Cape Wind Wrangles Salazar

So, with all of the coverage of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's visit to the Cape Wind site and all of the photos ops with the Secretary sporting his trademark cowboy hat and boots standing shoulder to shoulder with members of the Wampanoag tribe, how is it that every major news outlet VT has seen failed to miss the whole cowboys vs. indians comparison? How!

Yeehaw! Wind, Wind!And what makes anyone think that this cowboy is going to give these indians any say over whether this wind farm project goes ahead? He's a cowboy! They are indians! It's over. Check out today's Washington Post: "The worst thing we can do for the country is to be in a state of indecision, and this application has been in a state of indecision for a very long time," said Salazar, who came to see the proposed site of the Cape Wind project and to meet with tribes that oppose it.

With many other obstacles resolved, including the wind farm's potential hindrance to navigation and fishing and harm to birds, the tribes represent the project's latest challenge: They practice a sunrise ritual every morning on the sound and say they may have artifacts buried beneath the seabed. They have managed to qualify the sound for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, which could restrict its commercial use.

Salazar got up before dawn Tuesday to observe a site where the Mashpee Wampanoag's sunrise ceremony takes place before meeting with representatives of the Aquinnah and the Mashpee tribes.

He said that although his department is trying to broker a deal between the tribes and Energy Management, the company seeking to build the farm, "I'm not holding my breath for a consensus." And if the two sides cannot resolve their differences, he said, he will do it himself by April...(more)