[MassHistPres] Wind Power Bait and Switch

Mon Aug 2 09:58:16 EDT 2010

And consequently individual freedom is all the more valuable.  One of
the things that history teaches us (he said, trying to wrap the day's
smelly fish paper around the scattered pieces of the argument) is that
nothing useful or important-i.e., the actions which benefit the greatest
number of people in the long run-can happen without painful compromise,
unfair injury to some who do not deserve injury, and unfair benefit to
some who do not need further benefit.  That is always the cost.

The perfect is the enemy-the implacable arch-enemy-of the good.  The
perfect is also impossible.  So, if we want the good, we have to endure
the imperfections it inevitably contains.

And it's only Monday.  Sheesh.

Jonathan Tucker

Planning Director

Amherst Planning Department

4 Boltwood Avenue, Town Hall

Amherst, MA  01002

(413) 259-3040

tuckerj at amherstma.gov    

From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Sam Bird
Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2010 10:05 AM
To: Carol
Cc: masshistpres Members
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Wind Power Bait and Switch

You probably haven't heard comments here because this is not the
appropriate forum for discussions related solely to PPA's and rate
structures for public utilities. This forum did have a discussion about
the declaration of 560 SM of Nanatucket Sound as eligible for the Nation
List  and that was appropriate as it had to do with Historic
Preservation. 

The interface of Renewable Energy and Historic Preservation is a
fascinating area for study - one in which to goals of each can be
directly at odds, in perfect harmony, or anywhere in between. Throw
politics, economics, climate change, and nimby-ism into the mix and it
gets really exciting.

That said, since the seal has been broken, the issue of the cost of
renewable energy is quite simple - for quite a while, given the way we
measure cost, it will be more "expensive" than fossil fuel. But then, is
the cost of fighting a war to "stabilize" oil producing areas of the
world figured in? Is the probable future escalation of fossil fuel price
figured in? Is the cost of the damage of increasingly intense weather
events figured in? As oil gets more difficult to find is the cost of
future Deepwater Horizons figured in? Are the health costs of decreasing
air quality figured in? Ask Messrs. Tuerck and Haughton.

The analogy is this: If you sent your husband to the market to get
something for dinner and he returned with a 5# bag of sugar you might
ask why, and he might say "Well, I looked at everything in the market
and this gave me the best price in terms of Calories per Dollar." That
may be true, but there are a few other things to consider when planning
a meal.  Organic food, local food, quality food usually costs more - but
an increasing number of people are deciding it's worth the cost.  With
the global effects of energy however, it is not a personal health
choice, as with food. The production of the energy each of us consumes
has an effect on everyone else on the planet - so this becomes an issue
of public policy and environmental justice, not an individual health
choice. The Cape Wind opponents have weighed the issue and decided their
viewsheds are more important than the public policy benefits of
renewable energy - everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Here's a thought to ponder:   Freedom is inversely proportional to
population. 

Samuel Bird AIA

Concord, MA

On Jul 30, 2010, at 6:58 PM, Carol wrote:

Friends:

I'm quite surprised that I haven't heard comment here about the July 28,
2010, OPINION artical in the Globe entitled "The great wind power bait
and switch".    It was written by 2 Suffolk University economic
professors (David G Tuerck and Jonathan Haughton) and describes the huge
differences between what Cape Wind told us the cost to users would be
(save $25 million a year), and what the actual cost might be.
"Ratepayers could end up paying $82 million annually more than what they
currently pay".   Rather than give you all the details here, I have
pasted a link to the Globe article below.  It's well worth reading.  (I
understand money and costs in not what we usually write about here, but
this info is a big part of the overall picture of this Cape Wind
project!)

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/0
7/28/the_great_wind_power_bait_and_switch/

Carol M Carlson

Bedford, MA

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