Since the saturation point of oil has maxed out and the general acceptance the environmental experts agreeing that about the inevitable world global problems, Cape Cod residents are conversing about the various alternatives, but unfortunately there is very little action to back up the conversation - naturally, without a concrete plan and implementation, no improvement will be seen in coming up with the use of new and efficient fuels.

Anywhere you look, citizens and politicians are espousing the company line about the virtues of solar and wind as power substitutes, but no one is willing to back it up when tangible plans are put on the table : "I am totally behind the development of alternative energy sources, but our town is not ideally suited as the correct site for the implementation of one of these ideas."

There is no dispute as to the urgency of lessening the use of fossil fuel. As renowned national expert Bill McKibben has said : "Recent studies have developed tangible proof that the absolute limit for the presence of carbon in the air is 350 parts per million." according TO NASA :"Anything in excess ot that amount is not conducive to the continued survival of a normal civilization." Again from McKibben :"the present level is recorded at 390 parts per million, and therefore the result is Arctic ice thawing, glaciers shrinking, and oceans showing a great deal of deterioration and high levels of dangerous types of toxicology." The current plight is very serious and requires bold new measures.

The problem is that in lieu of serious, decisive strokes by our politicians to reverse the fuel and energy problem, what we are seeing is a lack of conviction. What is worse are phony fforts shown by individuals whose real interest is to sabotage any and all plans to produce alternative energy whenever a viable concept is put on the table.

Governor Patrick and the state political forces are certainly making a valiant attempt to do the right thing. The governor has proposed a speific wind electricity objective to be attained in less than ten years, and additional related acts which are still on the drawing board are certainly positive steps toward concrete progress, which will help in cutting the administrative red tape which always stifles progress toward serious environmental improvement.

The tricky obstacle that the governor must overcome in order to meet the lofty goals he has set is to find a way to get all the pertinent parties involved in the consultation over wind turbine locations. Everyone who will be impacted by this energy decision must be allowed to contribute their opinions. However, soliciting their thoughts does not empower these people to kill these proposals which for many reasons will be very good for the local area.

We who are longtime residents have witnessed numerous politicians invoke their moral authority as involved citizens to kill beneficial ideas before they leave the starting gate by clogging up the machinery with all types of negativism. Maybe the worst case of this nonsense was an attempt to destroy the Cape Wind project by Indian tribes who were involved in attempting to create a national landmark designation for Nantucket Sound, while simultaneously authoring a project for power placement near another area which has already received this distinction, there setting a new standard for total the contradiction of one's principles.

Additional attempts to stifle wind power installation were an initiative by Martha's Vineyard to form an agency which would ceffectively block turbine development in the immediate proximity, and the Town of Eastham's new statute which essentially restricts the length of a given turbine to 75 feet, the attempt by the Old King's Highway Historic District Commission to prevent the Cape Cod Community College's wind turbine project from becoming a reality.

Given that not everyone buys into the dire future predictions of global warming, this does not lessen the importance of alternative energy initiatives like wind, if for no other reason than the creation of jobs and the inherent stimulation of the economy. As inhabitants of such an advanced scientific nation, our people ought to be ashamed that China and Europe are generating such incredible inventions which promote clean air and for all intents and purposes cast our country in a very unfavorable light.

If the residents of Cape Cod refuse to see the light and stop living in the past, we will probably suffer the fate of other civilations,like Rome, which declined to change their ways, and perished because of it.

Many are skeptical, and as a result ordinary citizens and contractors alike are moving slowly, with reduced visibility.

However, when a whole community, supported by an ambitious government, mobilizes itself, things can move quickly and provide astonishing results. A small island in Denmark, Samsø, is an outstanding example of what can be undertaken for the good of planet. In just ten years, the few 4,000 inhabitants of this island of 114 km2 have become experts and ambassadors of ecology. It all began in 1997, when Samsø was chosen by the Danish government to become the first island dedicated to generating renewable energy.

All was not simple, far from it. It was necessary to convince the inhabitants of the usefulness of this vast project. After many meetings, intense discussions and passionate debates, nine farmers yielded grounds for the eighteen windmill installations owned by co-operatives equivalent to approximately a quarter of the homes of the island.

Once the first obstacle was crossed, things then accelerated.

The next objective was to set up a clean system of district heating. Four power stations will thus be born. One is made up of 2.5 hectares solar panels, which are compensated by a burner of wood chips when the sun is scarce. The three other power stations function with the straw provided by the farmers of Samsø, which is now accounts for 75% of hot water and heating to come from solar energy and the use of biomass. Better still, electricity is now 100% from the wind farm. Eleven offshore windmills have also been born during these last years.

In the event of lack of wind, the island can turn to the continent to get electricity, but overall, it exports much more than it imports.

Of course, there are still efforts being made, particularly in transport. For the time being, most vehicles still use the traditional fuels, but many are those which want to go further. The idea would be to equip the island with trucks and cars running with hydrogen produced by windmills. An ambitious idea but one which should receive support from the inhabitants of Samsø.

This example, which each year attracts hundreds of experts from around the world, proves that with will, big things are possible in finally very little time. Søren Hermansen, one of the carriers of this project stresses that “for many people it is necessary to act locally and think globally, whereas it is necessary to think locally and act locally. The rest will follow”.

Saturday, it presented its wind farm project to be placed just off the shore of Croisic near Guérande. If passed, sixty to eighty windmills will be constructed and installed by 2014.

Nass & Wind enormously attach importance to the dialogue. She says to have spoken with ten elected officials, the representatives of a score of associations like with professional fishermen. “It is a question of good manners if the mayor did not speak yet about it with his assistants or the Municipal council. And we don’t want anyone to instrumentalise anyone”, explains Xavier Ferrey, communication official of Nass & Wind.

Saturday, GSRB (Grouping of the secondary residents of Baule) savagely opposed to this project which is still in the preliminary phase of the impact studies.

Decision of the chief officer

Rémy Gautron, president of the federation, hoped this meeting would not turn into a debate about the future installation, but a time to form an opinion about the project. “That was the fourth time the federation confronted Nass & Wind. The Cape Atlantique Council of development will soon receive Nass & Wind. The elected officials will be determined by taking account the opinion of their voters”, ensures Rémy Gautron.

Christophe Pirou, deputy of the district, has already voiced his opinion to him and the prefect, Jean Daubigny, at the time of his visit last Saturday. “It is necessary to be pragmatic, the wind is a solution. The West often has energy problems and yet finds a way.”, insists Christophe Priou.

Studies in progress

During the briefing, the questions raised related to the effects on plants and animals, the power of the park and its lifespan, the conditions of its dismantling at the conclusion or in the course of concession.

Nass & Wind began its dialogue six months ago. The studies on the environment began this summer. Their results will move the project forward. But the company already hopes to deposit a request for approval to the prefecture next year.