Sneaky Wind Politics

From Environmental Action, an action alert on Rep. Don Young’s (R-AK) attempt to sneak an amendment into a bill that would ban the Cape Wind project:

Some of you may know Don Young (R-AK)-he’s the Congressman who has used every trick in the book to try and open the Arctic Refuge in Alaska to drilling. Now, Rep. Young is applying his underhanded ways to block efforts to harness wind power. We need your help in stopping Don Young’s Power Play!

At the urging of his Big Oil allies, Rep. Young is trying to shut down the largest wind project in the U.S. by sneaking an amendment into an unrelated federal bill. If he succeeds, his amendment would ban all wind turbines within 1.5 miles of a shipping lane-even though an oil rig can be as close as 500 feet to a shipping lane. This would effectively kill all offshore wind projects in the U.S.

Can you send an e-mail to Senators McCain (R-AZ) and Inouye (D-HI), who lead the relevant Senate Committee, and tell them to Stop Don Young’s Power Play?

Click here or paste the link into your browser:

http://www.environmental-action.org/energy.asp?id=1441&id4=ES

The Cape Wind project slated for the waters off Cape Cod, is a promising symbol of the potential of renewable energy and a critical step in ending our dependence on fossil fuels. The 130 windmill complex would provide three-quarters of the area’s electricity and as much power as a large coal-fired power plant.

However, a front-group for Big Oil that calls itself the “Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound” is fighting to kill the project. The co-chairman of this industry group is Bill Koch — who also happens to be the owner of a major energy conglomerate that includes coal, oil and natural gas interests. Forbes Magazine listed Koch’s company as one of the 400 largest privately held companies in America.

Now Koch-with the help of Don Young-is trying to kill this wind project and every other offshore project. If this amendment passes into law, one of our greatest energy resources-offshore wind-will effectively be out of reach.

I’ll be sending my letter as soon as I finish here. I have no idea what Sens. McCain and Inuoye think of Cape Wind, but hopefully they’re willing to stand up to such backdoor measures.

Categories: actionalert, politics, windpower, bigoil, activism