A Very Mighty Wind

What happens when millions of gallons of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico, threatening environmental destruction and the loss of thousands of jobs? You'd think that a move toward renewable energy -- such as the Obama administration's go-ahead last week for the Cape Wind project off the coast of Nantucket and Cape Cod -- would be met with much fanfare.

Well, things didn't work out as planned. Several constituencies are planning to pursue lawsuits to block the development of the 130-turbine wind farm, which is projected to produce 75 percent of the region's energy needs and reduce carbon emissions by 735 thousand tons every year. Even newly elected Tea Party Senator Scott Brown is opposed to the wind farm. I suppose that he hasn't figured out how to fuel his ol' pickup truck with wind.

This opposition is NIMBYism at its worst. The Gulf area is going to be dealing with a catastrophic event for years to come, with untold economic ramifications. It's amazing that anyone remains unwilling to make bold progress in safe, renewable energy development that will prevent similar catastrophes from happening again.

Would these same groups oppose wind farms in Detroit, Gary, or even New Orleans?

Jonathan A. Schein is president/CEO of ScheinMedia, publisher of MetroGreenBusiness.com

 

Follow Jonathan A. Schein on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jaschein

Comments

[FunkUniversity]

11:14 PM on 05/05/2010

Wow, i guess you can't ruin the land in Mexico - no corn or soybeans fields there. There are in central Illinois, however.

Check out an excellent story at:

http://funks2.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/____________windfarms__________________-seemed-like-such-a-great-idea-until-they-showed-up-near-my-house/

[jonfoxrun]

01:23 AM on 05/07/2010

As the Gulf Oil Tragedy worsens, two things occur to me. First is the ineptitude of humans to control outcomes of their mechanical invasions upon Mother Earth. Second is the vulnerability of waters to this destructive folly. In a genuine lack of wisdom, the US has once again decided to go beyond where it should go - this time by Salazar approving Cape Wind. He just slated Nantucket Sound's fragile ecosystem for an electrical service platform with a helicopter pad, fuel, transformer oil, greases, and industrial lubricants - tens of thousands of gallons of them about 4 miles offshore in those waters. With an increase in predicted severe weather events already taking place, prospects of nor'easters on steroids just doesn't bode well for offshore wind farms in their path. Has Mr. Salazar and Minerals Management just made a budgetary decision on how to kill the waters? Why use premium crude oil when tens of thousands of gallons of alternative industrial fluids will work just as well? People, offshore wind farms are not benign pinwheels. They are industrial power plants that can pollute just as much as any man-made beast. Our life-giving waters should not be squandered like this.