Wind Turbines

Wind turbines keep popping up.  30 years ago you’d be hard pressed to find one in New England.  Today they’re seemingly everywhere.  And yet the New England states lag far behind other states like Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Illinois, New York, California and Oregon.  That middle swath of the country is all prairie, the land is cheap and the wind plentiful.  That’s a great recipe for wind turbines.

New England is working to catch up.  There are plenty of wind turbines popping up.  But solar seems to be the green energy of choice.  Which is funny when you think about the number of sunny days versus the number of windy days.  Wind just seems like a logical choice.

The biggest wind farm project in New England was Cape Wind, an offshore wind farm situated south of Cape Cod that would have produced 468MW from 130 turbines.  But it was in the wrong place.  The rich people in Nantucket and Hyannis objected to the prospect of looking out from their beachside mansions and seeing wind turbines.  So after 16 years the Cape Wind project was cancelled.  And billionaires celebrated.

When I look out at Buzzards Bay in Pocasset, I can see eight wind turbines that were built in Wareham and Bourne.  Have they changed the view?  Absolutely.  But I don’t mind seeing them.  To me wind turbines represent a sustainable future state.  I hope my grandchildren and great-grandchildren have a world worth living in.  And I wonder about people who think only of themselves and the view they have.  Selfish narcissist bastards I believe.  There are way too many of those inhabiting the world nowadays.