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Just some food for thought here....Many proponents of green energy (e.g., the Kennedys) in the form of wind farms throughout the Midwest put up a huge fight whe

Just some food for thought here....Many proponents of green energy (e.g., the Kennedys) in the form of wind farms throughout the Midwest put up a huge fight when plans for a wind farm off of Nantucket Sound got a little too close to home for them as well. This doesn't excuse the behavior taking place here, but it happens on both sides of the aisle.

Zancarius 13y ago
Funny, I was just thinking of that when I read this article. This isn't really so much a matter of hypocritical energy company CEOs as much as it is a reflection on the behaviors of the rich and privileged.
- scott_karana 13y ago
  I'd say it's the behavior of humans: selfishness is in our nature. The same situation plays out time and again with cellphone towers. People bitch about poor coverage, but as soon as a tower is going to be installed in their neighbourhood... :-) Similarly, people buy houses under the foot of airport runways, complain about the noise, and eventually the airports close... (NIMBY: Not in my backyard)
  - Zancarius 13y ago
    I agree completely. It's almost humorous (I've been guilty of thinking some of these before sooooo...) Though, I do wonder if it isn't completely selfishness, including instead a pinch of resistance to change as part of the social recipe that drives us. In some of my other comments, I've suggested it's entirely greed or selfish motivations, but reflecting on my own experiences, resistance to change fits the bill fairly well. (Excepting financial motivation as partial to the cause, mind you.) We are creatures of habit, after all.
michaelwww 13y ago
The opposition fight is being waged by the third Koch Brother http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/us/koch-brother-wages-12-year-fight-over-wind-farm.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/us/koch-brother-wages-12-y...
ganeumann 13y ago
I think there's a difference. Windmills can spoil the view for some people (I personally think they're beautiful) but that's a tradeoff for clean power; nobody denies that, even the Kennedys. The pro-fracking people actually deny that fracking is bad for anyone. Rex Tillerson has denied that fracking is bad for people who are burdened with it in their communities. The Kennedys don't deny that other people may be burdened with the loss of a scenic vista from windmills, they just don't want it to be them. So, you see, Rex Tillerson is a hypocrite while the Kennedys are merely arrogant.
sergiotapia 13y ago
I'm pretty sure people who are super pro-wind farms haven't even contemplated this problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbIe0iUtelQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbIe0iUtelQ Live in that home for 2 weeks, see if you still remain sane.
- bsbechtel 13y ago
  I live about 30 min from one of the largest wind farms in the country. A few major negatives about them: 1) They are the creepiest structures you will ever drive by. They are not beautiful as described above. They are only beautiful to someone who has never been close to one in person. 2) In addition to the flicker you linked to, the sound/vibration from them is constant for those living near them. They are still bad for the people burdened with them in their communities, but because the efficiency of wind power is so low, no one else really benefits from the production of their energy. 3) The investors who put their money into them have an expected 99 year ROI on them. The only reason they went up was for some construction company to get energy credits from the government. 4) Environmentalists have taken to complaining about how the windmills are affecting migration patterns of birds and navigation of bats at night (it screws up their sonar). You can't win with environmentalists. You give in to their desires only to have them place new demands on you. They will never be happy.

Zancarius 13y ago

Funny, I was just thinking of that when I read this article. This isn't really so much a matter of hypocritical energy company CEOs as much as it is a reflection on the behaviors of the rich and privileged.

scott_karana 13y ago
I'd say it's the behavior of humans: selfishness is in our nature. The same situation plays out time and again with cellphone towers. People bitch about poor coverage, but as soon as a tower is going to be installed in their neighbourhood... :-) Similarly, people buy houses under the foot of airport runways, complain about the noise, and eventually the airports close... (NIMBY: Not in my backyard)
- Zancarius 13y ago
  I agree completely. It's almost humorous (I've been guilty of thinking some of these before sooooo...) Though, I do wonder if it isn't completely selfishness, including instead a pinch of resistance to change as part of the social recipe that drives us. In some of my other comments, I've suggested it's entirely greed or selfish motivations, but reflecting on my own experiences, resistance to change fits the bill fairly well. (Excepting financial motivation as partial to the cause, mind you.) We are creatures of habit, after all.

michaelwww 13y ago

The opposition fight is being waged by the third Koch Brother http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/us/koch-brother-wages-12-year-fight-over-wind-farm.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/us/koch-brother-wages-12-y...

ganeumann 13y ago

I think there's a difference. Windmills can spoil the view for some people (I personally think they're beautiful) but that's a tradeoff for clean power; nobody denies that, even the Kennedys. The pro-fracking people actually deny that fracking is bad for anyone. Rex Tillerson has denied that fracking is bad for people who are burdened with it in their communities. The Kennedys don't deny that other people may be burdened with the loss of a scenic vista from windmills, they just don't want it to be them. So, you see, Rex Tillerson is a hypocrite while the Kennedys are merely arrogant.

sergiotapia 13y ago

I'm pretty sure people who are super pro-wind farms haven't even contemplated this problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbIe0iUtelQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbIe0iUtelQ Live in that home for 2 weeks, see if you still remain sane.

bsbechtel 13y ago
I live about 30 min from one of the largest wind farms in the country. A few major negatives about them: 1) They are the creepiest structures you will ever drive by. They are not beautiful as described above. They are only beautiful to someone who has never been close to one in person. 2) In addition to the flicker you linked to, the sound/vibration from them is constant for those living near them. They are still bad for the people burdened with them in their communities, but because the efficiency of wind power is so low, no one else really benefits from the production of their energy. 3) The investors who put their money into them have an expected 99 year ROI on them. The only reason they went up was for some construction company to get energy credits from the government. 4) Environmentalists have taken to complaining about how the windmills are affecting migration patterns of birds and navigation of bats at night (it screws up their sonar). You can't win with environmentalists. You give in to their desires only to have them place new demands on you. They will never be happy.