May 1, 2006

Energy

Senator Jack Hamlet

Carroll Andrew Morse

Back in February, the Projo editorial page dubbed Senator Lincoln Chafee "Senator Lincoln Hamlet" for taking too long to make up his mind on which way he would vote on the nomination of Samuel Alito to the United States Supreme Court. (The Senator disputes the notion that he took an inordinate amount of time to make his decision).

Now, the time has come for Rhode Island to pass the title of "Hamlet" to a new and rightful holder. According to Timothy C. Barmann in Saturday's Projo, Senator Jack "Hamlet" Reed has been unable to decide whether he supports or opposes the development of alternative energy sources in Massachusetts...

Sen. Lincoln Chafee and Rep. James Langevin say they oppose a bill pending in Congress that would probably kill the Cape Wind offshore wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound.

Rep. Patrick Kennedy, however, supports the measure, his office said, and sides with his father, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, in opposing the Cape Wind project.

Sen. Jack Reed has not taken a position on the legislation or on the wind farm project itself, his office said.

The article says that the Cape Wind project developers estimate that the wind farm could provide 3/4 of the electricity consumed by the Cape and the Islands. Despite the benefits, Senator and Congressman Kennedy, US Representative William Delahunt, and Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney all want to use the power of government to crush innovation and keep the Cape dependent on non-renewable sources of energy.

Let's hope when Senator Reed finally makes up his mind, he doesn't join the opponents of alternative energy.

9:01 AM
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This is very discouraging news from Sen. Reed.

As someone who disagrees with the senator 99.9% of the time, I have always thought of Sen. Reed to be refreshingly consistent in his principles.

Hopefully he will stick to his guns and support the Cape Wind project.

Posted by: johnb at May 1, 2006 10:41 AM