NIMBYmonitor.com

Are We Entering a 'Superproject Void?' Is 'the Future of Huge' Really Uncertain?

Back in November, the New York Times' Sunday Week in Review section posed an interesting question in an article by Louis Uchitelle. Is the era of big public works over?

Are we done with projects on the scale of the Erie Canal, Hoover Dam, or the Big Dig? Will we build bridges again like the Golden Gate, the George Washington, or even the Leonard Zakim?

Are we "entering the superproject void" where "the future of huge is uncertain," as the headline asked?

The article leans in favor of suggesting that even Obama stimulus projects are puny in scale.

I don't think it will last long this way.

One reason is financial. The Times article carried the adjoining chart from Moody's with it, showing that during the past 60 years, public works spending has consistently been more than two percent of gross domestic product in the United States.

The second reason is need. I think the challenges of climate change will require engineering on a large scale, including a reinvention of mass transportation, energy production, and waste disposal. A regional system of solutions for any of these projects could prompt large mega-projects.

So I think they're coming.

And I think the NIMBY wars will be right along after the projects are proposed. I, for one, see projects such as wind farms as relatively benign, and if the fuss over them is any indication, the communications and community relations professionals of the next half-century will have their hands full.

Headline that Made NIMBYmonitor's Heart Sing: 'On Cuttyhunk Island, It's Yes in My Backyard'

It appeared on the bottom-right corner of the Boston Globe's front page back on December 11: "On Cuttyhunk Island, it's yes in my backyard."

What a marvelous civic attitude, I thought.

The sub-head? "Wind farm plan met with wide acceptance."

The article reported that residents of Cuttyhunk, a mile-wide island at the western tip of the Elizabeth Islands chain, which separates Vineyard Sound from Buzzards Bay in the southern waters of Massachusetts, are in agreement that they support a farm of 166 wind turbines in the waters off their home. The plan is proposed by the administration of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat.

Says Nina Brodeur, who's lived for 21 years on the island, "I don't think you can just say, 'Not in my backyard,' and expect that will be OK. If I had my preference, I'd choose not to seem them (the windmills). But I understand the needs of the state, and if it's not in my backyard, it would have to be in somebody else's. We can't close our eyes and think we're more special than anyone else."

That's a quote from a public-spirited citizen. According to the Globe, a draft plan calls for 100 turbines about three miles off the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard near former Navy bombing range at Nomans Land island. An additional 66 turbines would be built off the southwestern coast of Cuttyhunk.

This is a separate project from Cape Wind, which I've written about before in this blog. It's located a few miles to the east in Nantucket Sound.

What impressed me is that Cuttyhunk is a small place. It has fewer than 50 year-round residents. (It has a great harbor, which I have sailed into on several occasions.) Cuttyhunk is the poorest municipality in Massachusetts — actually, it's the town of Gosnold — with a median income of $22,344.

Which goes to show the public spirit of working families.

Cape Wind Heads to Financing With Long-Term Contract to Sell Wind-Generated Electricity to National Grid

Even before I moved to Massachusetts, I have followed Cape Wind, the project to generate wind-powered electricity from windmill turbines in Nantucket Sound south of Cape Cod.

It's still a NIMBY issue, with strong opposition looking for any way to block the development. Today's Boston Globe editorial page raps the knuckles of interim U.S. Senator Paul Kirk because of Kirk's decision to try inventing a whole new process of review simply to indefinitely hold off construction of Cape Wind.

On the positive side, today's Globe also reports that Governor Deval Patrick is announcing a long-term contract for Cape Wind to sell power to National Grid, the electric utility. The Globe article describes this agreement as "a critical sterp to securing financing" for Cape Wind.

The Globe describes the late Senator Ted Kennedy's opposition to Cape Wind -- he of the famed Kennedy home in Hyannis Port on the south shore of the Cape -- as a "splotch" on an otherwise laudable record. It's a shame Senator Kirk is perpetuating Kennedy's mistake.

Obama's Economic Plan Will Stress Community Relations

New administration. New econonmics. Tough times. Tough choices. It's a good time to breathe life into this blog again. President-Elect Barack Obama today used his weekly address, conducted in a social media fashion updated from FDR's fireside chats, to preview the ambitious plan his team is developing to breathe life into the economy. I'm for it. In fact, I think that Obama's target may need to be doubled from his goal of creating 2.5 million new jobs. Looking at it from the standpoint of community relations, the Obama plan means a lot of public and private infrastructure and construction activity. NIMBY talk is sure to follow in some cases. Check out this paragraph from the transcript of his talk, or look at the YouTube video I've embedded below.

I have already directed my economic team to come up with an Economic Recovery Plan that will mean 2.5 million more jobs by January of 2011 – a plan big enough to meet the challenges we face that I intend to sign soon after taking office. We’ll be working out the details in the weeks ahead, but it will be a two-year, nationwide effort to jumpstart job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy. We’ll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels; fuel-efficient cars and the alternative energy technologies that can free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead.

These are bold and audacious projects. They won't be welcomed everywhere. I hope they are welcomed in enough places to work.