December 14, 2018
Blogs, Massachusetts

Massachusetts Comprehensive Energy Plan: The Sound of Silence

Falmouth's Firetower Wind | December 13, 2018 | mjoecool.wordpress.com

Yesterday, The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) released its Comprehensive Energy Plan. (https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2018/12/11/CEP%20Report-12122018_0.pdf)

I opened the above link to the background harmonies of Simon & Garfunkle’s The Sound of Silence.

I should have perhaps been listening to Christmas music given the season, but with the unpredictability of the Holiday Music Police patrolling for naughty & nice candidates – I chose not to entertain anything remotely associated with that craziness.

At about the time the lyrics came to “And the people bowed and prayed…  To the neon God they made, I started searching the document for the key-words land-based wind and found none.  I searched on-shore wind and again found none.  I finally searched the word wind, and found 42 entries.   After further investigation, to my delight, most (if not all) context where wind was used as part of the subject, dealt in terms of Off-Shore wind energy generation.

“It can’t be,” I told myself!  The future of land-based wind energy generation in Massachusetts, as a state supported clean energy resource, was finished ~ “And whispered in the sounds of silence”

In disbelief, I fumbled with my laptop to re-read what I had just heard.  Wherein Appendix B, the CYA section that talks about Stakeholder Process and Feedback, I found ~

“DOER also received stakeholder comments relevant to the Commonwealth’s energy future, but these comments are ultimately beyond the scope of this Comprehensive Energy Plan: for example, suggestions regarding the siting of energy facilities.”

As if a passion play all but fondly remembered, where tragedy is trumped by heroes – and the song played  “And the vision that was planted in my brain … Still remains”  Smiling at the thought … that in a 212 pg. report about the future of energy (wind specifically) … claimed by the authors without consideration of ill-sited onshore wind comments…

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers … by calamity, comment and conviction … forced all future wind energy resource in the state ~ into the sea.

 


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/12/14/massachusetts-comprehensive-energy-plan-the-sound-of-silence/