Wednesday, October 29, 2008

A Dummy’s Guide to Good Investments: Open Space and Farmland

By Chip Young

Approve Rhode Island Bond Question #2

Let’s do a little street corner commerce.  Here’s the deal: You’ve got $2.50, you give it to me, and you get back $10 worth of nice property.  How’re ya doin’?  Right.  Now let’s up the ante.  You give me $2.5 million, and I give you back $10 million worth of beautiful and agriculturally useful property.  Now how’s that working out for you?

That is the kind of investment and payoff that Rhode Islanders can realize by passing Question 2 on this November’s ballot, the $2.5 million Open Space and Recreational Development Bond.  (Ignore the typically bureaucratic wording, what we are discussing is the conservation of primarily farmlands and other high priority open spaces.)

The bond money will generate three times the base amount in matching funds, providing a total of $10 million to protect Rhode Island communities’ special open spaces for eternity. (I admittedly have so many full disclosures to make on the side of this request it wouldn’t fit in this space, but common sense is common sense.)  Rhode Island’s voters have always realized what a solid economic investment environmental bonds are: an environmental bond has never failed to pass on a statewide or local ballot, being approved with an average of more than two-thirds support at the state level, with some local bonds for open space funding passing by 98 percent (West Greenwich) and 100 percent (Jamestown) in the past two years.  Think a politician would enjoy having a two-thirds majority, never mind a unanimous election?  That’s called a mandate.
I know times are tough, but you are never going to get a better bang for your buck—it is a winning investment for you and the kids of today and tomorrow. But if you don’t believe me, how about a bipartisan appeal below from two of our favorite former governors, Joe Garrahy and Linc Almond?

MAKING AN INVESTMENT ON SOLID GROUND
The 2008 Open Space and Recreational Development Bond
By J. Joseph Garrahy and Lincoln C. Almond

Who hasn’t marveled at Rhode Island’s sparkling coasts, rolling farmlands and centuries-old hand built walls?  Our state’s open space and farms exemplify the natural, historical and scenic qualities that make living here special.

No question but that this is a time of economic uncertainty.  Yet, this fall Rhode Islanders can make an investment that is literally on solid ground: a commitment to preserving the farms and open space lands that give the state its invaluable quality and character—irreplaceable, hard assets.

The $2.5 million Open Space and Recreational Development Bond on the ballot in November will help preserve our unique heritage.  The bond money will generate three times that amount in matching funds, providing a total of $10 million to protect our communities’ special open spaces for future generations.  Remaining natural areas and farmlands are disappearing across the state, and opportunities that are not seized upon will be lost forever.  The time to act is now. 

Open space and farmland enhance quality of life in Rhode Island.  They grow our food.  They protect our drinking water supplies and fisheries from pollution.  They are places where Rhode Islanders can hike, fish and play.

Did you know that farming is a $100 million industry in Rhode Island?  Our farms offer employment, create and boost related services, and improve the general business atmosphere.  Farms bring benefits to every community, urban, suburban or rural.  The food programs in 28 of Rhode Island’s school districts provide children with locally-grown food.  Farm stands and community gardens help working farmers, and bring fresh, nourishing produce to citizens statewide throughout the year, without using lots of fuel to transport goods across the country.

The Open Space bond funds—and the matching funds they attract—are also used to create and expand the parks, beaches, recreational facilities and management areas enjoyed by the public.  These are the places where we and our children unwind; they are the iconic or hidden spots that offer sustenance and shade, beauty, respite and recreation.

There’s an old expression about a financial deal that is so safe and smart that it is “as solid as the ground on which you are standing.”  That is the case when we invest in Rhode Island’s hardworking farmers and the lands they cultivate, and the open spaces that define what it is to be a Rhode Islander.  Every year that passes there is less farmland and open space left to conserve, and fewer chances to preserve and protect the benefits that accompany these acres. 

Make a solid investment in the future that will grow in value year by year, and vote to approve Question 2 for Open Space and Recreational Development Bond on Election Day.  You will be on very solid ground when you do.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Wind Energy Blows Into Rhode Island

By Chip Young

State’s ocean zoning will serve as a national model

First off, apologies for the play on words regarding wind energy in the headline, as the quota for those sorts of idiotic indulgences has been reached and breached.  It is evidently required by U.S. Internet Rule #3 governing blogs.

OK, let’s get serious.  Because Rhode Island’s entrance into the playing field of offshore renewable energy through a proposed wind farm is indeed very serious.  It is also very exciting.

For full disclosure, I am part of the team from the University of Rhode Island working on the Ocean Special Area Management Plan (O-SAMP), which will be zoning the ocean waters where the possibility of siting a wind farm exists, and evaluating those areas for their potential.  The areas being studied are delineated in the map above within the red lines, along with a breakout (yellow lines) of what are state waters, versus those under federal jurisdiction.  The O-SAMP work is under the direction of the Coastal Resources Management Council, being led by its executive director, Grover Fugate.  The team itself includes dozens of leading experts from the University of Rhode Island and its Graduate School of Oceanography, as well as members from Roger Williams University.  As the various stakeholder, science and legal advisory groups are formed, there will also be wide and deep public involvement in the process.

One of the most important things to know about the whole offshore wind energy initiative the state is involved in is the distinct separation—a firewall, if you will—between the science and research being conducted by the O-SAMP team, and the policy and financial side, which involves the Governor’s Office, the state Office of Energy Resources and the R.I. Economic Development Corporation.  “We have already had discussions with the Governor and his office, who are in agreement that this process has to be independent and scientifically-based,” said Fugate of the O-SAMP effort.

The provision of information and communication among all parties and the public will be a priority.  For current information and ongoing updates on the progress of the science and research work see the O-SAMP web site.  For further information on the O-SAMP, contact Monica Allard Cox at (401) 874-6015, or via e-mail at:oceansamp@gso.uri.edu. Please take the time to learn about and get involved in this very progressive effort, which has enormous ramifications for the future.

A developer has already been chosen, Deepwater Wind, a New Jersey firm.  One of the requirements of the O-SAMP process requires the developer to reimburse the state for the cost of the research and science work that will be undertaken to determine possible sites for a wind farm.

The eyes of the country will be on Rhode Island as the O-SAMP process plays out, as the state is already in the lead nationally in zoning its ocean waters, and the streamlined process that is in place with CRMC in the lead can make the initiative a more efficient—while being thoroughly equitable and accountable—process than those in other states that are taking on this alternative energy challenge.

Stay tuned.