L E T T E R S
ENERGY APPEAL

(The following letter was originally sent to Rep. William Delahunt, and is reprinted here at the author's request.)

Dear Congressman Delahunt, I am the chapter director of Clean Power Now Nantucket. I spoke with members of your staff today who were on island to hold office hours. Thank you for taking the time to hear islanders' concerns about current issues.

I wanted to briefly touch on some points regarding the Cape Wind energy project:

1) Mark Forest has said that you are concerned about the developer getting a "no bid" deal for Horseshoe Shoal. Any developer is welcome to propose an energy project. The MMS is developing guidelines for alternative energy uses on the Outer Continental Shelf. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 grants federal authority to lease Horseshoe Shoal to the developer and provide 26 percent of that lease payment back to the residents of our state.

2) I personally visited offshore wind parks in Nysted and Blavand, Denmark in May of 2005. Shallow water technology is proven in Europe with no operational problems reported after 15 years of experience. Shallow water technology should be applied first on Horseshoe Shoal as deep water technology is still 15-20 years away and prohibitively expensive. While in Denmark, the world leader in wind energy, I found no evidence of problems with the environment, tourism and real estate values among others.

3) Currently there is a nasty war going on in Iraq to control the second largest oil reserves on the planet in my opinion (150 billion barrels estimated). We all know how terrible this war has turned out to be. No Iraqi oil is needed to run offshore wind turbines.

4) The design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of wind turbines will create jobs in your district. Quincy has huge potential for development with its old shipyard buildings and deep water port capability. Barnstable can host maintenance ships and personnel in addition to the operations center for the plant itself. Governor Patrick has recognized this economic potential and supports Cape Wind.

5) After years of review the Cape Wind project has endured the closest scrutiny of any power plant ever proposed in this country. In light of recent news about climate change the public benefits of wind energy far outweigh the drawbacks. Let the project be judged on its merits and it will pass the tests.

With all due respect, Congressman Delahunt, you should reconsider your opposition to this viable renewable energy project. A large majority of Massachusetts residents support Cape Wind. It is the right project in the right place at the right time.

Sincerely yours,

- Carl K. Borchert