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Ah yes, and who can deny the class and dignity they add to the neighborhood... |
Posted on 09/01/2003 5:31:48 PM PDT by blam
Cronkite pulls plug on fight against giant wind farm
By Marcus Warren in Hyannis, Cape Cod
(Filed: 02/09/2003)
An alliance of East Coast liberals opposed to the building of the world's largest wind farm within sight of their holiday homes has been shaken by the defection of "the most trusted man in America".(sic)
The change of heart by Walter Cronkite, the legendary broadcaster, deprives the campaign of its front man and most revered supporter.
Other opponents of the project include the Kennedy clan and its patriarch, Senator Edward Kennedy, and the historian David McCullough, but none can compete for authority with the veteran journalist once celebrated as "Uncle Walter".
All live or have second homes in the area, the fashionable summer playground of Martha's Vineyard, a favourite of the Clintons, Nantucket and Cape Cod, overlooking the farm's planned site.
Their well publicised liberal politics and the outbreak of what appears to be a classic case of "not-in-my-backyard" hypocrisy have also exposed them to sneering accusations of double standards.
Embracing alternative energy at cocktail parties is one thing, backing it on one's own doorstep is quite another, the mockers point out with glee.
The about-face by Mr Cronkite, 86, acknowledged the charges of "Nimbyism" but also added new passion to the debate raging over the wind farm.
If approved, the project would plant dozens of towers more than 400 feet tall in the shallows of Horseshoe Shoal, almost equidistant between the Vineyard and Nantucket, both islands, and the Cape.
Were it up and running today, the complex of 130 giant turbines would be the biggest wind farm in the world and generate enough energy to power most of the surrounding area, New England's most famous resort.
Mr Cronkite, who has a house on Martha's Vineyard, stopped short of backing the wind farm outright. But he announced last week that he would wait for a government report before making up his mind.
"As an ardent environmentalist I have been uneasy about my strong statement that did not include my belief that wind power must be harnessed," he said after meeting the head of the company behind the farm, Cape Wind Associates.
His U-turn forced the campaign against the farm to scrap radio and television advertisements starring the broadcaster, described by his employer, CBS, at the peak of his career as "the most trusted man in America". It also marked a dramatic reversal of the position he voiced in a newspaper column only days earlier.
He wrote: "Since I won't like the look of that vast field of towers; and I won't like their interference with glorious sailing in the Sound; and I will worry about the wildlife, including porpoises and whales and several birds of endangered species on their annual migrations; I'm opposed to the project."
However, the column, published a week ago, also hinted at his discomfort and a possible change of mind. "I find myself a nimbyist, abashedly, and perhaps only temporarily," he said.
Senator Kennedy, whose family have taken holidays at their compound at Hyannis Port for decades, now emerges as the farm's most prominent foe. He too seems sensitive to charges of "nimbyism". He said last month: "Far more is at stake in the decision than our backyards."
Succeeding Mr Cronkite as the star of the anti-wind farm commercials will be the Pulitzer-prize-winning historian, Mr McCullough, who lives on the Vineyard all year round.
"I'm not against wind turbines," he said recently. "I'm against 130 of them over 400 feet tall right smack in the middle of one of the most beautiful places in America."
Ah yes, there is no other beauty in America than in liberal Mecca. How I despise those people!
What a load of horse hockey. This is nothing more than "Uncle Walter" trying to shake off the hypocrisy charges. He's already made up his mind that he's against the wind farm, but by claiming to wait until the government report comes out, he appears to be "fair and impartial", waiting for all the information before making up his mind. And of course, if the government report says the wind farm is okay for Cape Cod, "Uncle Walter" has yet another opening to assail the Bush Administration for putting out a bogus report that his energy buddies wrote so they can continue to destroy the environment.
The only thing really enlightening in this article is the total cluelessness of the liberal media being put so blatantly on display. These guys are actually incredulous that some people might see hypocrisy in a bunch of limosine liberals accusing us "little people" of supporting terrorism because some of us choose to drive cars they don't like, yet when an energy source they consider acceptable is proposed for their area, they fight it tooth and nail. This just flummoxes the presstitutes.
Nope. I read this about the wind turbines in California.
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Ah yes, and who can deny the class and dignity they add to the neighborhood... |
Now OTOH, if a company proposed to bring power to Cape Cod by building a giant, soot-belching, coal-fired power plant in say, Birmingham, Alabama, Uncle Walter and his liberal bootlickers wouldn't utter a peep. After all, it's not like they're ever going to go to Birmingham.
It's amazing that wind farms will be placed in the windiest places in the world. Can't they put them in some valley in West Virginia where nobody can see them? /sarcasm
-PJ
LOL. The enviro-nuts are a real crackup. Don't build houses, don't build coal or nuke plants, don't thin the forest or build fire roads. But it's a-ok to cover millions of acres with big, ugly windmills and solar cells, as long as it's NIMBY. Liberalism is a mental illness.
Walter probably changed his mind because of his age. He knows he'll croak sooner or later, then it won't be his problem.
You are probably right. We have one nearby in Hull, Mass. and it does not spin fast even on a windy day.
Also I would expect there would be a way of regulating the rotating speed in really high winds, so that it doesn't over-rev. - Tom
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