As Gov. Maura Healey visited the state’s oldest ice cream store on the Massachusetts Ice Cream Path, she additionally clashed with a swarm of protesters on wind power, housing and migrants.
“First of all, as your governor, I am not going to do anything that puts residents at harm. I am not going to do that. OK?” Healey informed roughly 30 Cape Cod residents exterior of 4 Seas Ice Cream on Wednesday.
The group, largely from Barnstable, greeted the governor on the 90-year-old ice cream store in Centerville with indicators that learn “Protect our beaches” and “Save Dowses – No ‘high voltage’ transmission cables in our community – Save our people – Save our water supply.”
Barnstable has change into the epicenter of the Massachusetts wind farm business, with three tasks both below building or consideration.
Healey, earlier than heading into the long-lasting 4 Seas, confronted the protesters. She defined how she is aware of “so many” of them help the transfer to renewables, “away from dirty fossil fuels that create all sorts of health challenges.”
“In order for that to be successful,” the governor stated, “we’ve got to figure out a way to bring that energy that’s offshore onto shore through the transmission lines, through the substations, so they can power homes and businesses, so they can do so in a cleaner way, and so ultimately, they can reduce your bills.”
A proposed 800-megawatt wind farm within the Nantucket Sound that may characteristic miles of transmission cables on the ocean flooring, below Craigville Seashore and the streets of Centerville, is on the heart of a lawsuit slated to go to trial later this month.
Avangrid, the developer, can be targeted on growing a 1,200-megawatt wind farm that may ship energy via transmission strains at Dowses Seashore in Osterville, one other Barnstable village.
The proposals coincide with a undertaking related to Winery Wind 1 bringing 800 megawatts of electrical energy ashore at close by Covell Seashore. Winery Wind 1 is similar wind farm off Nantucket the place a turbine blade failure has stirred controversy and a particles mess.
“Now, I understand you’re very concerned about them going under the beach,” Healey informed the protesters. “These transmission lines have been thoroughly vetted by federal agencies. … I am confident in their safety. The radiation levels are about what they are for a television.”
That drew skepticism, with a number of protesters saying, “No.”
Healey then in contrast the push for renewable power to the state’s housing disaster, calling on “every community … to step up and do its part.”
“It’s part of the housing issue that we face, we’ve got a shortage of housing,” the governor stated. “Especially down here on the Cape, you can’t even get workers, everybody’s living … I know you know this but you also know.”
A protester chimed in mid-sentence, saying “Stop housing illegals.” Healey shortly shifted her consideration, responding “Actually, you know, I’m not. They’re here lawfully and actually…”
That prompted a number of protesters and the governor to talk over one another earlier than Healey touted her administration’s work on housing, pointing particularly to efforts for veterans.
“There’s a lot of misinformation,” the governor stated. “As someone who simply signed essentially the most complete veterans laws the opposite day within the state’s historical past, I additionally put $20 million to finish veterans’ homelessness. I’m already housing veterans, we’ve obtained a bunch of housing for veterans.”
Barnstable resident Susanne Conley, working towards state Rep. Kip Diggs for the 2nd Barnstable District, referred to as on Healey to “fight as hard as she did as attorney general” to guard native seashores.
“They need to go somewhere else,” Conley stated, prompting Healey to reply, “How many of you support wind and the move to renewables?” Some protesters raised their arms in help whereas others stated, “Not in the ocean.”
Osterville resident Tom Scanlon raised numerous considerations together with the dimensions of the undertaking, the supply of the supplies, the price of decommissioning, and constructing a substation over an aquifer.
“It has just been shoved down our throats,” Scanlon informed Healey. “It is not appropriate.”
“I will continue the conversation,” Healey responded. “I will say that because of Massachusetts’ leadership in the climate space, in renewables, it’s the reason that Barnstable High School is getting the $42 million for the microgrid.”
Healey was referring to a $42.3 million federal award for Barnstable to put in a “renewable-powered microgrid” at Barnstable Excessive College. The undertaking may embrace a “mix of solar canopies, rooftop solar, HVAC electrification, fleet charging, and battery storage.”
However some protesters stated they don’t care concerning the endeavor. “That doesn’t matter,” one stated. “If we don’t have water, we won’t have a high school.”
