Barnstable County officials are calling on the federal government to involve the community more directly in offshore wind plans for the Outer Cape.
The Assembly of Delegates voted Wednesday to send a letter to the Biden administration making that request.
In an interview before the vote, Assembly Speaker Pat Princi of Barnstable said Cape Codders need to be heard.
“There's just a lot that really hasn't been talked about that is of major concern to residents who live here, work here, who support their families here,” he said.
Before the meeting, Wellfleet Delegate Lilli-Ann Green drafted a letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland asking to turn back the clock five years on Outer Cape offshore wind.
The Assembly considered the letter, but not all of the delegates approved of the wording. Some, including Brewster Delegate Mary Chaffee, wanted to make sure the letter showed explicit support for wind energy.
“I think that we as regional community leaders need to be strong and clear on the fact that climate change is an acute problem and that wind energy is one of the best solutions to dealing with it,” she said.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has proposed eight wind energy areas in the Gulf of Maine; six are closer to Massachusetts than to Maine.
The areas have the capacity to produce 15 gigawatts of wind power with about 1,000 turbines.
Princi said public hearings need to be held locally to be equitable to Cape Codders.
“When I say fair and equitable hearings, I mean fair and equitable to a fisherman supporting a family in Eastham or Wellfleet, to have to give up a couple of days fishing” to attend meetings, he said.
The bureau has held public meetings, but members of the community say they were not well publicized.
At the Assembly meeting, the majority of delegates voted to authorize Princi and the Assembly leadership to write a letter asking for more community involvement.
Princi said the final letter would not be the same as Green's draft, but would reflect the overall intent of the group.
Read more of CAI's coverage of Outer Cape offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine.
