According to a survey conducted by the Opinion Research Corp. for the Civil Society Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank based in Newton, Mass., support for the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound has climbed to its highest level statewide. This is due, in part, to the findings in the project's draft environmental impact statement (EIS) released in January by the U.S. Interior Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS).
Key findings of the survey, taken of more than 1,200 Massachusetts residents, include the following:
– 87% of state residents and 77% of Cape Cod/Islands residents are now ‘more likely to support Cape Wind’ in the wake of the draft MMS environmental impact statement finding ‘no major harms to the environment resulting from the Cape Wind project for Nantucket Sound.’ Forty-six percent of those still opposed to Cape Wind say that the MMS report now makes them more likely to support the clean energy project.
– more than nine out of 10 state residents (94%) – including 82% of Cape Cod/Islands residents – think the Bay State should be ‘a national leader in using cleaner and renewable energy on a large scale by moving ahead with offshore wind power and other alternative energy initiatives.’
‘This new survey makes it clear that the widely publicized draft report issuing a clean bill of health to Cape Wind has further improved how the public looks at the project,’ says Pam Solo, Civil Society Institute president and founder. ‘In the process, the survey debunks the notion that there is any sizeable public opposition to Cape Wind.’
