Yeah, it's not that surprising. And it's not much of a news flash. The guy makes a living off of shifting his positions for political gain. But this is just too
overt. Details below the fold.
Here's some background: a large wind farm in Nantucket Sound has been proposed. This wind farm, though it might not be all that pretty to the millionaires who have to see it, would produce all of the energy for the rapidly expanding Cape Cod, and preclude the need to build another polluting coal, gas, or other type of fossil fuel power plant. Tom Reilly, the likely 2006 Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Massachusetts, opposes it on environmental grounds. Romney, however, opposes it for a different reason, as this Globe report shows:
After a massive draft environmental analysis, the controversial proposal to construct a wind farm in Nantucket Sound is coming down to aesthetics. Governor Romney -- a supposedly pro-business, anti-government regulation, cold-blooded venture capitalist -- made that clear during recent testimony before the US Army Corps of Engineers. "We cannot trash this extraordinary resource," Romney said, referring to Nantucket Sound. "I've seen wind farms, and they are not pretty."
Two days later, the Romney administration announced support for windmill projects in Florida and Monroe in Western Massachusetts. Residents there also worry about the aesthetics of 20 340-foot-tall turbines and the overall impact on streams, wetlands, and woodland.
[snip]
Opposition to Cape Wind is organized through the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, which spent $2.4 million fighting the proposed wind farm in 2003. On forms filed with the IRS in 2003, Christopher, Jack, and Michael Egan are listed as directors. Jack and Michael Egan are current board members. [snip]
The Egans are major political players. Here, while they also contribute to Democrats, they are big Romney fund-raisers. ... The Egan Family Trust and Michael Egan own homes overlooking Nantucket Sound.
So the reason become clearer. It seems Romney opposes this because his fund-raisers own homes and don't want to see the "ugly wind farm". But maybe Romney really cares about the environment, even outside of his contributors' property? Fat Chance.
Asked to explain the governor's shifting positions, Fehrnstrom said, again via e-mail: "Gov. Romney supports efforts to encourage greater reliance on renewable sources of energy.
There are several areas in the Berkshires region where wind farms have recently been approved. And there are a number of different areas off the coast of Massachusetts that we could also consider. They may not be optimal for the developer from a profit-making point of view, but we need to balance the public and private interest. Nantucket Sound is a national treasure. The governor does not want to turn it into a wind factory. He wouldn't recommend putting a wind farm in the middle of the Grand Canyon, or at the foot of Mount Rushmore, either."
[snip]
Western Massachusetts is being left to the mercies of the market system, where small towns suffering from budget cutbacks are "willing to sell their wind, because what else do they have to sell?"
What a sorry way to run a state energy policy: Give to the have-nots what the haves don't want.
Ah, so the truth comes out. Romney doesn't care about the environment. That's bullshit. Romney, the epitome of GOP corruption, is perfectly happy with having the wind farm in equally environmentally sensitive areas, as long as his rich buddies don't have to look at it. Things that aren't pretty are for the common people.