The Texas windmill patch shames Massachusetts

Boston Globe:

How embarrassing is this? Pro-environment, green-thinking Massachusetts has virtually shut the door to alternative energy developers such as Cape Wind. Meanwhile, oil-loving, redneck Texas is poised to build the nation's largest wind farm. Most of our local political establishment has united in opposition to wind. At the same time, Lone Star politicians are spearheading what they call the "Texas wind rush" in the Gulf of Mexico. Massachusetts was once in the fore-front of developing renewable energies. By the end of this year, Texas will probably be the number one source of wind power in the United States.

The irony is delicious, and the Texans are quick to take note. "After today, whenever Massachusetts, New York, and California try to court wind-energy developers, I think they'll find a sign on the door that says, 'Gone to Texas,'" said State Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson at a press conference last month, when he announced a 30-year lease with wind developer Superior Renewable Energy. Texas is putting its money where our mouths are - and the question is why.

John Calaway, head of Superior, recalls a "scouting mission" to the Berkshires several years ago. Local leaders told him it would be difficult to get the necessary permits, and Calaway mentioned how receptive Texas was to his plans. "'Boy,' I was told, 'you're not in Texas' - and that sent me running." Massachusetts, he tells me, no longer interests him. "Why would we waste our time?"

Indeed. Cape Wind's president, Jim Gordon, has been wasting both time and money. After more than five years and $25 million, prospects for his 420-megawatt project are bleak. And it wasn't just the "process," as arduous as it may be, that tripped up Gordon (and likely will trip up businessman Jay Cashman's just-proposed wind farm in Buzzards Bay). Instead, it was politics. "Look at Cape Wind - someone plays by the rules yet gets cut off. That's not a climate that makes people want to come here," says Greg Watson, a vice president at the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, a quasi-public agency.

It's an old story. Businesses and investors go to places that want them, where the rules are predictable and local government supportive.

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There is more. What is not said, but is becomeing more and more clear is that many who claim to be enviromentalist are just anti energy of any kind. They oppose nuclear, which does not pollute. They oppose wind which does not pollute. They oppose clean coal technology. They just oppose the production of energy needed to fuel our economy. Can you name one form of energy production that the enviros favor at this point?