Nantucket Must Walk Away From The "Good Neighbor Agreement" With Vineyard Wind

To the editor:  Like many Nantucketers, I am extremely angry and saddened about what is happening with Vineyard Wind and the future wind projects that are slated to be built on our shores. Since Nantucket came into existence during the last ice age, our beaches, coastline and local waters have remained largely pristine. The sad truth is that they are no longer pristine. With only 21 turbines built, a sweeping array of man-made industrial towers now dominate our seascape. You no longer feel as if you're on an island 30 miles out to sea, the precise feeling that so many people seek when they decide to vacation here. As if the visual impacts aren't bad enough, we now have industrial "non-toxic" waste washing up all over our island. I spoke with a friend whose child came out of the water with fiberglass cuts all over his body after swimming on the inside of Smith's Point in Madaket Harbor. The inside of Smith's Point, meaning the waste is now traveling with the tides toward the north side of the island. Another reminder from Mother Nature that this crisis is far from over.

If we continue on this path of mass industrialization of our oceans the economic impact to our island will be catastrophic. If we choose to think that people are going to continue to spend their hard-earned dollars to vacation in a place where the beaches are dominated by dystopian, man-made wind turbines and industrial waste washing ashore, we will be sorely mistaken. There are only 21 turbines completed and this disaster has already occurred. Can you imagine what will be washing up on our beaches once we have over 1,000 turbines out there? Constant turbine waste washing up will become the new normal in the name of "green" energy. What about our fisheries? What about our world-renowned Nantucket Bay Scallops? A treasured species that is already fighting to survive as it is. What about the endangered North Atlantic Right Whales that live and breed where these godforsaken things are being built? For starters, we know they've been washing up dead from Martha's Vineyard to Virginia since the start of offshore wind development.

The fact that this has been allowed to happen on our shores, with Nantucket being a National Historic Landmark, is beyond disgraceful. The fact that the Select Board decided to enter into this "Good Neighbor Agreement" without consulting the residents of Nantucket was a terrible decision, and beyond that, it was simply wrong. All for a small bag of silver that will never come close to compensating us for what we really need, which is for our oceans to be pristine again. Our oceans sequester carbon at a rate up to four times faster than forests. It should go without saying that the health of our oceans is the most important element of the fight against climate change. I realize that this is largely a federal fight at this point, but we did not play our cards right. Now is the time to turn this ship around. It is not too late.

Now is the time to make this right for Nantucket and show Vineyard Wind and the federal government that we are not in support of this project, or any other project off our shores. We must walk away from the Good Neighbor Agreement, and most importantly, we must not allow any more turbines to be built. This agreement has been terrible for Nantucket from the start, and it will only continue to get worse. Until we withdraw from the agreement, Vineyard Wind executives will continue to point to it and say, "Look! Right here! Nantucket said they will support this project at every level of government!" It needs to end. Please do the right thing and take the necessary steps to withdraw from this agreement so that we can unite as Nantucketers and stop the mass industrialization of our oceans.

Sincerely,

Jesse Sandole
Owner, 167Raw