Plans to build the first significant offshore wind farm in the U.S. have spawned a great deal of controversy. When fully operational, Cape Wind would generate 75% of Cape Cod’s electricity, and would reduce a volume of greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking 162,000 cars off the road (or eight or nine Hummers).
Enter Rep. Don Young (R-AK). When Alaska votes for Congress, they have proven they value “crotchetiness” above most other factors. While Stevens is holding his own on the crotchety scale, moping and pouting up a storm over his failed ANWR drilling bid last December, Young has the crotchety market cornered. When he was pressured to let his Glorious Bridge to Nowhere funds get used to rebuild New Orleans, he famously said of Katrina victims, “They can kiss my ear!”
Now Alaska’s sole representative and admitted ear fetishist Young has attached an amendment to the House version of the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act (HR. 889) that would effectively kill the Cape Wind project. It has little to do with the Coast Guard, and nothing to do with Alaska. It’s exactly the kind of behind-the-scenes slippery manipulation for deep-pocketed cronies (like, say, the oil industry) that makes the public despise Washington.
When asked what his problem is with the windmills, Don got a crazed look in his eyes and insisted they’re giants sent by an evil enchanter. He vowed to row out into Nantucket Sound and personally fire arrows at them if the project goes through, and then burst into an impromptu rendition of “The Quest (Impossible Dream)” from “Man of La Mancha” on the floor of the House.
Surprisingly, some enviro groups have also expressed reservations about Cape Wind. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent environmentalist, has been outspoken in his disapproval of the project.
In his [New York Times] op-ed, Kennedy contended that "[h]undreds of flashing lights to warn airplanes away from the turbines will steal the stars and nighttime views. The noise of the turbines will be audible onshore ... [and] the project will damage the views from 16 historic sites and lighthouses on the cape and nearby islands."
He did suggest that he might change his mind if they used giant, colorful pinwheels to make the view more aesthetically pleasing.
The Wind and the Willful (Grist)