Sunday, April 30, 2006

Ted Kennedy: Come Clean on Cape Wind

Anyone else glad to see the Globe focus some attention on Ted Kennedy's hypocrisy over wind energy?

Kennedy strongly defends his actions, saying there was nothing inconsistent or selfish about his motivations. He said he supports the concept of wind power, but he believes this proposal poses a serious threat to the state's fishing and tourism industries.
Really, Teddy?

It could also interfere with Coast Guard navigation and Federal Aviation Administration communications, Kennedy said.

That's why you want the Governor to have veto power over this project, because the Governor has so much to do with Federal agencies and the Coast Guard. I wonder why the Federal Government pushed this process forward if it posed such a threat?

The fact is that the Cape Wind project seems to offer almost 100% positives and no negatives. Don't believe the hype: it won't affect the tourism industries. People won't be able to see the project from most of the Cape and the Islands. Furthermore, from the parts where they will it will look no bigger than the thumb of a person's finger on the horizon.

The town I live in, Swampscott, used to be a leading tourist town as well (until all our hotels burned down). The towering skyscrapers of Boston, merely 12.5 miles away, didn't seem to stop people from coming to Swampscott back then.

Come Clean, Senator
''People ought to be worked up with how Cape Wind was able to get special provisions written in here," Kennedy said.
That sounds familiar: sort of like Senator Kennedy giving Cape Wind special, back door, treatments to kill the deal (that voters widely support) with an Alaskan Senator?

Senator Kennedy, stop being such a politician. Honesty is the best policy. You don't like Cape Wind because you're an elitist and it's near your coast. You clearly jumped on the bandwagon before you learned that this wasn't going to seriously transform the view from the horizon. Have you even considered that yet?

All your so-called reasons for rejecting this policy are total bull, the real reason is because this is in your backyard and there are a lot of very wealthy people from your area who don't want this project to move forward. At least have the human decency to level with the people and admit that if this project were off the coast of Gloucester, it probably would have seemed like a great idea to you.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Go, Ryan, Go! Don't let him get away with trying to excuse the inexcusable abuse of insider power.

Ryan said...

I would have so much more respect for him if he just was honest about this whole process.

It's really sad that Kennedy is on the wrong side of this issue - he's on the right side of so many health, education and poverty issues - but in reality, renewable energy is just as important as any of those.

Indeed, if the United States (and the rest of the world) doesn't start creating thousands of projects like Cape Wind it will be the end of the world as we know it. We're within a decade or two of the Global-Warming tipping point already.

William said...

I agree with you, but for one point of contention:
In all fairness, the skyscrapers in Boston aren't ugly, in fact they're rather pleasant to look at. For all the good these wind mill things will likely do, they are kinda' ugly.

Ryan said...

Have you seen any wind mills lately? Driving to campus from home - on 93, just south of Boston - there's an exceptionally beautiful wind mill.

Lastly, a thumb-sized inprint on the horizon to two or three areas in Cape Cod is going to be barely noticable - whether the wind mills are ugly or not.

William said...

The one on the southbound side in Dorchester? It's totally goofy looking. (Not that that justifies Kennedy's position, but clearly we have different tastes.)

Ryan said...

Oh, come now, it's beautiful, especially at night. Maybe I have wierd tastes or something? lol

NMG said...

Check out
www.counterwind.blogspot.com

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