UPDATED: Palm Beach Billionaire Sailor Fights to Stop Wind Farm

• Clif Carrol of windstop.org / D'alliance to: -PROTECT THE VIEW OF A FEW-... There is a very basic reason why you and you cabal are not respected or considered credible by: - The Army Corps of Engineers - The Massachusetts Audubon Society - The Massachusetts Office of the Governor - Any credible Environmental organization in existence... - The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Affairs - The United States Department of Minerals Management - The United States Coast Guard The reason is: (Remember the movie: 'Wayne's World'?...) You... "ARE-NOT-WORTHY". Period. (If you don't get it: NOBODY [-NOBODY-] takes what you say having ANY credibility) You, and the D'alliance to 'PROTECT THE VIEW OF A FEW'... Have shamed yourselves by the manner and the message you have offered to the public. Propaganda offering: Misrepresentation, Fear-mongering, and outright: LIES. Apologize, close the doors of your repugnant organization, apologize again, and in time... Most will forgive and forget. CAPE WIND... Is -finally- going to be permitted and BUILT: WITH NO THANKS TO YOU.

• Editorial 21st Century Cape Cod Tories sink to new depths Wind farm opponents stoop to new low Demean the memory and legacy of Walter Cronkite There is a new entry into the hall of shame for the sleazy misdeeds perpetrated on the public by opposition groups to Cape Wind, the misrepresentation and trashing of Walter Cronkite by windstop.org, a.k.a. Cliff Carroll. This takes some doing as the caliber of past opposition misdeeds and untruths are so egregious. Remember the chart they sent to a hundred thousand homes on Cape Cod depicting a chunk of Nantucket Sound that was going to be "stolen" by the wind farm in which they tripled the actual footprint of the project? From Carroll's caricature: "Though the promoters of this project claim that Mr. Cronkite changed his mind, it was the constant barrage of harassment from the green movement interrupting his personal life that led him to withdraw as spokesman (for the anti Cape Wind group)." Or how about the time the Technical Director of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound admitted he committed fraud in an attempt to smear Cape Wind President Jim Gordon? Painful as the exercise can be, if you go to windstop.org, wait for the bottomless homepage to download (caution to anyone considering printing the homepage, it is over 400 pages long and may take five minutes to download), then scroll down past the photo of children applauding a burning wooden wind turbine that looks disturbingly like a burning cross, and scroll past the heavily distorted and manipulated visual simulation of the wind farm from Craigville Beach which looks like the wind farm is sitting on the resident's rooftops, after all of that you get to the Walter Cronkite passage which claims that the man who stood up to President Lyndon Johnson over Vietnam on national television could be frightened off by a few environmentalists. While the passage begins by praising Cronkite, it is in reality highly insulting and demeaning to this legendary great newsman in two respects. 1. Cliff posts the minute long video opposing Cape Wind that features Walter Cronkite, that Cronkite famously came to regret and very publicly asked the opposition to stop using and to remove from the airwaves, which they agreed to do at the time. 2. Cliff suggests that Cronkite never really stopped opposing Cape Wind. That flies in the face of the interviews Cronkite did in August, 2003 with the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Associated Press, Vineyard Gazette and the Cape Cod Times in which he stated his changed views on Cape Wind quite clearly. Let's remember some of Cronkite's public statements at that time... What Walter really said On his initial position of opposition to Cape Wind based solely on the briefing he received by the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound and their allies Walter Cronkite said: "My alacrity in accepting an invitation to make a comment was partly my own dropping of my reportorial role of investigating a situation before making a comment"... "I did not do it, and it was my fault"... "As an ardent environmentalist I have been uneasy about my strong statement that did not include my belief that wind power must be harnessed, and as early as possible, as the cleanest alternative to the dangerously increasing pollution of fossil fuels." Cronkite described the opposition group's position on Cape Wind being an "almost hysterical one", and their opposition being "premature". On his treatment by the opposition group he said, "They have exploited my simple comment in almost making me the spokesman for their cause. I really am a little disappointed in that". And Mr. Cronkite's went on to say about his subsequent three hour meeting at his home with Cape Wind's Jim Gordon that he noted the "sincerity and dedication of the principals." The greatest insult to Cronkite yet The greatest insult to Walter Cronkite in Cliff Carroll's write up is his contention that the only reason Cronkite withdrew "as spokesman" for the opposition was the "constant barrage of harassment from the green movement interrupting his personal life". That has to be one of the most insulting, and least accurate, things ever said about Walter Cronkite. To think that this legendary newsman who had the guts and tenacity to stand up to the President of the United States and look right into the camera to say to the American people that the Vietnam war could not be won, and then somehow to for Cliff Carroll to write that a man that courageous could not later endure some letters from environmentalists? C'mon Cliff, that's not just stupid, it's bullshit. The Alliance to Protect Coal, Oil, and Big Waterfront Homes Oh, one other thing you have to scroll past before you get to the attack on Cronkite on windstop.org is an emphatic fundraising appeal. Not surprising you might say, most non-profit organizations have these on their websites. But here's the twist: the appeal is for people to send checks to Save Our Sound (a.k.a. the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound), not Windstop. Alliance's Glenn Wattley described by Cape Cod Times as a "coal industry insider". It's been well known locally these two groups have been in bed together for some time. Actually, to call Windstop a "group" is using a very generous definition of that word as the only people who have ever been publicly associated with it are Cliff Carroll, Rob Bussiere and Frankie Spellman, the anti-wind farm's own "Larry, Moe, and Curly". Think of Windstop as the more radical armpit of the Alliance, throwing �red meat' to the hard core wind farm haters and fossil fuel freaks while the Alliance clings to notions of retaining some small shred of credibility. Cliff's WindStop and Audra's Alliance are so intertwined that his site solicits funds for hers. Yet with the departure of Susan Nickerson and loss of their Nantucket Soundkeeper designation, the Alliance has forfeited any remaining claim of being an environmental organization. What notably remains is leadership for an organization that would be more accurately named the Alliance to Protect Coal, Oil, and Big Waterfront Homes. The Alliance's CEO is Glenn Wattley, described by none other than the Cape Cod Times when he took this role as a "coal industry insider", who had spent most of his professional career working in the coal industry. Follow the money The Alliance Chairman of the Board is Bill Koch who owns Oxbow Energy that works in coal mining, selling coal combustion waste, and petroleum coke. If that sounds like a pun, it's not. It is the solid waste dregs from oil refineries. According to the secret Alliance fund-raising documents unearthed in 2006, 94% of their funding comes from a fairly small group of summer residents who own waterfront homes which they visit a few weeks a year. The people who live behind the gate in Oyster Harbors who write the biggest checks to stop Cape Wind are not like you and me, they don't share our concerns and certainly don't share our lifestyle. How do the big checks cut by these high rollers get spent? Certainly on salaries for Glenn Wattley, Audra Parker and the rest of the crew, but most of it goes to lawyers, lobbyists, and advertising - turn on the radio lately? Those of us who live on Cape Cod have been subjected to an intense eight year paid advertising and direct mail onslaught from this cabal rife with claims so misleading they would make propaganda ministers blush. Yet the Alliance does wage a sophisticated campaign, supported by a stable of consultants all too happy to tap into this cash cow. They have succeeded over the years in using money and influence to mislead and scare a lot of good people on the Cape and Islands. The good news is that the tide is turning. There is a growing awareness that the people who live behind the gate in Oyster Harbors Osterville who write the biggest checks to fund this group are just not like you and me, they don't share our concerns and certainly don't share our lifestyle. Cape Cod is just a destination point for them to jet into for a few weeks during the summer and they are aghast at the prospect of ever seeing wind turbines in their ocean playground, clean energy be damned. So let us properly salute Walter Cronkite and champion his memory. He is the most respected and impactful journalist our country will probably ever know. In our neck of the woods he will always be fondly remembered as being very friendly in-person, generous with his time and money for charitable causes, and an avid sailor. When it comes to the wind farm, Cronkite will be remembered as someone who had the courage to admit, in the glare of the spotlight, that he had been mislead by project opponents, and in so doing the most trusted man in America gave permission to many others of us on the Cape and Islands to do the same. http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2009/08/06/21st-centory-american-toies-sink-to-new?blog=69

• In response to Jay from Truros comment about hard shallow waters, he could not be more incorrect. Over 90% of the 25 square mile foot print of Cape Wind is in over 15 feet of water. According to the data kept by NMFS over 60% of all the fish caught within all of Nantucket Sound is caught in the waters over Horseshoe Shoal. The same waters that the USCG plans on closing according to USCG Captain Ray Perry at a meeting with the Mass Fishermans Partnership. I noticed Jay had nothing to say about the toxic transformer oil, the air and sea radar interference, the fact that the 3 local airport commissions and the Steamship Authority, Hy Line Cruiseline and the National Passenger Vessel Authority want this project shut down. He had no response about the fact that the FAA has made a Determination of Presumed Hazard, Perhaps the FAA is a NIMBY in Jay's world. He also forgot to mention that the Towns of Yarmouth, Barnstable and the Cape Cod Commission have filed actions in the Massachusetts Superior Court to stop this project. This project was poorly chosen, it is highly conflicted and is nothing more than a boondoggle for a private developer using public land for a government subsidized profit with zero gain for the people who's way of life will be sacrificed. If you want some real ugly truth on this industrial site go to http://www.windstop.org It is not a pretty site, but it does tell the 8 year story about this battle of passion vs. profit.

• If you look at NOAA chart 13237 (available free on the NOAA Chart Viewer) http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/AtlanticCoastViewerTable.shtml you will see that the area where Cape Wind intends to build the windmill farm is called Horseshoe Shoal. If you are sailing over Horseshoe Shoal, be sure your EPIRB is working and your TowBoatUS card is paid up because you are in shallow, serious hard stuff, some as shallow as 6". Don't let the opponents snow you about their "fishing grounds." If you want to see what the elite beachfront property owners will see once the project is completed, there is a good computer simulation at www.capewind.org. It's too bad that the Gay Head Wampanoag Indians have been brought into the fray. Very doubtful that one can document a historical Indian presence on Horseshoe Shoal. Jay Wood, Truro/Fort Lauderdale

• Though Mr. Koch has been a very generous donor to the cause to preserve Nantucket Sound. The author of this article fails to note that along with the generosity of Mr. Koch, there have been thousands of donations made by thousands of local citizens in the $50 to $100 range to prevent these beautiful waters from becoming an industrial steel forest. The good citizens of the Cape and Islands have been fighting this insanity for over 8 years and the community has raised over $20,000,000 to fight this well funded politically connected multimillionaire developer that would like to destroy Nantucket Sound, the heart and soul, our economic engine for the Cape and Islands. Unlike the profit driven developer, the community groups such as www.saveoursound.org or www.windstop.org are only trying to preserve our economy, our heritage of fishing and tourism and the protection of our critical lifelines to the islands. The 25 square mile industrial plant is 44 stories tall and it is the size of the island of Manhattan. The FAA has issued a �determination of presumed hazard finding� to the 400,000 low altitude flights a year that travel between Cape Cod, Martha�s Vineyard and Nantucket. One must remember this wind plant is not offshore; it is just off our beaches between 3 islands. The USCG has already told the Mass Fisherman�s Partnership that the 25 square miles of rich fishing grounds will be closed because of the danger to the ships radar and the 100 plus mile web of high voltage cable being drilled into our seabed. In reference to the US Chamber of Commerce, the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce has voted unanimously to oppose this project since the day it was introduced. Cape Winds plan also calls for a 10 story, 200 foot wide transformer platform filled with over 40,000 gallons of transformer oil to be placed in the middle of the fishing grounds, just off our beaches. Cape Wind�s own Oil Spill Report states that the 40,000 gallons of transformer oil could hit our shorelines and beaches within as little as 4.8 hours. This project is being built for feel good purposes only. There is no benefit to the local community. Instead we are looking at having our electric rates doubled, our fishing grounds closed, the safety of our air and shipping routes closed, our beaches devastated by a toxic oil spill and our famous tourist industry destroyed by an industrial forest of steel the size of Manhattan. At one time the Hindenburg was considered the future of air travel. Cape Wind is already old technology unnecessarily designed in shallow waters, placed to destroy everything it touches. The real fight has just begun; this project will never be built. When you do talk to Mr. Koch, please tell him we said thanks.

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