Over the past few days, there have been two unrelated but promising developments, both in New England, in the debate over wind power. The first was a finding by the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation that a wind project slated for construction in Massachusetts coastal waters would inflict "pervasive" and "destructive" harm on the seabed and on neighboring historic properties. The second was a decision by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission prohibiting the purchase of power from eight wind turbines also to be situated in coastal waters.

While the reasons for the two decisions were quite different (preservation in Massachusetts and high electricity rates in Rhode Island), the results were similar - to slow down the drive to build unsightly and costly electric generating facilities off the US coast. Both projects, if completed, would represent the triumph of green-energy hype over anything that might go for rational thought... [continue via Web link]