Trudy Coxe | |
---|---|
Massachusetts Secretary of Environmental Affairs | |
In office 1993–1998 | |
Governor | William Weld Paul Cellucci |
Preceded by | Susan Tierney |
Succeeded by | Robert Durand |
Personal details | |
Occupation | Non-profit executive |
Gertrude M. "Trudy" Coxe (born 1948) is an American non-profit executive and CEO of the Preservation Society of Newport County,formerly the Secretary of Environmental Affairs in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. [1] [2] She has advocated against the construction of offshore wind farms in Rhode Island,arguing that they cause "unnecessary loss to our community's irreplaceable character and sense of place." [3] [4]
Coxe was born in 1948. She graduated from the Wheeler School in 1967.
As an employee of Save the Bay,Coxe helped organize the first annual Save the Bay swim in 1977,later serving as executive director of Save the Bay from 1979 to 1990. She ran an unsuccessful campaign as a Republican for Congress against Jack Reed in 1990. From 1993 to 1998 she served as Massachusetts' Secretary of Environmental Affairs under Governor Weld and Governor Cellucci. After leaving this position,she became C.E.O. of the Preservation Society of Newport County.
Coxe has served on various non-profit boards,including:"National Recreation and Park Association,the Appalachian Mountain Club,Grow Smart Rhode Island,the Rhode Island Commodores,the Metcalf Institute for Marine &Environmental Reporting,the Wheeler School,the Newport County Chamber of Commerce,Child and Family Services and the Attractions Council of Newport County." [5]
Coxe is the recipient of honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Rhode Island,the Massachusetts Maritime Academy,and Roger Williams University. [5]
On November 22nd,the Preservation Society of Newport County (PSNC),under the leadership of Coxe,filed a lawsuit against the US Government in relation to the South Fork Wind and Revolution 1 offshore wind farms which are located off the Atlantic coast near Rhode Island--this is the Revolution 1 [6] and this is the South Fork Wind [7] appeal. PSNC released a press statement on the suit. [8] In the statement,Coxe wrote,"We support green energy,for two years we pointed out serious problems with the federal permitting process,but BOEM never listened."
As summarized in Newport This Week [9] ,"The Preservation Society of Newport County has filed two lawsuits in U.S. District Court challenging the thoroughness and lawfulness of the federal Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) permitting review process,which has approved two offshore wind farms in Rhode Island waters. The lawsuits seek to appeal BOEM's approval of the projects,which are joint ventures between multinational energy giant Orsted and regional utility provider Eversource. They also seek an injunction to put a halt to construction until the court makes a decision regarding the appeal." [10]
A public letter by multiple environmental and labor leaders in RI was addressed to Coxe in response [11] ,stating "Opposition to clean energy is a privilege. It imposes pollution burdens on poorer communities and communities of color,as it slows down the transition away from fossil fuel electricity sources overwhelmingly placed in their backyards. The impacts of this delay can be felt for generations." [12] Shortly after,Climate Action Rhode (CARI) Island protested the Newport Preservation Society Winter Gala. [13]
Coxe soon penned an op-ed in the Boston Globe [14] ,stating "All we're asking is for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to follow the policies and procedures in the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act,laws in place for the last 50 years," and "I've been an environmentalist my whole life,including serving as Massachusetts secretary of environmental affairs,director of ocean and coastal resource management in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,and director of Save The Bay. From my experience in government and dealing with environmental opportunities and threats,I know that when the law is ignored or misused,the consequences can be painful and expensive." [15]
Several months later,the Newport Energy and Environment Commission organized a public educational series on climate change and offshore wind. [16] Coxe was invited to participate on a panel with CARI and declined,and in response Climate Action RI published a Boston Globe op-ed, [14] stating "If PSNC refuses to drop their lawsuit in the name of Newport and the environment,then PSNC should promise to donate any money received from their lawsuit to the county to pay for climate resilience through public infrastructure investment. Having opposed,and perhaps quashed,the bill to fund public infrastructure,the PSNC should offer other solutions to Newport County's vulnerabilities in the face of climate change. The money to keep the roads,beaches and walks open,the water supply potable,and the public safe will have to come from somewhere. Coxe has made clear she does not think the Preservation Society of Newport County should give up anything —not ticket sales and not their carefully preserved view to this end." [17]
The New York/New Jersey Bight is the geological identification applied to a roughly triangular indentation,regarded as a bight,along the Atlantic coast of the United States that extends northeasterly from Cape May Inlet in New Jersey to Montauk Point on the eastern tip of Long Island. As the result of direct contact with the Gulf Stream along the coast of North America,the coastal climate of the bight area is temperate.
The Cape Wind Project was a proposed offshore wind energy project on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod,Massachusetts. It was projected to generate 1,500 gigawatt hours of electricity a year at a first-dollar cost of $2.6 billion.
The Preservation Society of Newport County is a private,non-profit organization based in Newport,Rhode Island. It is Rhode Island's largest and most-visited cultural organization. The organization protects the architectural heritage of Newport County,especially the Bellevue Avenue Historic District. Seven of its 14 historic properties and landscapes are National Historic Landmarks,and most are open to the public.
Wheeler School is a private school located on the East Side of Providence,Rhode Island,United States. The school serves students from the nursery level through twelfth-grade.
Brenton Point State Park is a public recreation area occupying 89 acres (36 ha) at the southwestern tip of Aquidneck Island in the city of Newport,Rhode Island. The state park offers wide vistas of the Atlantic Ocean where it meets Narragansett Bay. The park lies adjacent to the Newport Country Club,part of Newport's Ocean Drive Historic District. It is managed by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management,Division of Parks and Recreation,and is overseen by the staff at nearby Fort Adams State Park.
New York has 2,192 MW of installed wind power capacity as of 2022. Most of New York's wind power is located in upstate New York as onshore wind farms. New York has set a goal of developing 9,000 MW of offshore installed wind power capacity by 2035 that will power an estimated 6 million homes. As of October 2022,New York has five offshore wind farms in development with approximately 4,300 MW installed capacity.
Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind is an offshore wind energy development group that is affiliated with Ørsted,a Danish firm. It is joint headquartered in Boston,Massachusetts and Providence,Rhode Island. As of 2019,it was involved in some of the largest offshore wind farm projects in the United States.
Bluewater Wind is an energy company on the North Atlantic Coast,United States,and in the Great Lakes Region,United States,developing offshore wind energy projects. Bluewater's staff has experience in the wind,energy,environmental,finance,public policy,and marine sectors. Bluewater Wind was part of the Babcock &Brown family of companies. and become part of NRG Energy.
The U.S. state of Massachusetts has vast wind energy resources offshore,as well as significant resources onshore. The 2016 update to the states's Clean Energy and Climate Plan had a goal of reducing 1990 baseline greenhouse gas emissions levels by 25% by 2020. Current goals include installing 3,500 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind power in the state by 2035. However,as of Q4 2021 the state had only 120 MW of wind powered electricity generating capacity,responsible for generating 0.9% of in-state electricity production. The state has awarded contracts to two offshore projects,the 800 MW Vineyard Wind project and 804 MW Mayflower Wind project. Construction began on the Vineyard Wind 1 project on November 18,2021,after a long fight for approval. Commonwealth Wind was selected for development in 2021,but the developer has attempted to cancel the project due to increased costs. There are eight projects planned for off the southern coast of Massachusetts,though some will deliver power to Rhode Island,Connecticut,and New York.
Ahlquist v. Cranston,840 F. Supp. 2d 507,was a case where the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island ruled that a "School Prayer" banner posted in Cranston High School West was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution and ordered its removal. The suit was brought by Mark Ahlquist on behalf of his minor daughter Jessica Ahlquist,a student at the school,with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Jessica Ahlquist is an American activist and public speaker who filed a lawsuit in 2012 against Cranston High School West,where she was a student,to remove a religious prayer from its auditorium. The suit,Ahlquist v. Cranston,was filed with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union,and was ultimately decided in Ahlquist's favor. During the lawsuit,Ahlquist received hate mail and was verbally attacked by her peers,media outlets,and online. She received death threats,and required police escorts to and from classes. On the day following the ruling,Rhode Island State Representative Peter G. Palumbo spoke on a local radio show and referred to Ahlquist as "an evil little thing".
Block Island Wind Farm was the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States,located 3.8 mi (6.1 km) from Block Island,Rhode Island in the Atlantic Ocean. The five-turbine,30 MW project was developed by Deepwater Wind,now known as Ørsted US Offshore Wind.
Wind power in Rhode Island is in the early stages of development. There are several small scale wind turbine projects in the state. As of December 2013 there were 11 turbines at 10 sites in the state. In 2014,Rhode Island had 9 MW of installed wind power capacity,which quickly rose to 75 MW in 2019.
Wind power in Maryland,which has land-based and offshore resources,is in the early stages of development. As of 2016,Maryland has 191 megawatts (MW) of wind powered electricity generating capacity,responsible for 1.4% of in-state generated electricity. Two offshore wind farm projects that will supply wind-generated power to the state are underway.
South Fork Wind Farm is a utility-scale offshore wind farm on the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore Rhode Island,providing energy to New York state.
Vineyard Wind 1 is an offshore wind farm under construction in U.S. federal waters in the Atlantic Ocean in Bureau of Ocean Energy Management-designated Lease Area OCS-A 0520,about 13 nautical miles south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket,Massachusetts. The array is designed to include 62 Haliade-X wind turbines manufactured by GE Offshore Wind with a nameplate capacity of 804 MW combined,equivalent to the annual power use of 400,000 homes. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved the project in 2019. Construction began on November 18,2021. In October 2023,the first turbine was installed. Power from the first turbine started flowing into the ISO New England grid on January 2,2024. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2024.
Terri-Denise Cortvriend is an American politician,businesswoman,pilot,and yacht captain. She is a democratic member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives,and before that served as a member of the Portsmouth School Committee.
Empire Wind is a proposed utility-scale offshore wind farm on the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore New York. It will be located in Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) lease area OCS-A 0512 in the New York Bight about 15 miles (24 km) south of Jones Beach,Long Island.
Offshore wind power is in the early stages of development in the United States. In 2016,the United States Department of Energy estimated that the country has a gross resource potential of 10,800GW of offshore wind capacity,with a "technical" resource potential of 2,058GW. Offshore wind projects are under development in wind-rich areas of the East Coast,Great Lakes,and Pacific coast. The first commercial offshore wind farm,Block Island Wind Farm,began operation in 2016. As of 2017,about 30 projects totaling 24 gigawatts (GW) of potential installed capacity were being planned.