My dreams are vivid. Because of economics some may think that my dreams don’t matter as much as a rich old family with oceanfront property. But to me they do. I know what I’m looking at when I stare at the ocean. I know.

And it irks me when I hear and read that only fatcats with oceanfront property are against putting a factory in one of the most beautiful spots in North America. There are plenty of fatcats in these parts, folks that think their money makes them better than others. But that, like much of the argument about a wind farm in Nantucket Sound, is completely irrelevant.

Let’s not mistake terminology. The famous proposed wind farm – the only environmental project ever supported by conservatives and opposed by Ted Kennedy - is a factory. It is a power plant, a driver of the continuing industrial revolution in which industry and, uh, revolution mix now into some sort of guilt-trip windfall for a business that seems to think there’s a way to get rich off of, yes, our collective feelings of guilt.

As noble as the concept of clean energy is, I dare to argue that it’s different here. Am I perhaps, in the bigger picture, actually arguing NIMBY (not in my backyard)? Well, yeah. But it’s a heck of a backyard.

You see, I moved to Cape Cod specifically for that backyard called the Atlantic Ocean. And I may not be the only person who has ever come to a place such as this to simply stare at the ocean.

Yes, I moved here because of that backyard. You really should see it. It’s amazing.

Is this so hard to figure out? This is one of those places - this is our Yosemite, it’s the Grand Canyon. That’s the argument, period.

I love insane people. That’s why I agree with a friend’s suggestion that if even one windmill is built in Nantucket Sound, there should be a chain of them from here to Europe - each with their own bar.

My friend’s chain of windmill bars most likely won’t be built, but I do expect that the next proposal by some profit-taking self-proclaimed “conservationist” is building skyscraper-tall solar panels on the beaches of the Cape Cod National Seashore.

As in all slippery slopes, the peripherals of the argument seem certainly worth considering and are sometimes even entertaining – entertaining at least to someone with a small mind such as myself who loves nothing more than a good old-fashioned spitting contest between rich people.

And yes, there’s a lot to think about and those with bigger brains are figuring out about bird migration and pollution and saving money and, yes, making money. It all seems important stuff, but frankly, this is a visceral issue.

The ocean is not just some fatcat’s playground or some other fatcat’s potential factory. The ocean is my church. When my heart’s been broken, when I’ve needed answers, it’s where I’ve gone. I know what I see, what I expect to see.

Will I be able to see the same things if there are windmills in the ocean? Maybe. Yet I wonder how many churchgoers would agree to put windmills on the steeple of their church? If I were a litigant, I would sue on religious principal.

As Cape Cod and all places like the Cape becomes too expensive for many longtime residents, folks will have to leave and that’s not fair. But that, like complaining about fatcats, is a different argument.

What’s relevant in the windmill argument is the visceral.

There’s something out there in the ocean that I can see. And so can you and it’s beautiful.

Is there a way that this project makes sense? Sure, if it means the ugly power plant by the Cape Cod Canal is demolished and replaced by flowers and a baseball field. Until the moment that happens – until alternative energy is actually an alternative - I humbly vote no.

Of course, non-moneyed voices on both sides are mostly irrelevant in an argument such as this. After all, this is America.

So once it’s built – and it’s looking like it will be - what will happen? Well, the view will be different. Is that so bad? A lot of people say no.

But I suggest that you just go stare at the ocean – any ocean you can find. You should check it out before people who claim to have your interest at heart change it forever.

* A version of this ran in the Cape Cod Times on April 23, 2004. I still feel the same way.

Previous columns

Conspiracy Theories and such
    Theory #1 - Vick's Dogs
    Theory #2 - Fenway Park
    Bag O' Burgers #1
    Will Vote For Money
    Rules For Bad Bosses
    Theory #3, Milk-or-Whiskey Democracy
    Lyrics
    If The Presidential Candidates Entered The 2008 Daytona 500
    The Amy Winehouse Obama Song For Pittsburgh Pirates Fans
    Freecheezeburgerz

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