Cape Wind podcast
It’s been a while since I did any podcasts. Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark Rodgers, the Communications Director of Cape Wind. Mark and I discuss the opposition to Cape Wind by by the Aquinnah and Mashpee Wampanoag.
After eight years of review, hearings, and study, the project is at risk of further delay by tribal opposition. While their objections have been noted for a number of years, Cape Wind feels that they have been engaged as valid stakeholders all along. The opposition has taken a new form in an attempt to get 500 square miles of ocean designated as a traditional cultural property on the National Register of Historic Places. Giving this status to open water is, so far, unprecendented and has far reaching ramifications for any coastal or offshore project – not just windmills.
The crux of the opposition is that the windmills will “disturb their spiritual sun greetings and submerged ancestral burying grounds” (from Globe article). The tribes have partnered with the main opposition group to Cape Wind. Proponents of Cape Wind find opposition puzzling considering the environmental benefits of Cape Wind. Others, like myself, find the Mashpee’s statements about being rushed ironic given the breakneck pace that Middleboro was expected to pass an Inter-Governmental Agreement(IGA) with the Mashpee Wampanoag for their proposed Middleboro Casino.
In any event, the perception of Native Americans as “stewards of the land” is resulting in raised eyebrows – whether you are talking about tribal opposition to Cape Wind, or tribal support for a casino.
For the sake of background information, here are a few relevant links.
Globe editorial
Globe article on tribal objections.
BB blog from July
AP coverage
NY Times editorial
A direct link to the podcast is here or you can listen here
This is as disingenuous an opposition as I have ever seen. The Tribal leaders have raised an issue that would preclude the placement of lighthouses, the movement of ships and the attempts of individuals to reduce the carbon footprint of the species. In any balancing test, I would hope that they would lose the battle. Also, if they truly respect religious freedom, then give up the casino dreams for the sake of those few in the religious minority that still believe that gambling is a sin. Or are their religious rights more important than those of individuals that find gaming to be a mortal sin. Hypocrites and dollar mongers–certainly not stewards of the land.