on the path to a new energy future.
Cape
Wind has been under review for almost five years now. Despite the
findings of the Army Corps of Engineers that Cape Wind is good for the
environment and good for consumers, it still has not been given final
approval.
Not
only has the review process dragged on, but worse, the project has been
under attack on several fronts, from litigation to legislation. In a
closed-door deal, Sen. Theodore F. Stevens, R-Alaska, attached a rider
to the Coast Guard reauthorization bill last June that would have
killed the project. Thanks to the work of New Mexico’s Sens. Jeff
Bingaman, a Democrat, and Pete V. Domenici, a Republican, and U.S. Rep.
Charles F. Bass, R-N.H., Cape Wind narrowly escaped defeat.
We shouldn’t have to rely on elected officials from other states to defend and support this important project.
We
need our leaders to put us on a path to a new energy future. We need
them embrace this project for Massachusetts, for our environment, for
our ratepayers and for our future. There are many state legislators and
policymakers who have announced their support for the project.
Fortunately, Massachusetts U.S. Reps. Barney Frank and John W. Olver
have come out in favor of the project; however, the project is still
vulnerable to unfounded attacks, including more dark-of-night-riders in
Congress. That’s why we need the rest of our federal delegation to do
the same: Choose the future; choose Cape Wind.
In
Massachusetts, a state that imports almost all of its energy sources,
suffers from serious air-quality problems, depends on dirty and
dangerous sources of energy and pays some of the highest energy prices
in the country, many people are rightly asking: How can we solve our
energy crisis? The answer begins with building Cape Wind.
Diana Connett is an energy associate at MassPIRG.
