Opinion/Letters: Estimate of psychedelic tax revenue in Provincetown needs closer look

In a Times article concerning the recent vote of the Provincetown Select Board approving a resolution to decriminalization the use of psychedelic plants (Dec. 15), James Davis of Bay Staters for Natural Medicine presented the board a summary of the tax revenue as one of the benefits to the town of Provincetown.

I was struck by the significant amount of money that was presented to the Provincetown board. Davis reported, “Our economic analysis indicates this (decriminalization) could generate nearly $13 million a year in tax revenues for this municipality”.

Provincetown’s annual budget is approximately $35 million, so such a new revenue stream as suggested could be a windfall for the town.

Bourne heard similar although not such large forecasts of new revenue streams from the proponents who led the town to drop its ban on recreational marijuana sales. Claims of thousands of dollars for schools, teachers, public safety, etc. were discussed at Bourne's Special Fall Town Meeting. Ultimately the bylaw was removed by the voters and Bourne joined other towns in the recreational marijuana marketplace. Whether the revenue comes anywhere near the forecasted amount will remain to be seen. Marijuana retailers may be limited to perhaps 3% of their sales so large tax revenues are doubtful.

Such forecasting is always presented and rarely has the supporting economic analysis been available to back up the large and many times overzealous claims by the proponents. And for most voters, it is impossible to have such information available when asked to support such requests.

Stephen Mealy, Sagamore Beach, is a former Bourne Select Board member

The joy of giving is its own reward

Now more than ever, the need abounds in weary hearts for good news and renewed hope. Since retiring some years ago, I decided to put on a small Holiday fundraiser for Saint Jude’s. Since then, Cobwebb Farm in West Barnstable has enjoyed offering this festive event on the two weekends before Christmas. All of the setup and activities are done by volunteers; any donations are sent to Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital.

With our nation and the world in such trouble, which often seems only to be increasing, I wondered if our fundraiser would be able to continue helping children and their families in need. I couldn’t have been more surprised by the outpouring of willing help and contributions this year. However opportunity presents itself, it’s clear that the joy of helping others is its own reward. Even in the most difficult of times, it never ceases to renew faith in the goodwill of humanity and our ability and desire to be a part of it.

John Webb, West Barnstable

Action by Brewster residents protected Wing Island

The crucial impact of citizen action was highlighted recently at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History’s “Nature’s Night” dinner. Over 150 people were on hand to see the Friends of Wing Island (FOWI) receive a Nature’s Ambassador award for their successful efforts to stop the town of Brewster from building a large-scale boardwalk over Quivett Marsh to Wing Island.

Inspired by Liz Perry, a local artist, by the slogan “Stop the Boardwalk, Save Wing Island”, hundreds of local residents came together to organize community forums, put up signs along Route 6A, pass out flyers and engage with the community at the post office and dump. They went door to door to get the 200 signatures needed to call a special town meeting to bring the issue to a vote. Held on March 6, 800 people came to that meeting to set an attendance record, and to overwhelmingly vote against the project.

The result is far more than an unsightly boardwalk across the much-loved and iconic Quivett Marsh. It means the protection of Wing Island as a habitat for wildlife and the hundreds of birds who use it as a life-saving stopover on their long-distance migrations north and south. This is well documented by Sue Finnegan and her bird banding team for over 20 years.

Together, we won a victory of crucial and historic importance for preserving nature.

Mary O’Neil, Brewster, member of Friends of Wing Island

Cables under Dowses, Craigville beaches imperative to offshore wind projects

On Dec. 13, I attended via Zoom an informational presentation and Q&A session hosted by offshore wind developer Avangrid at the Osterville Library regarding Avangrid’s two proposed projects, which are slated to land cables at Craigville and Dowses beaches.

Within minutes of the start of the meeting, a leader in the “Save Greater Dowses” group began interrupting and talking over Avangrid's spokespeople and was corrected several times for making inaccurate statements. Another gentleman spoke with great passion about how cable burying efforts would mar “beautiful Wianno Avenue”, and said that, if the project went through, he would lay down in front of the construction equipment.

Avangrid officials, on the other hand, patiently, politely and logically described how each concern that was brought up had been thoroughly researched, with potential risks mitigated by well-tested methods and equipment.

My biggest takeaway from the meeting, besides the believability gap between the projects’ opponents and Avangrid officials, was that, if the cables cannot be landed at Craigville and Dowses, the projects might be dead forever because there may be no other viable cable landing sites. If that were the case, an opportunity to generate 2,000 megawatts of clean power, more than three times as much as the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station generated, would be wasted.

Please contact your elected officials and advocate for landing the cables at Craigville and Dowses. Getting these projects up and running ASAP is the right thing for Barnstable, Cape Cod, and the planet.

Scott McLane, Marstons Mills

Avangrid, Barnstable should work together on fail-safe plan to prevent leaks from cable piping

It's heartening to see regulators acknowledging the urgency of climate change by greenlighting renewable energy projects, such as Avangrid's latest offshore wind project. However, the concerns expressed by Barnstable should not be taken lightly. Two things are true: We need to develop cleaner energy sources, and we need to be environmentally vigilant at the local level.

That said, opposing projects like Park City Wind in the name of environmentalism is short-sighted. Climate change is the greatest environmental threat we’ve ever faced; we must move away from our dependence on fossil fuels to preserve a habitable world. Shifting toward greener renewable energy sources will necessitate bold moves, but that doesn’t mean we should allow recklessness. For instance, although measures are in place for potential dielectric fluid leaks in the Park City Wind project, the significant volume intended for storage calls for a robust, fail-safe mechanism to prevent potential ecological harm.

Let Avangrid work closely with the town of Barnstable to address these concerns before proceeding with this promising offshore wind power project.

Lili Flanders, Truro, is a member of the Truro Climate Action Committee.

Transporting freight to the Cape by rail should be an option

Mass Coastal Railroad says it helps keep trucks off Cape roads and bridges. That is an attention grabber as there certainly are a lot of trucks on both. It concerns Cape Codders for several reasons. It concerns us for their weight on bridges not built for freight. It concerns us when they reach our villages. It concerns us for their length when they round our intersections. Few Cape roads and bridges were meant for long and heavy trucks.

It appears that Mass Coastal carries no freight to Cape Cod. But a lot of freight comes here. When we built the 1930s Canal bridges, a different load balance was in effect. The bridges were built to that plan. Those are the bridges we have and will have for some time. Our roads are of the same era and limits.

A mode shift, putting some freight back on the rails, is worth considering. We are far from a consensus on building high-capacity Cape Cod Canal bridges. We are unlikely to look favorably on enlarging our county roads, our main streets, our village ways, our four-corner intersections. Could bulk loads be transferred to smaller trucks for local destinations? Are fuel oil and building materials candidates?

The status quo strikes me this way. Hauling waste is not much of a reason to devote the Cape rail corridor to such limited use. Nor does sending waste to some other state come across well in the world of social justice. Nor should it be a reason for the expense to the commonwealth to maintain the rails and crossings. Nor is it proven to be the best use of the corridor as opposed to opening it to the public who owns it.

John Carroll, Pocasset

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Letters: Provincetown psychedelic tax revenue needs closer look