An Offshore Energy Rig I Can Get Behind
Finally after 9 years, the Cape Wind farm has now been approved.
Why did it take nearly a decade to approve a plan to build offshore windmills -- clean, sustainable energy -- when all it took to get Obama to roll over and approve offshore oil drilling was a few repetitive three-word chants? As I saw it, despite the endorsement of nearly every environmentalist and clean energy group, the approval was largely blockaded by wealthy residents concerned that the windmills were going to disrupt their precious ocean view.
I'm glad that reason and the greater good finally won out on this one, because I was getting really sick of people yammering about "preserving the natural beauty" of the waters. Oh, sure, let's preserve the natural beauty in your multi-million-dollar backyard -- and if it means a few more fire and spill-prone rigs in the Gulf, or some more nuke plants up in the hills well then... meh! (Never mind that you've literally built those houses on sand and are disrupting natural processes anyway by trying to keep them from eroding, but I digress.)
What really boggled me about this is the idea that these windmills would be such an eyesore. I mean, FFS, they're windmills, not billboards, not smokestacks, not shipping lanes, but windmills. How the hell is it that the lighthouses that tower over the Cape Cod coastline are "quaint and charming" but windmills are offensive? Only through complete lack of historical perspective I guess. Yeah, all those postcard photos from Holland of the tulip fields would be so beautiful if it weren't for those grotesque windmills in the background!
Unless you're the Man of La Mancha, I think there's just no reason to go attacking windmills.
Why did it take nearly a decade to approve a plan to build offshore windmills -- clean, sustainable energy -- when all it took to get Obama to roll over and approve offshore oil drilling was a few repetitive three-word chants? As I saw it, despite the endorsement of nearly every environmentalist and clean energy group, the approval was largely blockaded by wealthy residents concerned that the windmills were going to disrupt their precious ocean view.
I'm glad that reason and the greater good finally won out on this one, because I was getting really sick of people yammering about "preserving the natural beauty" of the waters. Oh, sure, let's preserve the natural beauty in your multi-million-dollar backyard -- and if it means a few more fire and spill-prone rigs in the Gulf, or some more nuke plants up in the hills well then... meh! (Never mind that you've literally built those houses on sand and are disrupting natural processes anyway by trying to keep them from eroding, but I digress.)
What really boggled me about this is the idea that these windmills would be such an eyesore. I mean, FFS, they're windmills, not billboards, not smokestacks, not shipping lanes, but windmills. How the hell is it that the lighthouses that tower over the Cape Cod coastline are "quaint and charming" but windmills are offensive? Only through complete lack of historical perspective I guess. Yeah, all those postcard photos from Holland of the tulip fields would be so beautiful if it weren't for those grotesque windmills in the background!
Unless you're the Man of La Mancha, I think there's just no reason to go attacking windmills.