After years and years of wrangling the final, positive, environmental review for Cape Wind could be delivered as early as this week.

The Bush administration is expected to issue as early as Friday a favorable final environmental review of the nation’s first offshore wind farm project, clearing the way for Cape Wind to obtain a federal lease to erect 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound.

Nicholas Pardi, a spokesman for the Minerals Management Service, said last week that the agency, part of the Interior Department, is planning to release its findings “by the end of the year.” Supporters of the project who have been told of the agency’s timetable said a favorable review should come in the next few weeks and possibly on Dec. 5.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne would then have to wait 30 days to make the decision official and award the lease allowing the project to be located in federal waters. The supporters, as well the leader of the main opposition group, said they believe the administration wants this accomplished before Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.

Final state backing could follow early next year, said a spokesman for the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, culminating the developer’s long struggle to gain approval for what seemed like a green power pipe dream when it was announced seven years ago: A giant wind farm anchored in the waters off Cape Cod.(via)

Local politicians (*cough* John Kerry *cough*) have long waffled on their support of the wind farm stating that they are waiting for the environmental review to come out. I hope that once this review comes out, and states that Cape Wind wont kill all the fish, and make babies be born backwards that these politicians get behind one of the most important renewable energy projects in America.

This news comes on the tail of news that local politicians that were against the project had violated state ethics laws by taking money from the rich NIMBY opponents while in office.

A former member of the state Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission has admitted that he broke the state ethics law by consulting for a group opposed to the 130-turbine wind farm that Cape Wind Associates wants to build in Nantucket Sound.

Mark Weissman was a member of the advisory commission from 1993 until he resigned this year. He admitted that he participated in meetings about Cape Wind and requested that the commission write letters opposing the project, according to a statement released by the state ethics commission.

In doing so, he violated the state’s conflict of interest law because he was being paid by the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, a non-profit organization and a vocal opponent of the project.

“By so participating, Weissman acted in a manner which would cause a reasonable person, knowing all the relevant circumstances, to conclude that the alliance could improperly influence Weissman in the performance of his official duties,” state ethics commission officials stated in a press release.

Weissman began providing paid consultant services to the alliance in 2003, according to the ethics board. He received at least $8,000 for work related to the alliance’s opposition to Cape Wind, including work “reviewing and formulating comments regarding joint environmental review documents published” by various federal, state and local agencies, the ethics board stated.(via)

Honestly the opponents of this wind farm have lost a series of frivolous law suits, been embarrassed repeatedly by scandal and recently had the public spank them with a 87% approval of the project in a recent election.

Eighty seven percent of voters in eleven Massachusetts towns in the south shore voted Yes on Question 4, a non-binding question that read:

Should the state representative from this district be instructed to vote in favor of legislation that would support the development of Cape Wind in Nantucket Sound and other possible future onshore and offshore wind power developments in Massachusetts?

73,397 of the 84,417 voters who answered this question answered Yes.

This is consistent with two independent public opinion surveys carried out in March, 2008 that each found 86% statewide support for Cape Wind. One of these surveys was conducted by CBS-4 Boston and the other was commissioned by Civil Society Institute (CSI). CSI also found support for Cape Wind on Cape Cod and the Islands to be 74%.

Question 4 on Cape Wind was included in the ballots of Massachusetts voters in the towns of: Braintree, Holbrook, Randolph, Cohasett, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Scituate, Hanover, Norwell and Rockland.

Basically everyone wants this project to go forward but a couple of very rich land owners that have used their wealth to create the illusion that people are against this project in large numbers. It has been a absolute shock to me that a couple of wealthy beach front land owners were able to delay this project for so many years, lets hope this is the final nail in their NYMBY coffin.