Washington, United States —
International environmental group Greenpeace began airing television ads in Massachusetts today targeting Rep. William Delahunt and Sen. Edward Kennedy. The lawmakers continue to oppose the Cape Wind project, to be sited in Nantucket Sound off of Cape Cod, which is slated to be the first offshore wind energy installation in the United States. The ads will air this week and next, and again the week of September 10, to set the record straight after a misleading radio ad campaign by Cape Wind opponents
“As the birthplace of American independence, Massachusetts finds itself in a position to again spark revolution, this time in the fight for independence from dirty and dangerous energy,” said Greenpeace global warming campaigner Katherine Smolski. “Our elected leaders owe future generations of Americans the chance to escape the climate crisis and breathe clean air. That is why Senator Kennedy and Representative Delahunt should no longer cater to the interests of the wealthy few and fully support the Cape Wind project,” she continued.
Having already passed the Commonwealth’s environmental impact review, the Army Corps of Engineers review, and been certified as having no significant impact on the marine environment, navigational safety and shipping lanes, the Cape Wind project has endured an approval process lasting over six years. Public desire for action on global warming prevented Sen. Kennedy from killing the project through a backdoor deal brokered with Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, in part stoked by a Greenpeace television spot exposing Kennedy’s hypocrisy. The wind turbines would be within eyesight of the Kennedy compound and the homes of other wealthy residents. One further step in the approval process, the publication of the federal draft environmental impact statement by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Mineral Management Service (MMS) is expected this fall.
“Cape Wind’s opponents have been misleading the public about the impacts the project will have on the economy and environment of the Cape and Islands. A clean energy project that would provide 75 percent of the electricity needs of the Cape and Islands is the answer,” added Smolski. “These leaders know that global warming could eventually put the Massachusetts coast under water; protecting the view from the Kennedy compound is not the leadership that neither Massachusetts nor the United States needs,” she concluded.
Greenpeace members and supporters of the Cape Wind project will be attending public meetings in the coming months to show that citizens stand on the side of common sense and sound science in making Massachusetts a leader in renewable energy. The Greenpeace ads airing in the coming weeks will direct viewers to a website where citizens can take action and support a clean energy future for the Commonwealth.
