Town Of Nantucket Press Conference Showcases Political Rhetoric Over Facts

To the editor: At the Select Board’s press conference on July 29, it was surprising to hear Brook Mohr make claims that the offshore wind “industry needs to succeed in the right way to address climate change." This raises the question about whether Ms. Mohr has read Vineyard Wind's Environmental Impact Statement.

The government documents for ALL the Atlantic projects make it clear that there will be no benefit to climate change from implementing wide scale offshore wind. Climate change obviously is an important issue to our island community, and the offshore wind industry has attempted to use concerns about it to secure support. We have no idea why Ms. Mohr would put the interests of a foreign energy developer above the obligation to protect our island by espousing benefits to climate change that do not exist.

And how is it possible that an attorney representing an island that is receiving the full brunt of the environmental impacts from this massive industrial project is lecturing the press that historic preservation can co-exist with offshore wind? The sight of just the first 40 towers from Vineyard Wind makes it clear they can’t.

Blindly following public relations statements about offshore wind as a critical solution to climate change that must be implemented immediately is how we got here in the first place. It has become clear that Nantucket receives no benefits from, but is significantly harmed by, Vineyard Wind. Our Select Board’s role should not be to advocate for any energy source that harms Nantucket.

Dawn Hill, a signatory to the Good Neighbor Agreement and the current Select Board Chair, was a bright spot in the meeting. Her acknowledgment that the project is way more impactful than communicated at the time the Good Neighbor Agreement was signed gives hope that more rational thinking and action is on the way.

We hope that the Select Board will stand firm in their list of demands and not accept additional nominal mitigations for irreparable harms.

Sincerely,

Veronica Bonnet

ACK 4 Whales