Resources / Book of the Month

If you ever wondered why our elected reps don’t seem to accomplish much of consequence and are only interested in silly things, this book will explain much. It’s the story of an entrepreneur who wanted to build a wind farm off Cape Cod to supply lower cost energy to New England. 

Unfortunately, his wind farm, which should have been a natural for supposed progressive politicians, ran afoul of some big shots like the Kennedy and Mellon families because it might interfere with their views of Nantucket Sound. Cape Wind is the story of how the money people created obstacles and red herring issues to block the construction of the wind farm, and how the saga continues even after the rich folks were exposed by the news media and more honest pols.

Mitt Romney comes off particularly bad and it’s quite clear that he opposed the wind farm because supporting it might interfere with his political ambitions for national office.  And, though it pains me to say this, Ted Kennedy doesn’t get any gold stars either.  When asked why he opposed windmills in the sound he offered, “It’s where I sail.”

Given the recent calls by Al Gore and (amazingly) T. Boone Pickens for a coherent national energy policy that emphasizes alternative sources, Cape Wind is especially relevant reading.  Moreover, it provides a cautionary case study for those who might actually try to do something about America’s dependency on oil, foreign and otherwise.