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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (191569)	7/13/2006 6:14:22 PM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Good question. Where do those lines come from?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (191569)	7/13/2006 7:26:34 PM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Thoughts? Cape Cod elite fights to halt wind farm Massachusetts' liberal leaders and residents are accused of a 'not in my backyard' mentality, writes Rebecca Knight. By REBECCA KNIGHT 798 words 7 July 2006 Financial Times Asia Ed1 Page 5 The legendary fair winds off Nantucket Sound are blowing up a commotion these days for some of America's most prominent politicians. The political battle over a proposal to build a 24 square mile (62 sq km) wind power installation along the coastline of Cape Cod, the beloved seaside resort of Massachusetts' liberal elites, has drawn opposition from some of the best-known political leaders in the state, including Senator Ted Kennedy. Some observers say the fight smacks of a not-in-my-backyard mentality. "It doesn't appear that there's any compelling reason for opposing this other than aesthetics," says Bruce Wallin, a political science professor at Northeastern University in Boston who studies Massachusetts politics. "On an emotional level, this is an important part of the world for Kennedy and his brothers, but it does seem rather narrow minded." The Dollars 1bn (Euros 784m, Pounds 544m) project, proposed by Cape Wind Associates, calls for 130 windmills whose turbines and blades would rise nearly 420 feet above the water and would significantly change the iconic view of Nantucket Sound. The cluster of windmills would be about eight miles from Mr Kennedy's home in Hyannis Port. But Mr Kennedy is not the only politician in the state who objects to the plan. Mitt Romney, the Republican governor considering a run for his party's presidential nomination in 2008, is against the wind farm. So too are most candidates running to succeed Mr Romney, including Tom Reilly, Massachusetts' Democratic attorney general. The dispute over the project, which is now working its way through the regulatory pipeline, has been going on locally for more than five years, but received national attention recently after Mr Kennedy tried to advance federal legislation that would have given the governor "of the adjacent state" - Massachusetts - power to veto it. The site of the proposed wind farm, an area known as Horseshoe Shoal between Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, is unusual because it is federal land surrounded by state waters. Mr Kennedy, who says he is a supporter of wind energy, maintains he is not opposed to the plant because it would be near his Cape Cod home. Rather, he believes the project poses dangers to the area's ecosystem, maritime navigation and the Cape's tourism-based economy. He has since withdrawn his support for a governor's veto in place of giving the Coast Guard the final say over whether the wind farm is constructed. That authority was approved by Congress last week. Cape Wind says that the gusty Massachusetts coastline is the perfect spot for the first offshore wind energy project in the US. It says the wind farm would bring high-paying jobs to the area, reduce harmful air pollutants including greenhouse gases and generate three-quarters of the electricity now used on the Cape and the islands. The company portrays its detractors as well-heeled, well-connected elitists who may support renewable energy in theory but take a not-in-my-backyard stance when it comes to the scenic view from their oceanfront homes. "At its core, the basis for a lot of the opposition is aesthetic," says Mark Rodgers of Cape Wind. "There's a tendency for opponents to use other issues as proxy issues because they're self- conscious about not wanting to be seen as 'nimby'." Charles Vinick, the president and chief executive of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, which was formed to oppose the plan, insists that opposition to the project is not purely aesthetic. "Of course that's part of it, for the land owners and the home owners, and for the people who use the beach. It's a very important issue but it's not the only issue." He says many organisations, including local chambers of commerce, commercial fishing groups and boating associations, have voiced opposition because the proposed project poses threats to public safety and tourism. "Nantucket Island is a designated historic district and when we begin to industrialise it, we change its character." While polls say the majority of people in Massachusetts support the project, opponents, who include residents and business leaders with ties to the Cape and islands, have raised millions of dollars for their cause. They represent a "well-funded operation", according to Sue Reid, a lawyer at the Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental group that supports the project. "They have been able to buy influence way beyond what any other grassroots organisation could possibly do. We are up against a particularly wealthy constituency that has the ability to wage a scorched-earth battle."