The general consensus is that countries, and possibly even the U.S. eventually, tumble due to foreign interference, the polarization of the various economic classes, and poor distribution of jobs. Maybe an additional cause shlould be considered : The refusal of a people to implement the required adjustments in order to survive.
Since the saturation point of oil has maxed out and the general acceptance the environmental experts agreeing that about the inevitable world global problems, Cape Cod residents are conversing about the various alternatives, but unfortunately there is very little action to back up the conversation - naturally, without a concrete plan and implementation, no improvement will be seen in coming up with the use of new and efficient fuels.
Anywhere you look, citizens and politicians are espousing the company line about the virtues of solar and wind as power substitutes, but no one is willing to back it up when tangible plans are put on the table : "I am totally behind the development of alternative energy sources, but our town is not ideally suited as the correct site for the implementation of one of these ideas."
There is no dispute as to the urgency of lessening the use of fossil fuel. As renowned national expert Bill McKibben has said : "Recent studies have developed tangible proof that the absolute limit for the presence of carbon in the air is 350 parts per million." according TO NASA :"Anything in excess ot that amount is not conducive to the continued survival of a normal civilization." Again from McKibben :"the present level is recorded at 390 parts per million, and therefore the result is Arctic ice thawing, glaciers shrinking, and oceans showing a great deal of deterioration and high levels of dangerous types of toxicology." The current plight is very serious and requires bold new measures.
The problem is that in lieu of serious, decisive strokes by our politicians to reverse the fuel and energy problem, what we are seeing is a lack of conviction. What is worse are phony fforts shown by individuals whose real interest is to sabotage any and all plans to produce alternative energy whenever a viable concept is put on the table.
Governor Patrick and the state political forces are certainly making a valiant attempt to do the right thing. The governor has proposed a speific wind electricity objective to be attained in less than ten years, and additional related acts which are still on the drawing board are certainly positive steps toward concrete progress, which will help in cutting the administrative red tape which always stifles progress toward serious environmental improvement.
The tricky obstacle that the governor must overcome in order to meet the lofty goals he has set is to find a way to get all the pertinent parties involved in the consultation over wind turbine locations. Everyone who will be impacted by this energy decision must be allowed to contribute their opinions. However, soliciting their thoughts does not empower these people to kill these proposals which for many reasons will be very good for the local area.
We who are longtime residents have witnessed numerous politicians invoke their moral authority as involved citizens to kill beneficial ideas before they leave the starting gate by clogging up the machinery with all types of negativism. Maybe the worst case of this nonsense was an attempt to destroy the Cape Wind project by Indian tribes who were involved in attempting to create a national landmark designation for Nantucket Sound, while simultaneously authoring a project for power placement near another area which has already received this distinction, there setting a new standard for total the contradiction of one's principles.
Additional attempts to stifle wind power installation were an initiative by Martha's Vineyard to form an agency which would ceffectively block turbine development in the immediate proximity, and the Town of Eastham's new statute which essentially restricts the length of a given turbine to 75 feet, the attempt by the Old King's Highway Historic District Commission to prevent the Cape Cod Community College's wind turbine project from becoming a reality.
Given that not everyone buys into the dire future predictions of global warming, this does not lessen the importance of alternative energy initiatives like wind, if for no other reason than the creation of jobs and the inherent stimulation of the economy. As inhabitants of such an advanced scientific nation, our people ought to be ashamed that China and Europe are generating such incredible inventions which promote clean air and for all intents and purposes cast our country in a very unfavorable light.
If the residents of Cape Cod refuse to see the light and stop living in the past, we will probably suffer the fate of other civilations,like Rome, which declined to change their ways, and perished because of it.
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