Cuttyhunk Wants Some
The Globe must have some pretty sweet deal with Cape Wind investors. Either that or they are out to present both sides of the argument, whatever that's about. In today's edition the paper once again trots out wind loving Cuttyhunks(ers?) to say how much they love wind.
| Martha's Vineyard is populated by New York investment bankers and hedge fund operators. Cuttyhunk's residents are people who make an honest living. We should not be surprised that Vineyard people adopt the selfish, entitled, NIMBY attitude while Cuttyhunkers take the longer, more enlightened view....comment on Globe article |
By proxy it makes the "rich, literate, liberal, chardonnay sipping" inhabitants of our fair isle seem selfish and spoiled. From today's Globe: “I don’t think you can just say, ‘Not in my backyard,’ and expect that will be OK,’’ Brodeur said. “If I had my preference, I’d choose not to see them. But I understand the needs of the state, and if it’s not in my backyard, it would have to be in somebody else’s. We can’t close our eyes and think we’re more special than anyone else.’’
By year’s end, the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs is expected to complete an ocean management plan and decide whether to allow wind farms in the area. The draft plan includes 100 turbines about 3 miles off the southern coast of Martha’s Vineyard in waters along the wildlife refuge and former Navy bombing range Nomans Land. Another 66 turbines are proposed off the southwestern coast of Cuttyhunk.
If the state approves the sea-based wind farms, there may still be years before turbines loom over Vineyard Sound. Any project would have to undergo a rigorous environmental review, a long permitting process, and possible litigation, as has happened with the Cape Wind project planned for federal waters off Cape Cod.
Among the obstacles the proposed wind farms would have to overcome is the vocal opposition on Martha’s Vineyard, where fishermen have complained about possible threats to fisheries, homeowners have protested the damage to their views, and real estate agents have bemoaned the potential hit to property values.
A recently formed group of Vineyard residents called Let Vineyarders Decide has protested the state plan. It has crafted an online petition that has attracted scores of residents, who have signed their names and posted comments about the potential wind farms.Continued...