THE SURPRISING ENEMIES OF WIND

Robert Whitcomb is the co-author of “Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound”. He is clearly determined to make the process of claiming their privilege as uncomfortable as he can for the wealthy residents of the Cape Cod shoreline.

U.S. Wind Power’s Bipartisan Opponents
Robert Whitcomb, September 10, 2007 (The Globalist)

WHO
Jim Gordon, CEO, Energy Management, Inc. (developers of Cape Wind); Glenn Wattley, CEO, Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound; William Koch, Douglas Yearley, Ted Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and others aligned with the Alliance

Nantucket Sound and environs (click to enlarge)

WHAT
The rich and influential have used their wealth and influence to prevent the development of Cape Wind, an offshore wind energy project

WHEN
The battle over the project continues.

WHERE
Cape Wind would be in Nantucket Sound, off the south coast of Cape Cod. The project is located so far out into the sound that, according to the article’s author, the tips would only be visible a half-inch above the horizon from the shore line.

WHY
- The citizens of Massachusetts favor the project.
- Reisdents have spent $20 million to prevent it, claiming it would drive down property values. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., contends it would harm local fishing and drive away tourists. This is contrary to what has happened adjacent to European offshore wind energy developments.
- Scientists, regulatory agencies and environmental organizations, including the Audubon Society, studied the objections of the Alliance and rejected them.

A view from the beach. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Whitcomb: “America’s elites like to exercise their power quietly and effectively — but, if need be, also ruthlessly.”
- Whitcomb: “All in all, the Cape Wind saga is a microcosm of how power is exercised in the United States of America. Ultimately, it is a saga of hypocrisy and arrogance that is, by turns, amusing — and very sad indeed to chronicle in a purported democracy.”

In the comments section below, a dissatisfied reader accuses NewEnergyNews of inadequate research. This is a newsblog, an attempt to assimilate relevant stories and present them with a little added value. NewEnergyNews is often entirely dependent on its original sources for factual content and it always references those sources. In the case of Cape Wind, there are probably no better sources than Robert Whitcomb and Wendy Williams.

HOWEVER, the reader requests that the Cape Wind website be consulted. Here it is: The Cape Wind website is a more unadulteratedly enthusiastic proponent of Cape Wind than even NewEnergyNews could be.

Then there was The Daily Show's Report on Cape Wind.