Ted Kennedy, Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, Robert Kennedy Jr., Senator John Warner, Mitt Romney, Christy Mihos, and Walter Cronkite all have direct personal and family connections to Cape Cod.  They or their family or relatives have vacation houses on the Cape, they have money, and they don’t want Global Warming to be fought in their own back yard.   And you can’t see carbon dioxide. 

Jim Gordon is the developer behind the Cape Wind project which proposes 130 turbines in Federal waters off of Osterville, Massachusetts.  (as an aside, I don’t like Mr. Gordon’s project because he is paying no fee for his proposed use of the public trust federal winds – if the project were instead an oil or gas lease of federal waters, or lease of cell phone spectrum, there would be an auction and the public treasury would be compensated)

The article behind the  Boston Phoenix June 1-7, 2007 headline (above) focuses not on the environmental or technical aspects of the Cape Wind farm, but rather on the communication politics which are influencing local radio, television, and newspaper discussion of the wind farm.

Mr. Gordon has been attempting to advance the Cape Wind project since 2001 and has run up against powerful NIMBY resistance.  In the 6 years which have elapsed in the permitting/law suit process (which I have blogged earlier) the pro-wind and anti-wind groups have matured and have had enough experiences with the local newspapers and local radio and television news to believe that they have spotted trends in how the media is treating the two sides of the issue.

The back and forth regarding Jim Gordon’s project has gone  on so long that in May of this year, Wendy Williams and Robert Whitcomb published their book Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound.   What Ms. William’s and Mr. Whitcomb allege is that the wealthy who reside at the Cape, because they donate to NPR and have other influences with the press,  are allowed considerably more air time than the pro-wind side of the discussion.

I would suggest that Ms. William’s and Mr. Whitcomb have a point, though I have not read their book. 

SO HOW CAN CUYAHOGA COUNTY CAPITALIZE ON THE CAPE WIND IMPASSE?

The County Energy Task Force headed by Prosecutor Bill Mason should write Mr. Gordon and invite Mr. Gordon to put those 130 turbines in Cuyahoga County – or better yet – regionally locate those turbines closer to Toledo where the winds are a bit stronger than they are in Cuyahoga County.  Let’s be smart, not provincial – that’s how Cleveland and Cuyahoga County will achieve a leadership role in Wind Energy – and jobs and economic improvement will follow.  

A comparison of the wind energy regimes between Nantucket Sound and North East Ohio – and the fact that land based turbines cost less than half of what it costs to build marine turbines - will allow a similar return on investment.  I think the ROI in NEO could hold its own with the ROI in Nantucket Sound.  But the primary attraction to Mr. Gordon of receiving a red carpet welcome mat from the NEO counties, is that Mr. Gordon could get a project in the ground before another decade passes.  After all, while the atmosphere fills up with carbon dioxide, we’re all getting older….