An op-ed in today's New York Times by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., An Ill Wind Off Cape Cod, argues against the creation of a windfarm in Nantucket Sound, off the coast of Massachusetts.
AS an environmentalist, I support wind power, including wind power on the high seas. I am also involved in siting wind farms in appropriate landscapes, of which there are many. But I do believe that some places should be off limits to any sort of industrial development. I wouldn't build a wind farm in Yosemite National Park. Nor would I build one on Nantucket Sound, which is exactly what the company Energy Management is trying to do with its Cape Wind project.
I too have been opposed to the Cape Wind project ever since I read about it. Kennedy's article is worth reading to consider what would be lost by placing turbines in the Sound, and it's not just the view. I remember taking the slow ferry (and only ferry at the time) to Nantucket as a kid and reaching that point where you couldn't see the land behind and you couldn't yet see Nantucket ahead. I felt like I was out in the middle of nowhere, only ocean in all directions. It was thrilling and exhilarating and scary all at once; I knew I was actually going someplace. Seeing, "130 giant turbines whose windmill arms will reach 417 feet above the water," from the ferry would certainly change the trip. Save the Sound and build them further off shore. Save the birds and the fish and the whales and the local fishing industry. And save too the sense of adventure for those traveling to the Far-Away Island.