Wind farms will be 15 miles away. But Preservation Society says they will spoil their 'viewshed' | Opinion
Bill Fitzgerald lives in Newport.
I read that the Preservation Society of Newport County is filing a lawsuit to stop or alter the wind farm being developed 15 miles out to sea. I was a little dumbfounded. How is this going to help them? Perception is everything in the tourism business and it makes the Preservation Society look like a NIMBY poster child for the fossil fuel industry.
I guess that is what the rich and powerful do if they don't like something.
In the complaint, the Preservation Society argued that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management improperly approved the wind farms that will damage historic resources in the City of Newport, which is heavily dependent on heritage tourism. Federal law, it claimed, "makes clear that the 'viewsheds' of historic resources are as important as bricks and mortar. These appeals seek to preserve historic and pristine views from industrial-scale development."
The “viewshed” from the Preservation Society mansions on the Cliff Walk faces east not south, with views of Sachuest Point, Second Beach and Little Compton. The windmill farms will be south and the closest will be 15 miles.
The New England coast is known for fog, rain, clouds and poor visibility offshore. Sure we get some nice days, but they are in the minority. Visibility at sea level on a clear day is less than 3 miles. I know elevation makes objects more visible, but at 15 miles you need to have a stunning day and a keen eye to see anything at that distance.
Based on the Clear Sky Charts, I found that the average number of clear sky days in Rhode Island is about 80 per year. This is calculated by counting the number of days with less than 20% cloud cover and more than 80% transparency. That leaves us with 285 days of less than perfect visibility, making it unlikely to see almost anything 15 miles away. So you might be able to see the windmills one out of every four or five days.
So why did the Preservation Society of Newport County litigate? As I have learned in life, it usually has to do with money.
Was the group being a front or a blind for NIMBY plutocrats writing checks? Or is it a veiled attempt to get settlement money from this $6-billion venture to produce clean electricity?
It has been reported that Nantucket and Block Island reached substantial financial mitigation agreements with offshore wind developers. Block Island was reportedly compensated $2.5 million for the visual effects of that farm.
The wind project will have an estimated capacity of more than 700 megawatts of renewable energy, capable of powering nearly 250,000 homes, and is expected to create about 1,200 jobs during construction. In addition, Ørsted and Eversource will invest $40 million in improvements to Rhode Island’s port infrastructure.
More: How Newport's mansions, and more, have been reimagined for 'The Gilded Age' Season 2
As for the environmental impact of the windmills off Block island, the Boston Globe reported: “The only meaningful effect they found by the wind turbines was positive: a lot more black sea bass were congregating around the Block Island wind farm, probably because they like to hang out near physical structures like wind turbine foundations." The fish appear to be feeding off mussels growing on the turbines themselves.
The more I looked into this the more it appeared to be a fishing expedition by the Preservation Society to enrich itself at the expense of the health of our planet.
During this Christmas season if you plan to spend $40 to visit Sparkling Lights at The Breakers and stroll along a half-mile-long path glittering with hundreds of thousands of holiday lights while music fills the winter air, ask yourself where the electricity comes from for all the lights. They could have been green!
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: This is a fishing expedition by the Preservation Society to enrich itself at the expense of the health of our planet.
