To the Editor:
Recently I got an unsolicited invitation to a fundraising “party” on Congress Street in Cape May to hire lawyers to fight offshore wind power. The opposition to wind farms along our coastline is entirely political. This farsighted green energy alternative that frees us from dependence on foreign oil is championed for all Americans by our elected Democratic representatives.
In Ocean City where I live they deliberately misrepresent wind power, attaching large, political billboards along the boardwalk railings, purporting to show what the view of windmills will be from the boardwalk at 11th Street. Way out there on the horizon you see the tips of tiny little white windmill arms partially visible above the horizon. Very few people, particularly during the 10-month offseason, will be on the boardwalk during the daylight hours. Most will be on the beach, and from that angle, there are no windmills visible 15 miles away on the horizon. The notion that windmills have any negative impact on the view is ridiculous.
No one complains about the airborne advertisements towed across the skies all day long, truly annoying, ruining both the view and the quiet. No one complains about the offshore presence of the dredges that make our shores look like a construction site.
No one complains about the overdevelopment of beachfront property, the shoulder to shoulder construction of huge duplexes that totally obscure everyone’s view of the beaches and the ocean. That is to say, from anywhere in back of the boardwalk, the view east is a blank wall. And the most intrusive building in the 11th Street area is The Flanders Hotel. Do the wind power opponents wish to sue to have all of the duplexes and hotels demolished in order to restore the ocean view that once existed for everyone?
C’mon, folks. Use your heads. Don’t let opportunists disseminate misinformation to play upon your fears and endanger your future. Wind power is for everyone.
JOHN MCCALL
Ocean City
