[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 112 (Tuesday, September 12, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9358-S9359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 12, 2006 (Senate)]
[Page S9358-S9359]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr12se06-175]                         



 
               LET US LOOK UPON THE OCEAN WITH REVERENCE

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, during the August recess, one of my 
constituents, Michael Mulroy, of Fairhaven, wrote a very thoughtful 
article that was printed in the New Bedford Standard-Times on August 15 
in its ``Your View'' feature. Mr. Mulroy's article eloquently describes 
the restorative and wondrous nature of the ocean and questions the 
wisdom of placing wind farms and other large-scale industrial projects 
at sea. He urges us to ``look upon the ocean with reverence.''
  As someone who is committed to preserving the natural beauty of 
Massachusetts and its magnificent coastal waters, I was moved by Mr. 
Mulroy's inspiring article, and I believe many of our colleagues will 
be inspired by it as well. I ask unanimous consent that it be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

          [From the New Bedford Standard-Times, Aug. 15, 2006]

   ``Your View: Let's Look Upon Ocean With Reverence, Unobstructed''

                          (By Michael Mulroy)

       After years of reading about and listening to the debate 
     over the proposed wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod, I felt 
     compelled to weigh in on the subject after reading David 
     Kibbe's article in The Standard-Times.
       As a child growing up in one of the tenement neighborhoods 
     in New Bedford, I loved it when my parents would take my 
     sister and me to one of the area beaches for the day. 
     Sometimes we would stop to get ice cream afterwards, or maybe 
     have some clam cakes at one of the small clam shacks that 
     dotted the coast. When it was too cold for swimming, we would 
     still go down to the shore and walk the beach looking for 
     shells or whatever treasure the tide may have washed ashore. 
     In the winter, we would simply take a drive along the 
     seashore and enjoy the scenery. One of the greatest joys for 
     me was looking out at the ocean and being able to see 
     unobstructed to the horizon--there were no tenements or 
     telephone poles or wires or factories to spoil the vista. The 
     ocean was to my mind a blank canvas, I was free to paint my 
     imagination across it, and I dreamed of whaling ships and 
     merchants of days long ago.
       Later, when I was first married, one of our first 
     apartments was in Fairhaven. I used to ride my daughter 
     around town in a carrier seat on the back of my bicycle. 
     Wherever else we went, we always went down to Fort Phoenix, 
     and out onto the Hurricane Barrier, and looked out upon the 
     ocean. My grandfather was a construction worker who helped 
     build the barrier, and so it made our visits there all the 
     more special.
       Life being what it is, we could not afford to buy a home in 
     Fairhaven at the time, and so we moved back to New Bedford. 
     As time went by, I was eventually divorced from my first 
     wife. Saddled with debt, I was forced to file for bankruptcy. 
     Through hard work and determination, I was able to restore my 
     credit and eventually bought a fine tenement on the same 
     street where I grew up. I went to the beach, I took drives by 
     the shore, but I also worked; I worked hard.
       I am now remarried and once again live in Fairhaven. We 
     have easy access to the beach, and I ride my bicycle by the 
     shore. Through all the changes in my life, one thing that has 
     never changed is the ocean. I can still gaze out upon the 
     open sea and look unobstructed to the horizon. I am humbled 
     at the awesome power that lies there. The sheer vastness of 
     the sea amazes me, and I cannot help but think of our great 
     Creator every time I look upon it. Surely this is a holy 
     place! I can imagine how the first people to set eyes upon 
     this wonderful site must have felt, and I feel that as I am 
     able to see what they first saw, I can share their 
     experience.
       At first I felt guilty for not wanting to see a wind farm 
     off the coast. After all, this would be a great source of 
     energy. Clean, renewable, it might even lessen our dependence 
     on foreign oil, even if it's only a little bit, I would feel 
     patriotic. I felt like one of the NIMBY (not in my backyard) 
     people, but it just didn't feel right. Some people say that 
     the only argument against the project is that some rich folks 
     on Nantucket and Cape Cod don't want to spoil their view. 
     Rep. Bob Koczera calls it ``reasons of aesthetics and really 
     nothing else.'' I've got news for you, Bob, the grandeur of 
     the world's natural wonders are not ``aesthetics!'' 
     Aesthetics are in your living room! That's like calling the 
     Grand Canyon ``just a hole,'' or Mount Everest ``a big hill 
     and really nothing else.''
       The ocean is our last wild place on this Earth. We are a 
     throwaway society, and we are too lazy, or too cheap, to 
     bother to clean up the messes we have made on land, and so 
     now we are looking to the sea. Rep. Frank Smizik of Brookline 
     states ``We're relying on dirty power plants'' and urges us 
     to ``get away from that.''
       Well, Frank, why not hold the Bush Administration to their 
     responsibility, and stop letting them relax pollution 
     standards for these filthy polluters? Why not force them to 
     clean up their act? I, for one, am sick to death about 
     hearing these corporations whine about the cost! Too bad! 
     Record profits for Big Oil sound familiar? All the while, the 
     public is being gouged at the gas pump!
       Why do we have to have this wind farm in the ocean when 
     there are many existing wind farms in areas that are not near 
     the ocean? The answer is simple: It is easier, and cheaper! 
     Cape Wind wants to locate here because they feel this is the 
     best location for them. What is best for an energy 
     corporation is not necessarily what is best for the Earth or 
     for our people. It is time we start to think of ourselves as 
     people of the Earth, and not as people who belong to 
     corporations. It is time we listen to the ancestors of our 
     native peoples. Since time began, they have known that the 
     Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth. We are 
     here as her caretakers. They have been telling us this since 
     the white people first came here. It's time we open our ears, 
     our eyes, and our hearts, and listen.
       It is time to use self-restraint and set limits for 
     ourselves. We must take responsibility for our actions, and 
     clean up the mess we have made upon our lands, and not expand 
     our careless ways to the sea. Let us look upon the ocean with 
     reverence, and let us see to the horizon, unobstructed, and 
     let it be our inspiration to take back our Earth from 
     unbridled development. Let us say, ``Stop!'' Enough is 
     enough! We have the technology to develop alternative energy 
     sources without this project. This is not a ``do or die'' 
     issue. Why not explore other options? Cape Wind would have us 
     in fear of not supporting them now. Who says they are the 
     only energy development corporation on the horizon? Rep. 
     Matthew Patrick wants to ``let the process go forward, and if 
     Cape Wind survives based on its merits, it should not be 
     subject to the arbitrary whims of the governor.'' If? If it 
     survives? Well what Matthew, pray tell, will befall us if it 
     doesn't survive? Who will pay to dismantle it? Or would you 
     rather it just stay out there, a rusting hulk, as a monument 
     to our failure, until it finally collapses into the sea? If 
     that happened, what then would be the danger to navigation? 
     What would be the environmental impact then? Has anyone 
     thought about this? And what about the diesel fuel stored 
     there for the generators?
       The sea and its creatures are a precious resource. Today, 
     our fishermen are paying the price for the sins of our 
     fathers. Exploitation of fish stocks since pre-Colonial times 
     has left them depleted to the point of disaster. We cannot 
     think that human invasion of this delicate environment will 
     have little or no impact. I cannot help but think that if we 
     allow this wind farm, that they will want to expand in the 
     future, or that others will want to follow. Will we ask 
     our children to pay forever for our sins?
       I am not rich, but this is not about being rich. It is 
     about a deep respect and reverence for our earth, and yes, it 
     is about my vista. When I look out upon the ocean, it is, to 
     me, as if I am looking upon the face of God, so I would say 
     to you: Yes, I would be happy to

[[Page S9359]]

     have a wind farm in my backyard, as long as it stays where it 
     belongs, on land, and not in the middle of one of the most 
     beautiful places on earth, the ocean.

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