The Cape Wind Decision

Just like the wind that is a nearly constant presence on the Island — it rattled the windows of gray-shingled houses this week with cold spring gusts that felt more like early March than late April — the debate over Cape Wind has blown in and out of the Cape and Islands for nine years.

And it certainly has been nine long years. Years of information (perhaps enough to reach all the way across the commonwealth if laid end to end), governmental review (no doubt enough hours of public hearings to fill a year’s worth of television programming), public opinion (wide-ranging and thoughtful), money spent (millions), and last but never least, politics (enough said).

Finally on Wednesday federal Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar spoke, giving Cape Wind Associates the backing of the United States of America as the first commercial offshore wind farm in the country.

And whether you are for or against Cape Wind, there is no dispute about the fact that this is an important moment in history, that the progressive movement to build renewable green energy projects is a strong current running through this country, and that Secretary Salazar was eloquent and diplomatic in his remarks delivered from the state house in Boston, with Gov. Deval Patrick at his side.

“After almost a decade of exhaustive study and analyses, I believe that this undertaking can be developed responsibly and with consideration to the historic and cultural resources in the project area. Impacts to the historic properties can and will be minimized and mitigated and we will ensure that cultural resources will not be harmed or destroyed during the construction, maintenance, and decommissioning of the project,” Mr. Salazar said.

There are still more hurdles to clear before the giant commercial wind park that will include one hundred and thirty turbines planted across twenty-four square miles of Horseshoe Shoal, an area the size of Manhattan, each one taller than the Sagamore Bridge, can be built.

Developer Jim Gordon still must obtain a permit from the Federal Aviation Administration. And there are lawsuits, both pending and yet to come, including an important case before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that will decide whether state reviews of the wind farm were adequate.

The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound and the Wampanoag Tribes of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and Mashpee may have already filed lawsuits by the time this newspaper goes to press.

The courts will decide the many remaining questions surrounding Cape Wind, which is as it should be under the laws of the land.

If Cape Wind clears those hurdles then it will be time to move on.

And like our sister papers on Nantucket and Cape Cod, this paper still believes the wind farm is the right thing in the wrong place.

Meanwhile, it was heartening to see that the historic proceedings at the state house in Boston on Wednesday were marked by a distinct tone of respect from all sides — from Secretary Salazar, who noted his deep and abiding respect for the Indian tribes who have staked a claim in this issue, to Jim Gordon, who offered an olive branch of his own in asking for a spirit of cooperation. It’s too bad that could not have happened nine years ago. But it did not, and history cannot be erased. Mr. Gordon, Governor Patrick and his energy secretary Ian Bowles have alienated a large segment of the Cape and Islands with their arrogance and their indifference to local concerns, and whatever the outcome on Cape Wind, it will be a long time before residents of this region can view them as friends and allies.

But the people of the Cape and Islands are known for their resilience and their willingness to allow their home to be a stage for many national issues — and they now have an important role to play as they prepare to host the nation’s first industrial offshore wind farm in the pristine ocean sanctuary that surrounds them.

We recall the eloquent statement from the selectmen of Gosnold, the tiny chain of Elizabeth Islands that lies off the northwest shore of the Vineyard, that was sent to Governor Patrick and published in the Gazette last November. They wrote:

“The people of the town of Gosnold tend to take the long view. One of our citizens posed the question: ‘In 100 years will our descendants thinks that these wind farms were a good idea?’ And it is indeed a most important question. We are at a crossroads.”