Putting My Mouth to Work and Getting Paid to do it

Good morning loyal Greenies! I apologize for not getting in here sooner this week, with writing my novel for NaNoWriMo my time has certainly been sucked right out of me; its hard to believe its past mid November already!

I am writing with both some exciting local and potentially personal news as well. Over the summer I reported on the Cape Wind project having their permits approved and how exciting it was to consider the prospect of bringing that many jobs and megawatts of electricity right here to my home state.

Unfortunately many of the efforts have been blocked by people and groups who oppose placing these turbines off shore in the middle of the ocean. However there are groups fighting to keep the project on schedule and one of these groups is Environment Massachusetts.

I haven’t talked about these folks yet but about six months ago many of you may have noticed their link showed up on the sidebar. I receive regular email updates from them on all of their clean air, clean water and open space initiatives and their big thrust is going to Cape Wind right now.

Yesterday I started looking for a part time job and wouldn’t you know it, Environment Massachusetts is hiring for their grassroots initiatives! Hooray! I meet with them today to discuss the current campaigns and which one I might be working on. My understanding of the position is it’s a part time gig that involves lobbying, fundraising and face to face discussion of the campaigns. Right up my alley if I do say so myself.

I will let everyone know how it goes but I am super excited to be meeting with them and learning more about their efforts, then hopefully getting hired so I too can get my butt out there even more so to make a difference in my local area.

Wish me luck!

Cape Wind Is Clear for Construction

Here in Massachusetts we have the area of the coast known as Cape Cod, a decent sized peninsula that hooks around north forming what looks like a bent arm at an elbow. The Cape, as it is called in these parts, is a fantastic place to vacation with lots of wonderful beaches, cutsie New England-esque shops and amazing scenery. Frequently bunched in with The Cape is most always The Islands. This refers to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, two small islands, just south off the coast. In the Nantucket Sound strong winds tend to gust and Cape Wind has been waiting patiently to make use of this natural resource.

On May 28, 2009 Governor Deval Patrick expressed his enthusiasm for the approval of permits across the state to begin construction on the 130 turbine project. The project is expected to generate enough power to provide electricity to upwards of 420,000 homes from the 420 megawatts of electricity generated by the wind power available in the Sound.

As the first fully operational, offshore, wind turbine farm in the United States, Cape Wind will be making history. There are many who are not too keen on the idea of creating that kind of historic mark however. Fishermen and wildlife experts are concerned of the possible displacement of marine life and the need to go further offshore to acquire these species. In addition many residents within eyeshot of the proposed farm site location are convinced it will cause a reduction in home values as they feel it will create an offshore eye sore.

Regardless of the opposition the approval of the permits is an exciting thing as this will create a whole slew of jobs in the Green Collar sector for a large mass of people who are greatly in need of one at this time. In addition it will make use of a fully sustainable, rapidly renewable resource to provide electricity -- wind power.

The Cape Wind website contains a plethora of information on this project. Everything from Press Releases to the benefits of using wind as a resource to an area specifically dedicated to how to teach our children about the benefits of using wind as an alternative to oil or even natural gas to power our lives.

Now that the permits are in place for Cape Wind I do truly hope it is done in a responsible way so as many natural resources as possible are protected as well as a creation of jobs is provided for so many struggling workers. I personally will enjoy every minute of watching those majestic blades spin this summer!