I have been hearing a lot of new voices speaking passionately about the need to protect Cape’s groundwater and the integrity of the natural resources of Nantucket Sound. On the surface that’s great, as we need more people to speak up for the environment. That said, I find a lot of what I am hearing of late reflect canned talking points from the fossil fuel interests.
New organizations, masquerading as environmentalists, have been created to galvanize opposition to low carbon energy sources. These organizations are feeding an unsuspecting public talking points intended to be repeated because they leverage real fears. In this case, their target are the cables from offshore wind coming ashore on Cape Cod.
According to this PR campaign, these cable landings and their associated infrastructure pose unique and unacceptable threats to the environment of Cape Cod. What is missing from the arguments against the substation being proposed to connect the wind power to the grid is the reality of actual lived experience.
There are 15 substations already on Cape Cod and transformers through neighborhoods from Bourne to Provincetown, both on the ground and on poles. Each of these represents a small threat to groundwater that we should justifiably be concerned about, although there are no known cases of groundwater contamination from substation leaks. The groundwater protections proposed for the new substation are better than any of the existing stations. Despite the improved protections offered in the new substation spill containment, the conversation remains focused on efforts to stop the newest and most well-designed of these facilities from being built.
Being against the new thing without addressing the problems and threats to groundwater more broadly is a clear indication that this effort is about stopping a project instead of addressing an issue of broad concern like groundwater protection. Were the substation issue to have merit, the focus should on be calling for enhanced groundwater protection by upgrading existing electric substation spill containment, for increased land protection and open space acquisition to protect remaining habitat and groundwater quality, the replacement of polluting septic systems with municipal wastewater infrastructure, or a myriad of other protective steps that anyone serious about groundwater protection would be promoting.
The same inconsistencies exist when it comes to the alleged harm caused by the cable landings connecting the windfarms to the grid. The opposition against seabed disruption seems only to apply to windfarm cables. No similar concerns were voiced about the potential damage done by the five existing cables that supply electricity from the Cape mainland to the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
If it were really about resource protection, these same voices should be yelling for faster sewering and more resource restoration work to improve coastal water resources. APCC spends a lot of time on the ground on these issues and many of the most outspoken opponents of the cable landings have been largely silent in promoting the measures and public expenditures that would provide real environmental protection.
I am left to conclude that many, but not all, of the voices against the wind-related transmission facilities reflect a brief and cynical embrace of environmentalism. It is easy to get people to oppose something when someone invests a lot of energy into convincing them it’s bad for their families. It is more challenging to get people to work toward improvements in the environment the benefit us all, especially if that benefit is indirect. The cynical hijacking of environmentalism to defeat advances in environmental protection may make for good talk radio and boost social media profiles, but it is not about what is best for Cape Cod.
I hope to be proven wrong that the goal here is not for a group of people to stop a project and then walk away from speaking about the environment. If you think this assessment if unfair, then prove me wrong. Speak up for increased land conservation, improve your personal yard management practices by eliminating fertilizer and pesticide use and by planting more native plants, cancel scheduled mosquito and tick spraying that kills beneficial pollinators as well, or push your town to invest in water quality.
Being against wind energy does not make you a champion of the environment. Be for something, and put your energy toward leveraging real environmental improvement.
