Read the other candidates’ statements: Treasurer Tim Cahill, Gov. Deval Patrick, Dr. Jill Stein.

Let me just start by saying that we live in unprecedented times in Massachusetts. There are 300,000 people out of work; 100,000 have lost their jobs over the course of the past four years. You look at any of the data, the consumer confidence index, job generation, job data, and it indicates a very long and slow and painful process for Massachusetts to get back on its feet and for all of those people out of work to get back to work.

When you’re in a state that has the fourth highest electricity cost, and in many cases, usually, land somewhere between 40th and 47th  with regard to the cost of doing business, and as I travel around the state and talk to business, after business, after business, about the high cost of doing business in Massachusetts, I can’t possibly, on an issue like this, come down on the side of going forward.

There are three reasons why Cape Wind is not a good idea. The first is no financial harm. That should be rule number one with regard to electricity policy at this point in time in Massachusetts. Number two: we need to be transparent about the cost of a lot of our green initiatives,  which we currently are not. And they ought to be put through the same competitive process that most of the programs and policies have to go through to justify their value and their worth. And the third is, I’m all for diversification when it comes to diversifying our energy mix and our electricity mix. Cape Wind is not a diversification strategy. It’s a big bet strategy.

Now with respect to the cost, six hundred million dollars in state and federal tax credits to make this thing work from a construction point of view that’s right in the agreement. Eight hundred million dollars in rate-payer subsidies to buy fifty percent of the power. If you add the other fifty percent in, it’s going to get a lot bigger. With regard to competition and transparency, no one really will know what the true cost of Cape Wind is to them as a business or as a resident, here in Massachusetts because of the way the current system is set up.

And as far as diversification strategy is concerned, there are lots of options out there I hope we talk about many of them today, most of which are cheaper than Cape Wind.

Charlie Baker is the Republican candidate for Governor.