Slashdot Mirror
R.I.P., Cape Wind (bostonglobe.com)
schwit1 quotes the Boston Globe: What a long, slow death it has been for Massachusetts's first proposed offshore wind farm. But now, its proponents are finally pulling the plug. While others in the energy industry considered the Cape Wind project dead, developer Jim Gordon didn't quit after losing power contracts he needed for financing in early 2015, or after state regulators yanked permission for a power line connection last year.
Another big blow came later in 2016 when Cape Wind foes worked their magic on Beacon Hill. They successfully lobbied lawmakers to prevent Cape Wind from benefitting from a major energy bill, one that requires utilities to buy large amounts of offshore wind. This was exactly the kind of legislation Gordon needed. But he wasn't being allowed at the party...
We're embarking on a new era. Wind turbines are on their way for deeper waters, south of Martha's Vineyard. They won't be Gordon's. But at least he can take some credit, in his defeat, for being a pioneer.
Another big blow came later in 2016 when Cape Wind foes worked their magic on Beacon Hill. They successfully lobbied lawmakers to prevent Cape Wind from benefitting from a major energy bill, one that requires utilities to buy large amounts of offshore wind. This was exactly the kind of legislation Gordon needed. But he wasn't being allowed at the party...
We're embarking on a new era. Wind turbines are on their way for deeper waters, south of Martha's Vineyard. They won't be Gordon's. But at least he can take some credit, in his defeat, for being a pioneer.
Fine. Let's give them a coal-fired plant as an alternative.
...that Jim Gordon was a wind power pioneer in addition to being the commissioner of the Gotham PD
The summary ignores the fact that the anti-wind forces were the super wealthy Dems in Martha's Vineyard who didn't want their views altered.
They're all in favor of renewables as long as someone else (you) has to deal with the negatives while they get all the benefits.
I think wind turbines are beautiful machines.Highly engineered and efficient devices that (mostly) silently turn 24/7 generating power and displacing carbon producing sources contributing to human flourishing. They are a statement that says intelligent creatures live here.
The problem is, you're giving the people the coal fired plant, when it was the politicians that screwed the people in the first place.
It's heartbreaking to watch the deep corruption in politics hold society back while doing direct harm to the citizens with their "wars" on informed personal and consensual choice and their blatant corporate fluffing.
But as long as the voters remain largely poorly educated and gullible, it's going to continue to be corrupt politicians all the way down. Sadly, the people are unable to make the connection between their voting habits and their problems. Not unwilling; unable.
And guess who controls the people's education?
Right.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
When business becomes over intrusive into our lives, who else can you turn to but the government? When business says it's more profitable to lock it's workers into a warehouse with poor ventilation and no fire safety equipment (that costs $$!), who else can you turn to but the government? When business feels they can sell you a product that they know will either kill you or it does nothing at all, and feels it's your problem for buying it, who else can you turn to but government?
Government is what it is because it's been cleaning up Capitalism's messes since we started this country.
The reoccurring cause is the whole NIMBY, because the rich didn't want their view ruined. You all do understand this isn't the view from shore they are complaining about being ruined. In nearly all the cases the wind turbines wouldn't be visible from land.
The view they are talking about being ruined is the view from their fishing boats, sail boats, and yachts 20 miles off shore.
I regularly poo poo on all things tree huggerish, but as an engineer I love wind turbines. There is enough potential wind power just off shore in the US to install 4 times the current power requirements.
Throw in Geo, Solar, and a bunch of base loading produced by coal/natural gas, nuclear, and if Elon can get them to work battery's, and basically we have enough power capacity to fulfill demand for the next several hundred years for all sectors of the economy including transportation, without ever having to import another drop of oil from overseas again.
You know, the rich Democrats who had this project shot down repeatedly really care about global warming. I mean, you wouldn't want these ugly towers to ruin their views while they're on their yacht or flying their private plane. It's understandable.
Do you have ESP?
Not sure where you got those numbers for Block Island and Cape Wind because they are not in the Wikipedia page but that page does show the cost of onshore wind to be $24 to $60 MWh ($0.03 to $0.06 per kWh) with offshore wind being about twice as expensive.
(For comparison, coal $100, natural gas $60, nuclear $95, solar PV $58. All of these are minimum costs.)
Costs are dropping rapidly for wind and solar so the original plans are out of date.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
What a pity that there are huge barriers to entry in just about every market in the world (and especially most of the ones that make you a lot of money), that the bankers went to school with the stock market traders and don't like new people, that we keep ending up with Crony Capitalism, instead of the pure as the driven snow Capitalism that so many people think should exist. And family money Really helps people get serious in business.
You sound like the scam artists that pushed the same crap back a decade ago here in Ontario. It *did* push the cost of electricity though the roof here. The situation here is now so dire that they've mandated by law that they can't cut off power in the winter, for fear of people freezing to death. This, along with what happened in Ontario is gigantic clusterfuck. Nothing more, nothing less and in both cases one would have led to higher energy prices much higher, and in the other case did lead to much higher energy prices. So much so that the government is backtracking because by june of next year it will likely cease to be an actual political party.
Om, nomnomnom...