[MassHistPres] Wind Power Bait and Switch

Thu Aug 5 14:51:01 EDT 2010

To Mr. Kelman et al:    

Dr. Louis DeVorsey, a historical geographer, did  conclude that Nantucket 
Sound was part of an "amphibious resource region"  because of the "intimate 
relationship" between the inhabitants of the area and  the surrounding 
waters. By this Dr. DeVorsey meant essentially [475 U.S. 89,  101] that the 
residents took their livelihood from the  sea.  

Heritage trades continue where Cape Wind has proposed,  in advance of ocean 
zoning, their project.  Nantucket Sound  is where (3) Sovereign Nations' 
fishing fleets continue to rely  on this "amphibious resource region".  A 
Limited Liability  Corporation, Cape Wind, threatens more than 10,000 years  of 
this "intimate relationship".  

When Secretary Salazar visited with the Tribes on  February 2, 2010, for a 
formal Section 106 Consultation, Cheryl  Andrews-Maltais Chairwoman of the 
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) said in  my presence:

"The idea of blasting our ancients' remains is  repugnant."

I have provided the Tribes with a  successful parallel law suit that 
addresses issues of Sacred Land, from which I  quote:    

"...In 1990 the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation  Act 
(NAGPRA), was passed. In 1992 NHPA was amended again, to expand federal  agency 
responsibilities and establish programs for supporting tribal historic  
preservation programs. National Register Bulletin 38 (1990:10) says that "the  
integrity of a traditional cultural property must be considered with 
reference  to the views of traditional practitioners; if its integrity has not been 
lost in  their eyes, it probably has sufficient integrity to justify 
further evaluation."  

The American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) expresses the strong  
federal public trust policy in favor of respecting the traditional religious  
beliefs and practices Native Americans. AIRFA provides for the protection and 
 preservation of traditional religions of Native Americans.

On and after  August 11, 1978, it shall be the policy of the United States 
to protect and  preserve for American Indians their inherent right of 
freedom to believe,  express, and exercise the traditional religions of the 
American Indian, Eskimo,  Aleut, and Native Hawaiians, including but not limited 
to access to sites, use  and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to 
worship through ceremonials  and traditional rites...."  
Bless the wisdom, fidelity and bravery of the  Massachusetts State Historic 
Preservation Officer, the Advisory Council for  Historic Preservation, the 
Federally Recognized Tribes (26) opposed, the  National Trust for Historic 
Preservation, the National Parks Service and the  Keeper all on record 
opposed to Cape Wind siting in Nantucket Sound.   
As to the suggestion we make a "sacrifice for the  greater good"... 
The effective Cape Wind PR team  boasts that Cape Wind will reduce our 
dependency on foreign  oil, yet without evidence.  Wind energy is as  
intermittent as the wind.  There is no battery storage system in  existance that 
addresses this problem.  And, wind does not  require just "backup." Rather, it 
requires a vast array of proactive  complementary power and 
transmission/voltage regulation at all times and across  the full array of its rated capacity. 
And it's when it blows in the right speed  range that the real problems 
occur with wind technology, since it's the  relentless variability of wind that 
destabilizes the grid, causing it to work  much more inefficiently to 
balance the wind flux, in the process increasing  costs and thermal emissions. 
Wind is a tail-wagging-the-dog technology.   Wind energy makes everything and 
everyone work much harder just to stay in  place. 

There is no empirical evidence anywhere that wind, at  any level of 
penetration, is anything but dysfunctional to the process of  getting reliable, 
affordable, secure electricity, particularly in the context of  
social/political goals of decreased consumption of fossil fuels and reduced CO2  emissions. 
 Wind turbines require massive amounts of steel and  concrete. 
Metallurgical plants account for about 20% of all air  pollution.  Wind turbines are 
primarily made in China.  The  offshore U.K. Gabbard project installed half of 
its 140 foundations due  to 30 vessel trips, with their harmful emissions, 
from China to the  UK.  China is the country of origin for Cape Wind monopile 
 foundations.  And, while we spin our wheels in the context of the 
reduction  of harmful emissions, with no potential reduction of dependency on 
foreign  countries for oil, we create another dependency on foreign countries for 
rare  earth minerals, such as China.  

"Neodymium: This represents a main  component of the permanent magnets at 
the heart of the most efficient wind  turbines. China’s own wind production 
efforts could consume all the available  neodymium production and leave 
nothing for the rest of the world’s booming wind  industry, Lifton notes in a 
recent report titled “The Rare Earth Crisis of  2009.” Neodymium is also used 
in the glass of incandescent light bulbs produced  by General Electric, 
which has unsurprisingly invested in both Chinese and  alternative sources of 
rare earth elements..."   
_http://criticalcommodities.com/blog/2010/02/27/shortage-of-rare-earth-eleme
nts-could-thwart-innovation-325th-edition/_ 
(http://criticalcommodities.com/blog/2010/02/27/shortage-of-rare-earth-elements-could-thwart-innovation-325t
h-edition/)  
New York Times 
China Weighs Tighter Controls on Rare  Elements 
By DAVID BARBOZA
Published: June 2, 2010
_http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/business/energy-environment/03rare.html?_
r=1_ 
(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/business/energy-environment/03rare.html?_r=1)  
Indeed, David Kelman.  Conservation measures should  be our primary focus.  

Most Respectfully,  
Barbara Durkin 
Northboro, MA  01532
Nominator of Nantucket Sound to the National Trust for  Historic 
Preservation for their consideration of this Place as one of America's  11 Most 
Endangered Historic Places  

> On Aug 3, 2010, at 10:19 AM, Dgkalman4 at cs.com  wrote:
>
>> Maybe I am being a little bit niave,but has anybody  looked into how 
energy
>> conservation would factor into the equation?  While things such more
>> efficient heating systems insulated building  and similar actions might 
not reduce
>> the need for projects such as  the wind farm, but it might allow for a 
smaller
>> and presumably less  controversial project
>>
>> David Kelman
>> 9 Crown  Street
>> Milton,Ma.02186
>> (617) 296 1246
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