Offshore Windfarms

**Anthony Spiratos of Newport has started a new group which has a website regarding the Guv's plan for offshore wind farm plans. Presently URI is researching this plan and is charged in helping the state develop new regs.

My Fellow Newporters,

The past 8 months has unveiled some truly startling research into the Governor’s offshore wind farm plans. Governor Carcieri’s offshore wind farm plan is severely flawed. So what exactly does the plan call for?

* This wind farm will consist of over 335 industrial sized wind turbines. Each wind turbine will be 400 feet tall. This is the same height as the towers of the Newport Pell Bridge!

* Don’t let the Governor and the media try to fool you, they have decided on four definite locations out of the 10 possible locations. The permit process is well underway with the State and bidding has begun to build these turbines and transformer substations & have them in full operation BY 2011.

* Wind turbines will be as close as ¼ mile off the shores of Newport, Middletown, Little Compton, Westerly, Block Island (check www.saveourstateri.org for exact locations)

* Transformer Substations rising 100 feet above ocean will house giant helicopter pads and more than 100,000 gallons of potentially hazardous oil that can make its way to our shores within minutes! A disaster waiting to happen!

* During construction, which would take between 1 to 2 years, each of the 335 wind turbines will be pile driven 90 feet into the seabed causing an excruciating earth shattering noise all day long which can be heard for miles.

* The wind farm will make a loud whooshing noise which many people around the world who live near these installations describe as “a never ending freight train that never gets to its destination” or “shoes getting tossed around in a washing machine”. This noise will be heard 24 hours a day and effect people living up to 3 miles away.

* Every one of the 335 industrial wind turbines will have foghorns that can be heard for many miles.

* Each one of the 335 industrial wind turbines will be lit at night with more than 335 flashing red lights, which will light up the night sky and be seen miles away (the wind turbines themselves are so large they can be seen as far as 26 miles away!)

* Areas considered too shallow for barges will be dredged and completely destroyed. Loss of reefs, natural habitats and the spectacular scenic beauty will ultimately and utterly vanish leaving hundreds of 400 foot industrial turbines as far as the eye can see.

* Studies show that tourist destinations are adversely effected economically

* Newport alone could see a potential loss of $500 MILLION a year to the tourist economy including the yachting industry

* Devastating environmental effects to marine life would result in a severe loss of fishing and lobstering related jobs

* The total job loss could be as many as 2,500 jobs

* Project will cost almost $2BILLION most of that being tax subsidies

* Your tax dollars will pay for these wind farms

* Economics of Governor’s plan DO NOT WORK, you will end up paying almost 5 times as much for your electricity as you are now!

* Independent doctors & scientists have found an alarmingly high rate of health effects to citizens around the world living within a 3 mile radius of large industrial wind farms.

* Governor Carcieri & Out of State lobbying firms are currently pushing through legislation in the General Assembly giving the Governor complete authority to do this WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT OR YOUR VOTE!

I, along with many residents that live in Newport, Middletown, Westerly, Block Island and Little Compton have formed a grassroots alliance called Rhode Island Alliance For Clean Energy. All of our research which we have done can be viewed on our web site www.saveourstateri.org

Our grassroots alliance sees these great and disturbing flaws in the Governor’s wind farm plans and we will fight to stop it from happening before its to late but we need your help to do so. The alliance is not against green energy. We support green initiatives such as geothermal technologies, small residential roof top turbines, LED lighting and residential solar photovoltaic energy, which will actually give citizens real energy independence while not harming our environment, our health or our economy.

Our initiatives (which can all be viewed on our web site), if implemented could jump-start a failing manufacturing economy in Rhode Island and will promote small businesses and promote a massive expansive job growth opportunity which all Rhode Islanders can benefit from. The Governor’s plan simply does not do this.

We have two choices and we are at a crossroads. We can allow our brilliant politicians at the State House (who couldn’t manage a budget for a child’s lemonade stand if their life depended on it and who lie to their citizens like a 5 year old caught with his hand in the cookie jar) and we can allow Out of State environmentalist lobbying groups who are paid for by the Out of State multi billion dollar wind farm corporations to come in and wreck our most precious natural resources and our economy claiming they are saving our environment and promoting job growth when in fact they are destroying it.

I think President Theodore Roosevelt said it best, “Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”

Or we can stand together and come up with and fight for real clean energy solutions to our rising energy costs which will benefit all of us, solutions which will actually work, while being green at the same time. Again I ask all of you to please check out our web site www.saveourstateri.org This grass roots cause starts with you. You and I can determine and fight for what Newport’s future can be and should be, nothing but the utmost of prosperity for all of its citizens with all our city’s natural beauty and heritage fully intact.

Anthony G. Spiratos
President – Rhode Island Alliance For Clean Energy
Resident of Newport
E-mail: info@SaveOurStateRI.org
Cell: 1-401-225-1096Home: 1-401-847-6713

URI to Research Offshore Energy Projects

URI just rec'd $200,000 to begin researching offshore energy projects (primarily wind farms) from the R.I. Office of Energy Resources.

URI scientists, engineers and oceanographers will study the effects associated with alternative energy projects, including their impact on wildlife, commercial fishing, navigation, coastline views and the environment.
Essentially, the URI research will help create zoning regulations for uses such as permitting wind farms and protecting waters for commercial fishing or boat routes, said state energy commissioner Andrew Dzykewicz. “As soon as this is done we will get a lot of interest from the development mmunity,” Dzykewicz said. “If it is going to work any place it will work in Rhode Island.”

The Coastal Resourcest Management Council has already rec'd applications to utilize R.I. water for wind projects. These requests will be placed on hold for the 18 mos. or so until this reserach & zoning is complete.
These results should prove interesting. Wind projects have faced problems in many U.S. coastal proposed projects on the eastern seaboard & been turned down. That's why they are all sniffing around here (we're not their first choice).What this seems to say is that we will proceed with these wind projects, but first a little research. Make no doubt about it- these projects involved big bucks & high profits with fed'l tax credits proferred. Caution should reign here. Once you've got these things up, there ain't no going back.
See the previous series on this from Anthony Spiratos of Newport & Middletown. Our District is a prime target of these energy entrepeneurs. It's important to know the good, bad, & the ugly these projects involve rather than just the State's happy talk. Evidently they really don't care what the residents of these areas think- yet. Big Daddy will decide for us. Will local inhabitants receive any benefits at all or will it be share & share alike?
This is the time to ask these questions (and there are lots to be asked), since some of the answers seem to be already in place (we will be zoned).
Thanks to Projo.

Wind Farms, Pt.3: Follow the Money

This is the final article in a series from Newport's Anthony Spiratos:

Also another thing ... is the money trail. I find it very interesting that both sides of the aisle ever since 2002 have been receiving financial contributions to their political campaigns from executives of Cape Wind! Jim Gordon, the CEO of Cape Wind, himself personally donated to Carcieri's campaign in 2002 and 2006 and also to the Democratic State Central Committee. More interesting is the fact that he did this in some cases under another company which he owns called Tiverton Power in Tiverton, which is a massive power plant! If you go down the same road the Tiverton Police station is and go past the public works and take your first right and go up the dead end road there it is, hidden in the woods of Tiverton. Gordon has since tried and failed to build a fossil fuel plant with his other company Energy Management Inc. in Chelsea, Mass. I'm interested to find out if there is also a political contribution money trail leading back to that New York based wind farm company as well.
Now onto another a topic but still directly related to this discussion, the CRMC... Aren't they suppose to be protecting the ocean and the shoreline? I mean you can't plant a rose garden close to the shore without them knowing about it, coming down and fining you. Yet they will redraw and rezone the water ways to allow for its utter complete destruction of our ecosystem and economy?

Right now most of the media outlets are supporting the Governor's project but once they see the public outcry they will come around.

Anthony Spiratos

More Wind Farms, Pt. 2

Here is more from Newport's Anthony Spiratos. If you're interested, check out http://www.saveoursound.org/. This group has been fighting a windfarm off Nantucket Sound for years. There will be a Pt. 3.


There are so many more things that need to be addressed that will have a negative impact if this flawed wind project is built. By the looks of it the Governor wants it completed and in full operation before he leaves office which would be absolutely disastrous. What I wrote previously is the tip of the iceberg!
These turbines can actually catch fire, spew oil and have oil spills. They only are able to operate 20 years; then it becomes a huge rust farm instead of a wind farm. Also, severe weather affects the wind turbines in devastating ways. Most wind turbines are built to withstand a max of 100 mph winds (ironically the wind turbines must be shut down with winds higher than 50mph). The Hurricane of 38, Carol & Bob were Category 3 or higher with sustained winds of excess of 120 mph.
There are many studies that shed real light on what the wind industry really is and what they don’t want you to know. Eric Rosenbloom, a wind farm researcher and science editor, gives numerous examples of problems with the wind industry which I have cited previously. Some examples of his research are from paper called “A Problem With Wind Power.”
Many studies in Europe have shown that up to 11,200 birds of prey, 350,000 bats, and 3,000,000 small birds are killed each year by wind turbines in Europe. Build-up of salt on off-shore turbine blades has been shown to reduce the power generated by 20%-30%. According to the Department of Defense in a report to the Congressional Defense Committees titled "The Effect of Windmill Farms on Military Readiness" (2006), the wind turbines hurt radar capabilities. This would especially be a problem because of the close proximity to the Navy Base and would cause a gigantic national security issue for the base.
Studies have shown that the effects of residents near wind turbines are horrific. These would affect for Newport, Middletown, Little Compton, Block Island, and Westerly. There is a scientist/physician by the name of Nina Pierpont, MD, PhD. She has documented numerous cases of "Wind Turbines Syndrome" which occur and effect citizens living up to 3 miles away from wind farms. The symptoms of this syndrome include sleep problems (insomnia), headaches, dizziness, unsteadiness, nausea, exhaustion, anxiety, anger, irritability, depression, memory loss, eye problems, problems with concentration and learning, tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Check out her website http://www.ninapierpont.com/. I also find it very interesting that, most of these wind farm companies are owned by fossil fuel and oil companies, which use them for tax breaks and write-offs.
The world however is starting to catch on these last few years to the "great wind scam." In 1998, Norway commissioned a study of wind power in Denmark and concluded that it has "serious environmental effects, insufficient production, and high production costs." Denmark has a population of 5.3 million and has over 6,000 turbines that produced electricity equal to 19% of what the country used in 2002. Yet with 6,000 turbines no conventional power plant has been shut down! They haven’t been shut down because of the intermittency and variability of the wind and, because of this, conventional power plants must be kept running at full capacity to meet the actual demand for electricity.
The Danish government has cancelled plans for three offshore wind farms planned for 2008 and has scheduled the withdrawal of subsidies from existing sites. The development of onshore wind plants in Denmark has effectively stopped.
Another country, Germany reduced the tax breaks to wind power. Domestic construction then drastically slowed in 2004. Switzerland also is cutting subsidies as too expensive and lacking significant benefit. In Germany, utilities are forced to buy renewable energy at sometimes more than 10 times the cost of conventional power, in France 3 times.
Some countries are decommissioning their turbines. The Netherlands decommissioned 90 turbines in 2004. Ireland in December 2003 halted all new wind-power connections to the national grid. In early 2005, they were considering ending state support. In 2005, Spanish utilities began refusing new wind power connections. In 2006 the Spanish government, ended by emergency decree, its subsidies and price supports for big wind. In 2004, Australia reduced the level of renewable energy that utilities are required to buy, dramatically slowing wind-project applications.
I think the way to go if we actually want to save money is to use solar energy. They are now coming up with the technology to use solar powered shingles. They look just like black shingles and when you build a roof the solar cells are built right into the shingles of the roof. Also insulating homes and using energy efficient light bulbs is another great way to reduce energy costs to citizens and allow them to keep much more money in their wallets. If everyone in this country used energy efficient light bulbs we would be able to close 80 major power plants. Now that’s a ton of energy saved.
The Governor’s so called 132 page wind power study is clearly one sided, offering none of the drawbacks. It clearly is not taking into account the things that are being found out about the wind farm industry in many countries across the world. The politicians up in Providence are giving us a non-solution while the big wind power companies worth billions walk away laughing with millions upon millions of taxpayer’s hard earned money.

Wind Farms in our County

I always check out "Knowing Newport," a discussion group, every few days to see what the topics of interest are there. I came upon this posting & the author kindly granted permission to print it here. I thought it of especial interest since the same day the "Daily News" did an editorial entitled, "Wind Power Should be Free of Obstacles." I have to wonder why? What are the proponents afraid of? Here is the answer. Expect to read more on this topic as it gets ramroded through the CRMC. Thanks to the author for all the research.

My Fellow Newporters,

Sir Winston Churchill once said, "Truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but, in the end, there it is." Governor Carcieri and the wind industry have been trying to sell us a bill ofgoods. It is our choice to become fully educated on the devastating impacts that face us in the near future to Newport and the surrounding area's economy before it is too late.

The fact of the matter is that wind energy is not as clean of an industry as the Governor, the General Assembly, the lobbyists, and the private developers would like you to think. There is a dark side to the industry that must be brought out into the light. Across Europe the vast effects have been devastating.
In the United Kingdom, a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found that house prices are negatively affected by planning applications for wind farms. This could be absolutely devastating for Newport and the surrounding areas because the tremendous amount of properties located or being developed, near or on the ocean that will face the $1.9 billion colossal wind farm will go down in value, hurting the overall tax base of the cities they are located in.
In Germany damage arising from wind turbines alone has resulted in preliminary insurance payments in excess of 200 million euros. There are persistent reports of problems such as infrasound from these large moving wind turbine structures, which in most cases are each 400 feet tall, or almost the size of the Statue ofLiberty! At night wind turbines must be lit to avoid collisions from low flying airplanes and birds or being hit by boats in the area. The lights can have a devastating impact on the starlit natural beauty of the surrounding area even if they are miles off the coastline.
Lennart Damsbo-Andersen, the former mayor of Nysted, Denmark where a large wind farm of 72 wind turbines laid 15 miles away from his home, attested that the flashing lights were so bright that it used to light up his living room at night.
The Convention for the Protection ofthe Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) which was ratified in1998 by 15 European countries have also found many significantly devastating flaws in the wind industry which have vast impacts on the citizens living near where the ocean wind turbines are installed. The OSPAR report backs up Nysted, Denmark former mayor's claims stating, "that several wind turbines will most likely change the ocean landscape considerably, particularly in the dark because of lighting; this will affect both the local communities in the area and the people visiting the area."
There are many other issues that have not been fully addressed in the great Rhode Island Wind Farm debate that the government and the private developers don't want you to know about. The electric cables that connect the Wind Farm to the shore increase the temperature in the sediments during operation, and also emit electromagnetic fields. The turbines also have strong emissions of sound and vibration into the water. All three things cause a disturbance of the environment, damaging the environment of marine mammals, birds and fish. The multi million dollar fishing industry could be in huge jeopardy.
GovernorCarcieri essentially wants to destroy the ecosystem to save the ecosystem. It purely makes no sense at all. Energy analyst Glenn Schleede working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted a study in 2002 exposing the problems with wind power being installed off the coast of Virginia. He stated that "feeding such a potentially large,highly variable and often unpredictable amount of electricity into an onshore transmission line and electric grid would be a significant burden on existing onshore transmission capacity and the stability of regional electric system that must be kept in balance," (balance - the voltage and frequency).
The Governor is putting the very livelihood of working Newport business owners and citizens at high risk of a doomsday scenario. With a $2 billion a year waterfront tourism economy, Newport is home to international yachting and tennis events along with countless amounts of festivals that bring people and money into the area. Not to mention home to some of the most breathtaking and spectacular scenery and history in America.
But this, my fellow citizens can all come to an end. It has happened before when a man in power by the name of President Nixon pulled the Navy out of Newport in 1974, causing decades of economic turmoil. Will Governor Carcieri's legacy be the Great Tourist pull-out of Newport in 2012? From Newport's world famous and historic Cliff Walk, to Easton's Point and from Sachuest Point to Little Compton, the Governor's proposed $1.9 billion dollar wind farm will be a reality and in full operation in less than 4 years time unless we make our voices heard!
I strongly urge you to contact the Governor and State and local officials and voice your outrage about this terribly flawed project. The choice is ours, and the consequences we will have to live with every day- not the politicians up in Providence. Will we wake up one day and see our pristine oceanfront littered with the visual and environmental pollution of hundreds of wind turbines- each hundreds of feet tall both seen during the day and at night (less than 1½ miles to 5 miles) off our shore as far as the eye can see or will we be able to look out at our absolutely gorgeous, delicate and untouched environment knowing full well that we stood up for it and won? Politicians come and go like storms blowing in the wind; some do more damage than others. This one however is a hurricane.

Anthony G. Spiratos Newport, RI

Wind Turbines Planned for L.C. & Middletown Waters

"...a New York firm hopes to build 50 to as many as 84 wind turbines in waters a short distance south of Little Compton .... Allco Renewable Energy Group Ltd. filed preliminary papers with the state coastal Resources Management Council in late September in which it outlined a proposal to erect perhaps as many as 335 turbines at four Rhode Island coastal sites.
Other sites include waters off Sachuest Point and Second Beach in Middletown (85 to 120 turbines in up to 9 square miles of water); just south of Block Island (50 to 84 turbines in up to 6.5 square miles of water); and 50 turbines off Westerly."

To get permission to do this there needs to be a hearing with the Coastal Resources Management Council. "A CRMC official told the Providence Journal last week that is unclear how long the CRMC will need to respond and added that the CRMC does not yet have guidelines for permitting offshore wind farms." The Guv's study group already identified Sakonnet Point (inc. Little C.) as a suitable site. "The Governor and his alternative energy committee are looking into a state-sponsored wind project that might generate as much as 15 percent of the state's electricity."

These things are huge. "The turbines would be big: Each tower would stand 345 feet above the water and hold blades with 295-foot diameter." Sakonnet Point is also a major migratory bird path as is the rest of our island.

Good idea? I certainly have reservations. Rep. Loughlin has already developed a list of questions regarding this project. Funny, he had no questions whatsoever in his recent Snooze article regarding getting rid of the State Pension system- just do it. But that's for another day. Sen. Gibbs, maybe you can just adopt his & be thankful to whichever aide wrote them up.

Thanks to RI Reporter for pointing me to an article I had missed. He's revamped (in a good way) so check it out.


Thanks to reporter Bruce Burdett of East Bay Newspapers which just keeps getting better & better.