Blowhards

Wall Street Journal ^ | January 24, 2009

[BAW]

For all the hype about the Bush Administration's oil-and-gas energy bias, one of its last official acts was to give the go-ahead to what could be America's first offshore wind farm -- thus enraging more than a few self-deputized environmentalists. Such are the ironies of the wilderness of mirrors known as the Cape Wind project.

For the last seven years and counting, the green entrepreneur Jim Gordon has been trying to build a fleet of wind turbines in federal waters near the upscale seascapes of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. The site seemed ideal, given the stiff ocean breezes and the eco-friendly politics in Massachusetts. The company says its 130 towers could meet 75% of the region's electricity needs and reduce carbon emissions by some 734,000 tons every year.

The sort of people who can afford to use "summer" as a verb are in favor of all that. Completely in favor, really. But they did want to raise one quibble. Unfortunately, the wind farm would create "visual pollution" in Nantucket Sound, particularly the parts within sight of their beachfront vacation homes.

Mr. Gordon went ahead anyway, and the opposition rose to gale force. Supposedly the wind farm will lead to everything from the disruption of seabird habitats to "desecrating ancient American Native burial sites," in the words of Glenn Wattley, the head of an antiwind outfit funded by the likes of Bunny Mellon. But what really upsets these well-to-do Don Quixotes is the thought of looking at windmills that would appear about as tall on the horizon as the thumbnail at the end of your outstretched arm.

Then there is the political saga, with the Kennedy family as the Hyannis Port Sopranos, supplying the muscle. While Ted Kennedy was castigating President Bush for destroying the environment . . .

[BAW]

Feeling snarky tonight. Another article on the wind farm off Ted Kennedy's coastline.

[pankot]

This ought to be brought up every time Fatboy or his inbred family starts making econut noises.

[nufsed]

coastline or waistline?

Let's Name it the Ted Kennedy memorial Wind and Hotair Facility.

[dianed]

Anybody know where the Kennedy compound sits in relation to the whirlygig project? There is a map posted on the report that follows...

http://www.mms.gov/offshore/AlternativeEnergy/PDFs/FEIS/ExecutiveSummary.pdf

[squidly]

The best kind of editorial is the kind that just lays out the facts and lets the reader draw the obvious conclusion. This one is just absolutely brutal.

[trailboss800]

“Blowhards”

Bill Clinton??

[Islander7]

the Hyannis Port Sopranos

Has a nice ring to it.