Customer Reviews

Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I love, love, loved this book. Cape Wind is a local issue for me and my eyes widened as I read the story behind the story as described by Cape Cod resident Wendy Williams. We citizens who are sympathetic to wind energy stood by in stunned silence as the opponents of the project slandered the project and its developer Jim Gordon. Even when we knew the assertions weren't true (like New England having a power glut), they raised doubts.

From afar, the coverage of the proposed windfarm on Nantucket Sound might seem balanced. In Massachusetts, however, it's apparent that the coverage is hysterical and a little irrational. When the windfarm was first proposed and an opposition group was created, this didn't seem different from any other large project. However, the opposition to the Cape Wind project combines money and emotion in an unprecedented way.

Cape Wind, the book, is the back-story of the opposition and the web that connects privileged property owners with one another, with elected officials, and with the flaks for the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. In the middle of the web is Senator Edward Kennedy, with a great track record on every environmental issue except Cape Wind. It also provides previously unreported insight into the motivation of the project's developer Jim Gordon. Gordon's motivation for persevering with the project is more than a businessman's greed. The book describes him as being incredibly dogged, and genuinely environmentally aware, as well as being an entrepreneur.

Don't come to the book expecting a textbook on windfarm development, or much specific scientific or technical detail about the project. This is a story about one stubborn guy opposed by a stubborn group.

The characters are broadly portrayed in black and white. The portrayal of developer Gordon is generous, perhaps to a fault. Jim Gordon is a smart businessperson who has a huge stake in the project's success. If the project is built and makes energy, he will, quite fairly, profit. However, to have succeeded in business as he has, and being a human being as he is, he must have a less appealing side that the author did either not uncover, or did not report on. Similarly, the opposition members are easy to dislike. Who doesn't love to hate a bunch of isolated, get-off-of-my-beach bunch of rich people? But they probably have a lighter side that also was not portrayed.

This book is recommended for anyone wanting to know more about the ins and outs of the Cape Wind project. It also puts the microscope on the seamier side of "how a bill becomes law".

Cape Wind is a marvelous story of political hypocrisy on parade. When an energy entrepreneur proposed to build a wind farm to generate energy in Nantucket Sound, he did not bargain for the opposition of some of the rich and powerful who live and play in the vicinity. A small but powerful group of people, which include not only the Kennedy family but Mitt Romney, former governor and current candidate for President, are bound and determined not to have their view of the "pristine" waters around they summer mansions. Cape Wind would be a comedy, with its spectacle of Lear Jet liberals, who say they support clean energy in the abstract, twisting themselves into knot trying to justify opposition to clean energy just because it is in their back yard. But the book is all too true and mores the pity.

If you ever wondered why our elected reps in Washington either can't get things done or only do silly things, this book will explain much. It's the story of an entrepreneur who wanted to build a wind farm off Cape Cod to supply lower cost energy to New England. Unfortunately, his wind farm, which should have been a natural for so-called progressive politicians, ran afoul of some big shots like Ted Kennedy and the Mellon family because it would interfere with their sailing in Nantucket Sound. Cape Wind is the story of how the money people created obstacles and red herring issues to block the construction of the wind farm, and how the saga continues even after the rich folks were exposed by multiple journalists and more honest pols.

Former Mass governor Mitt Romney comes off badly, as does venerable ol' Teddy Kennedy, and I fervently hope that many, many voters read this book before the presidential primaries next spring. I always knew that money called the shots in our "democracy" but this book truly made me ill by offering one rather small example of how very true that really is.

I highly recommend Cape Wind to all readers who are interested in good government, and especially to Massachusetts residents who wonder why their electric bills are so high, their skies are so dirty, and their senior senator is so powerful.

Cape Wind is a factual account of the political and social conspiracy that continues to oppose an innovative and needed project. Having lived in a similar through-the-looking-glass world during the development of an energy project and grown up in Southeastern Massachusetts I was prepared to read about bad behavior by elected officials in opposing Jim Gordon's project. The authors have dug deeply behind the events to put the situation into its shocking context and in the process exposed selfish behaviors that were inconsistent with reasonable man's interpretation of public policy and achieving the greatest common good. Some politicians are exposed as fools, Kennedy family members like Ted and RFK Jr have demonstrated that this is their natural state, but Governor Romney's staunch unwillingness to reconsider his opposition to the project in light of compelling facts casts him in a very poor light.

The book is recommended reading, even if it does nothing else other than to increase the reader's skepticism when listening to candidates and officeholders blather on about energy independence when they have no clue about what it means or the tradeoffs involved.

I say it is just what you would expect from the "limousine" liberal set. People like Al Gore and Ted Kennedy preach ad nauseum to the masses about the threat posed by global warming and the obvious need for this nation to replace fossil fuels with clean renewable energy technologies. But then you discover that these very same people live opulent lifestyles with absolutely no regard to how much energy they use themselves. This hypocrisy has never been more apparent than with the opposition that developed when energy developer Jim Gordon proposed a wind farm on Nantucket Sound in the late summer of 2001. All of a sudden the elites and super-rich who summer on Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket thought that renewable energy might not be such a great idea after all. What it all boiled down to for these folks was the NIMBY syndrome (not in my back yard). "Cape Wind" is essentially the play-by-play of the down and dirty battle to prevent this project from ever getting off the ground. It seems that the well-heeled opponents of this project were willing to stop at nothing to see to it that this proposal would never see the light of day. Indeed, it is a sad commentary on our political system.
They were there from the very beginning. Co-authors Wendy Williams and Robert Whitcomb certainly were no strangers to Cape Cod. Both have deep roots on the Cape and were quite familiar with the players in this drama. Both Williams and Whitcomb were on the scene covering this fascinating story from its first days. They were present at the meetings of the concerned mansion owners and at town council meetings. They observed the extremely one-sided coverage given by the local newspaper the Cape Cod Times. Williams and Whitcomb saw highly respected individuals like Walter Cronkite, author David McCullough, Teddy Kennedy and Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney line up in opposition to this project. The arguments offered by the opponents of Cape Wind were specious at best and it quickly became apparent that these folks were willing to use just about any means at their disposal to defeat this project. In "Cape Wind" Wendy Williams and Robert Whitcomb introduce us to all of the players in this long running saga. You might be surprised to discover that both a Senator and a Congressman from Alaska would get involved in the fight to defeat the Cape Wind project. You will learn first hand about all of the obstacles developer Jim Gordon has been forced to dance around just to get this project a thorough public hearing. And you will discover the particulars of just what it is that Jim Gordon is proposing to do in Nantucket Sound.
I must tell you that by the time I finished "Cape Wind" I was thoroughly disgusted. The behavior of the opponents to this project has been absolutely reprehensible. Indeed there may well be very sound reasons to oppose this proposal. But the Cape Wind project should be allowed to sink or swim on its own merits. The obstructionist opponents of this project will stop at nothing to deny Jim Gordon a fair and open vetting of his proposal. I found "Cape Wind" to be extremely well written and absolutely compelling. I simply could not put it down. Very highly recommended!!!

On a timely topic, Cape Wind is clear, concise and well researched.
The authors have done an especially good job of uncovering the machinations
used by the opposition, in their attempt to derail the wind farm proposed
for Nantucket Sound.

"Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound" is a well-researched, entertaining comedy of manners--as the authors themselves have stated in interviews--that manages to expose how those with money and influence can trump the general welfare when their own interests are at stake.

The debate centers on the 2001 proposal by energy entrepreneur Jim Gordon to build a 130-turbine wind farm in Nantucket Sound, five miles off Cape Cod. The area's elite and moneyed residents, including Sen. Ted Kennedy and then Governor Mitt Romney, immediately protested, citing environmental concerns among others to cover their own not-in-my-backyard hypocrisy. Part time Cape resident and fossil fuel magnate William I. Koch helped start and fund the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, which opposes the farm and called the book "Cape Wind" a "profoundly thin and negative essay that makes little attempt to look beyond the glamour of some of the Cape Wind players."

"Cape Wind" does revel in the personalities of the high-profile players, but it also gives voice to fishermen and other locals who have their own opinions and agendas. While indulging in some entertaining character profiles, the authors maintain their journalistic sensibilities and present both sides of the debate, backed by whatever facts, data or evidence the debaters can provide and the authors can find. If the Alliance sees this book as a "negative essay" from their viewpoint, perhaps it is less a reflection of the authors' biases than the Alliance's. Despite the negative reviews, Williams and Whitcomb tell a lively and complex story that will leave careful readers deciding for themselves who has wind in his sails and who is simply being a blowhard.

As a life-long Democrat and frequent neighbor of the Kennedys in Hyannis I am sickened by the absolute abuse of power laid bare in this book by Kennedy, Mitt Romney, the Mellons, Delahunt and others. The book is a very entertaining and well-written page-turner, but it leaves me so angry that some misguided, ignorant, arrogant, asinine, yet powerful, rich folk can be allowed to hijack energy policy. This book should be required reading for anyone who cares about pollution, energy independence, democracy, and ultimately peace. The Osterville yachting crowd care more about maintaining their offshore playgrounds (which belong to the national public- not them!) than they do about the future of this country. With all their "Save Our Sound" signs- they really are asking the duped public to Save THEIR Sound to which they feel their millions entitle them to. And their "Not For Sale" signs- what a joke- they think their mansions have bought them the rights to some shoals 6 miles offshore. Darn right it's not for sale- to you! I am so pleased to notice that there are hardly any of their signs up anymore. People have finally wised up and realized this is no "grassroots" Alliance! This book has made me vow that if Obama does not support this project, then I will not vote for him. This will determine whether he truly represents Change or if he's just the same old story. This book may turn me into a one-issue voter.

This brilliant, enlightening, polemic is needed. The Cape is home to a number of locals and large numbers of tourists and a small number of the mega-rich celebrities, authors, former presidents and lest we forget, the Kennedy's. Nantucket is the island furthest from the Cape and perhaps the poshest. It was here that an environmentalist and visionary wanted to put up a hundred windmills, to generate electrcity. The Sound has lots of wind and this should have been an easy idea. However not only did the Democratic legeislature and senators such as Ted Kennedy array against this, they also brought in 'environmentalists' and other Kennedy family members to oppose the plan. In the end the same exact 'environmentalists' who complain the most about coal power plants were the same ones coming up with rediculous anti-wind generated electricity excuses, such as "they could harm the birds." This is an eye-openeing account that shed's light on the near-sighted and political nature of the environmentalist community and its wealthy donors who talk big about ending coal power and nuclear power and 'energy conservation' but when it comes to actually doing something about abhore the idea that they might have to see the remedy near their 500 acre estates.

Seth J. Frantzman

Before I begin this review, I want to share my involvement with/knowledge of the Cape Wind project. I have no relationship with either side of the Cape Wind debate, and don't foresee having one either. My current knowledge about the project is limited to the Wall Street Journal review of this book, and the book itself. Thus, I approached the book with no preconceptions beyond my general opinion that we, as a society, need to take some action to diversify our energy generation capabilities.

With that as background, I found Cape Wind to have a very powerful thesis: namely, U.S. government policy and law is shaped by moneyed interests more than by democratic principals. While this argument isn't new, Williams and Whitcomb breathe new life into the debate by depicting the unnecessarily torturous drama that is the Cape Wind project's saga. The fact that politicians from both political parties (Senators Edward Kennedy, John Warner, Ted Stevens; Representative Don Young; Governor Mitt Romney) are shown engaging in obstructionist behavior strengthens their case.

While the facts of the case are compelling, it's sad to say that Williams' and Whitcomb's editorial decisions frequently weaken the effectiveness of their argument. While it's okay to have an opinion on the project, Williams and Whitcomb let their strong biases in favor of the venture color their writing. This bias is especially apparent in their fawning portrayal of the project's leader, Jim Gordon. For writers that are reporters, this lack of balance is surprising. Also surprising are the grammatical errors and spelling mistakes that populate the book's first edition (my favorite is on page 36, where Marie Antoinette is described as the "....wife of Louise XVI...."). Finally, the book is hampered by the project's status, which the authors imply is ongoing as of the book's publication. Thus, the reader is given no end to the story. By printing this book before the issues surrounding the project had been resolved (along with the other flaws mentioned earlier), the reader is left with the impression that the book is a propaganda piece designed to attract new supporters and excite the existing supporters before the next round of hearings begin.

Cape Wind has a great premise, and plenty of evidence to support that premise. The fact that the evidence is so overwhelming makes the book as effective as it is. However, if the authors had taken a little more care and balance in presenting that material, they would have been more effective in both proving their thesis and raising sympathies for the Cape Wind project.