“Whales will bump their heads”

Exit Zero pointed the way to a delicious story about how the liberal elite of Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard is vigorously opposing plans to set up windmills in Nantucket Sound. This New York Times’ article is so full of great quotes, I strongly urge you to read the whole thing. Nothing can beat the bald-faced hypocritical squirming of Walter Cronkite:

Walter Cronkite squirmed a bit at this characterization [of his “not-in-my-backyard” position]. ''The problem really is Nimbyism,'' he admitted when I reached him by phone not long ago, ''and it bothers me a great deal that I find myself in this position. I'm all for these factories, but there must be areas that are far less valuable than this place is.'' With prodding, he suggested the deserts of California. Then, perhaps realizing that might be a tad remote to serve New England's energy needs, he added, ''Inland New England would substitute just as well.''
As we talked, his discomfort was so keen that he interrupted his thought and pleaded, ''Be kind to an old man,'' before summing up. ''We have a lot of interesting wildlife, like porpoises and whales,'' he said. ''It's a very important commercial fishing ground, and it's a marvelous boating area for recreational fishermen, for sailors. Last -- but this is not inconsequential -- it will be most unsightly for what is now open bay. Everybody will see it, anyone who wanders on the water, who has a home that faces the water.''

A very expensive home, right Walter? Just dump those windmills on the Western Massachusetts crowd – they’re not as important as us boaters.

Problem is, Walt, is that the “inland New England” crowd doesn’t want wind power either. This past week, the local art weekly here in the Pioneer Valley ran a letter to the editor from a resident of Florida, Massachusetts, which is up near the Mohawk Trail. In the letter, titled “Monstrosity on the Horizon”, one Charles Cutler also professes his love for renewable energy….someplace else.

Let me say at the outset that I'm totally in favor of renewable energy (a no-brainer), including, in some situations, wind power. But here's the hitch: In this pocket of northwestern Mass., ever vulnerable to rapacious development, we have to be profoundly skeptical about a project -- no matter how "green" in its intentions -- that might compromise the scenic beauty that's left. Wind farms, with their clear-cuts, oil-rig size towers, blades, beacons and God knows what else, are particularly suspect.

Thus, once again, the liberal ideology is stripped down to its bare form: sacrifice is for everybody else.