Cape Wind: Power trumps the powerful
The Cape Wind project plans 130 wind turbines, each extending 400 feet above the water, in plain view of some of the priciest real estate in the country.
For once, the elite lost, said Mark Clayton in The Christian Science Monitor. “After nearly a decade of battles pitting Massachusetts’ Cape and island residents, Indian tribes, and influential politicians against one another and project developers,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last week approved the nation’s first offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound. The Cape Wind project plans 130 wind turbines, each extending 400 feet above the water, in plain view of some of the priciest real estate in the country—the summer playgrounds of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket. The windmills, expected to produce electricity to power roughly 200,000 homes, were opposed at every step by “wealthy, waterfront property owners who cared more about their private distant ocean view” than about America’s energy security, said Walter Brooks in Cape Cod Today. Affluent hypocrites, aided by local politicians “beholden” to them and to their fellow millionaire Ted Kennedy, opposed the plan, even though “99.9 percent of all the residents of Cape Cod” will never see those turbines six miles out at sea—unless they’re invited for cocktails at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport.
We’re “huge fans of wind power,” said the Boston Herald in an editorial, “but in the appropriate place and at a sustainable cost. Cape Wind fails on both these scores.” The enormous turbines will be visually intrusive and interfere with fishing, pleasure boating, and maritime traffic. Due to the high engineering costs of sea-based wind power, “this will be among the most expensive sources of energy ever devised by mankind.” Environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says Cape Wind–generated electricity will cost 27 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared with an average electricity-generating cost of 12 cents. And the cost will only rise as this legal battle goes into “extra innings.” Despite Salazar’s announcement that “this is the final decision” of the government, “it ain’t over till it’s over.”
In other words, “gentlemen, start your lawsuits,” said Neil Steinberg in the Chicago Sun-Times. The waterfront worthies of Nantucket Sound simply won’t tolerate windmills on their horizon—even if the project has been studied exhaustively for nine years now. How sad: If we are ever to break our dependence on foreign oil, collective sacrifice is required. But in “gazing out to sea, reflecting on the splendor of their lives,” some folks manage never to lose sight of their own righteous sense of entitlement.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
The unparalleled leader of the gentle parenting movement
In the Spotlight Dr. Becky became the face of a revolution in how we treat our children
By David Faris Published
-
One Great Cookbook: Madhur Jaffrey's 'Vegetarian India'
The Week Recommends The 2015 tome will reshape how you think about both vegetables and Indian food
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
How to find someone you trust to help with retirement planning
Speed Read Prepare for your golden years
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published