Amendment Threatens Cape Wind Project

Author: Austen Levihn-Coon

A four-year-old battle over the construction of the United States' first offshore wind project comes to the forefront this week as Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) proposes an amendment that would prohibit the construction of any major offshore wind farms within one and a half nautical miles of a commercial shipping lane. Young introduced the amendment, which has come to be known as the "Young Amendment," in the Coast Guard Reauthorization Bill in Conference Committee. If passed, this amendment would indefinitely stall the controversial Cape Wind project off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass.

The amendment Rep. Young proposes is based off of a recent report in the United Kingdom that addresses the issue of offshore wind farms as safety hazards for marine navigational radar. However, this report calls for a buffer zone of only 500 meters, about one third of a nautical mile, nowhere near Rep. Young's proposed one and a half mile buffer. The UK report also stresses making case-by-case decisions on wind installations, however Young's amendment would prohibit all wind installations in the buffer zone, taking away the authority from the Coast Guard to review any other proposed offshore wind projects within a mile and a half of a shipping lane. In comparison to this proposal, offshore oil and gas rigs need only be 500 feet from a shipping lane. In Denmark, an offshore wind farm sits only _ of a mile from a busy shipping channel and there have been no reports of problems with sea navigation.

While the issue of Cape Wind has been somewhat controversial, many Middlebury students and faculty have not hesitated to participate in efforts to support it. Led by Assistant Professor of Economics Jon Isham and Scholar in Residence Bill McKibben students and community members have called Senators to voice their concerns about the "Young Amendment." Many have also signed a letter sent to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. voicing frustration about his opposition to this renewable energy project as a leading Senate environmentalist.

Together with other prominent Cape Cod residents, the normally environmentally-conscious Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) has also opposed the wind farm for its proximity to homes on the Cape. These opposition efforts have been centralized under the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. The alliance has spent large sums under pretenses of protecting local marine wildlife and fishing communities. Now, with the Young Amendment in the works, this lobby has formed an unholy alliance with supporters of oil and gas companies as they try to block the construction of the Cape Wind project. The unfortunate result may be that a key stepping stone in the United States' effort to reduce its dangerous dependence on oil will fall by the wayside.