LETTERS
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PAVING ISLAND NOT THE ANSWER

To the editor:

I read with interest Grant Sanders' recent column on the unfortunate mindset of the Planning Board to require developers to pave roads as a condition of seeking development approval, with seemingly little consideration given as to whether the road should be paved at all.

This happened on the road we live on - Warren's Landing Road - a few years ago, when a few houses were built in a "subdivision" to the east of us. Sure enough, a section of Warrens Landing Road, which leads down to Madaket Harbor and connects with Eel Point Road, had to be paved. Now it appears that the paving threat is coming from the other direction, down Eel Point Road, if the articles I read are true about another section of that road being paved as a condition of granting development approval.

The analogy came to mind of a diabetic, who progressively loses first a toe, then a foot, and then the leg. Is it really the Planning Board's position that all of Nantucket should be paved?

This gets into another issue, which is the plan of the Planning Board to transfer private roads such as Warren's Landing Road, Eel Point Road, and Squam Road from private to public ownership. Speaking personally, I would be much more sympathetic to these efforts if I did not have the concern that paving would inexorably follow. I think the Planning Board needs to open a dialogue with the residents of Nantucket as to what they want the Island to look like, and how to maintain the uniqueness that brought people here in the first place.

- John Lamb KUDOS

To the editor:

I'd like to compliment you on the August 8 issue of The Independent. The coverage of local issues such as the landfill operation, detailed guide to the various beaches and the timely reporting of the recent lightning storm were all very informative. I just wanted you to know that at least one reader is thankful for your existence and look forward to future publications for many years to come.

Keep up the good work!

- Ed Hickey

WINDY FIGURES

To the editor:

Mass. Maritime Academy's wind turbine saves the Academy $300,000 annually. Visible from the Bourne Bridge, it is also an inspiration as its graceful blades rotate slowly, producing electricity without creating harmful emissions from oil or another fossil fuel. At 250 feet high, this first state-owned commercial-sized wind turbine's output averages 170 kilowatts, powered by strong steady winds off Buzzards Bay.

In New England, oil (our most expensive fuel per unit of electrical output) fuels 24 percent of installed generating capacity. Oil costs 7 cents a kilowatt hour, while wind's "fuel" cost is zero. Cape Wind will generate 1.6 million megawatt hours of electricity per year, constricting polluting oil's use. Over the project's life, health care costs will be cut by a half billion dollars and 120 lives will be saved. Cape Wind will also annually reduce imported oil by 2 million barrels (equal to taking 175,000 cars off the road) and cut a million tons of Global Warming causing carbon dioxide and 9,600 tons of sulfur dioxide.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a Renewable Electricity Standard which, when passed by the Senate, will require electricity generators to produce 15 percent of their power from renewable sources (primarily wind) by 2020. Massachusetts already has a similar program, but it peaks at 4 percent in 2009.

The House also passed legislation to support research into better batteries for plug-in hybrid vehicles and up to $4,000 tax credit for purchasing them, while the Senate version provides loan guarantees and other assistance for hybrid car technology. I look forward to an American plug-in hybrid car being available. Then we can recharge its battery with cheap Cape Wind electricity, supporting our troops by cutting Middle East oil imports.

Cape Wind will save lives, reduce Global Warming, support American industry and cut our electricity costs - a great result!

- Jim Liedell