Public Affairs/Perseus Books May 2007

Not In My Backyard!

It’s a surprise when a book on environmental politics reads like a good whodunit or an exposé. Cape Wind, the first offshore wind farm proposed in the U.S., is the “big idea” of alternative energy developer Jim Gordon, who wants to place 130 wind turbines in a 25-square-mile area of Nantucket Sound, akin to offshore wind projects in Europe. But Gordon’s motivation to offer clean, large-scale renewable energy to New England’s overburdened power grid and to make a profit has met hurdle after hurdle since 2001, including coming up against Cape Cod’s power elite.

The wind farm developer never knew he’d be fighting a tough opposition made up of powerful old (and new) money individuals including members of the Mellon family, a myriad of wealthy homeowners on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket, many of whom are oil industry executives, Sen. Ted Kennedy and his formidable political muscle, and a raft of other influential politicians.

Cape Wind, in the hands of skillful authors Williams and Whitcomb, has a powerful “Wizard-of-Oz” plot with project opponents, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, maneuvering behind the curtains, pulling strings, and unexpectedly catalyzing those who knew the democratic process should not be for sale.

The anti-wind farm Alliance maintains that Cape Wind is a danger to the environment, a posture they effectively used to make it appear their opposition was not perceived as NIMBYism. In public meetings on the Cape, when talk of wind turbines first surfaced, the first reaction of the privileged was they did not want them in views from their homes, yacht clubs or sailboats. So according to the authors, former oil executive Doug Yearley (then president of the Alliance) set in motion an enormous PR campaign to make it appear as if the opposition was a grassroots effort more concerned about the environment than the aesthetics of their views and sailing grounds.

Wind developer Jim Gordon is described as steely and tenacious, never giving up the cause of innovative clean energy. Gordon’s working class upbringing and lifelong career in energy efficiency engineering and power generation (from gas to wood chips) add to his persona as a Rocky Balboa-like figure, never caving in as the opposition trashes the democratic process.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney played a key role for the opposition, some members of which were his major financial supporters and who owned expensive homes on Nantucket Sound. Touting his support for renewable energy projects on one hand, Romney denounced wind farms as unattractive and suggested placing them elsewhere — maybe in the Berkshires or other parts of his state.

Ditto for Kennedy, who opposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, yet was virulently against this renewable energy project whose backers said could supply 79 percent of the power needed for the Cape and islands’ daily energy demands without oil dependence and pollution. Cape Wind, they contended, could reduce the demand for oil for power generation and lessen the number of oil barges passing though nearby Buzzard’s Bay, which got a taste of disaster in 2003 when a barge spilled about 100,000 gallons of oil into its waters.

The authors highlight some odd alliances through what they call the “Seaside Civil War.” Greenpeace was talking to GE, the turbine manufacturers; conservative Republicans in Congress were listening to alternative energy advocates; labor worked with environmental leaders; the Bush administration’s Undersecretary of Energy agreed with New England electrical grid operators that offshore wind development was needed.

The players in this high drama were not just those invested in the fate of Nantucket Sound. From Gordon’s coalition of supporters, who were tired of dirty air from polluting power plants, to members of Congress, who were fueled by the opposition’s deep pockets for lobbying and buying favors, along with Sen. Kennedy’s and John Warner’s influence, the battlefield was broad.

For Cape Wind’s supporters, the project has become a symbol for the issues of climate change and cleaner air, renewable energy, and a battle for good governance. Author and Cape Cod resident Williams writes, “In my 30 years as a journalist, I had never seen such a brazen attempt to obstruct the democratic process.”

In March 2007, Massachusetts gave Cape Wind environmental approval; the federal review process will render a decision between 2008 and 2010.

A resident of Connecticut when she isn’t in Maine, Linda Beyus is a frequent contributor to Working Waterfront.