NIMBY Jackass

Robert Kennedy doesn't want people to look at him and see an out-of-touch idealist. He just doesn't want his sailing grounds off Nantucket to be home to an icky wind farm.

It would distract from the beautiful sunrises that the Kennedy clan has enjoyed for a century. Boats would have to go around it. And it would kill birds.

But Kennedy would tolerate the diverted boat traffic and the dead birds if he didn't have to see it. Can't we put it somewhere else where it might affect poorer people - not me?

Kennedy demonstrates that "out-of-touch" is exactly what he is:

As an environmentalist, I support wind power, including wind power on the high seas. I am also involved in siting wind farms in appropriate landscapes, of which there are many. But I do believe that some places should be off limits to any sort of industrial development. I wouldn't build a wind farm in Yosemite National Park. Nor would I build one on Nantucket Sound, which is exactly what the company Energy Management is trying to do with its Cape Wind project.

Pity. Too bad you can't put your wind farm in a ghetto.

I think wind power is great (but it is a shame about the birds). If some company wants to make a go of it making it economical, let them have a try (although I think expensive oil is more important to the growth of these companies than federal help).

But people like Kennedy will kill off the idea just about anywhere promising, just as they have done to nuclear power.
- posted by total @ 12/16/2005 02:31:00 PM .