I have been to my fair share of Cape Wind public hearings. Over the course of the last seven years, this project has been put under a microscope: poked, prodded, looked at from every conceivable angle, and yes with ample input from the “public.” In fact at this point I would feel confident in saying that the Cape Wind wind farm is perhaps the most looked at renewable energy project ever.

I have been to so many of these things that I have the entire dance memorized. Here is how it goes.

• The idle rich (who oppose the project because it will interrupt their view) show up really early and sign up for all the early speaking slots.
• The people with jobs (that support the project because they are sick of high energy costs) get there after work and end up with all the late slots.
• You sit and listen to an hour and a half of screaming lies and half truths about how a group of wind farms is going to destroy the world.
• If you have the stamina, you then sit for another three hours listening to supporters of the project lay out logical and compelling arguments. There is only cheering and clapping at this point because the idle rich have left to return to their massive homes in time to watch the evening news.

Few people (including the press) usually wait till the very end. But if you do you will see a great outpouring of passion and reason in support of one of the most important projects in recent memory.

This particular public hearing was important because it was the last one. It was the last chance for everyone to say what they wanted to say. It was also the only one in which Jim Gordon, president of Cape Wind, spoke. The hearing was in a large gym and when speakers got really loud the echo made your ears hurt. The people for the project all lined up on one side, while those against it filled the bleachers on the other. If this was ancient times our appointed champions would be fighting in the middle with swords and stuff. Being that is is 2008 we instead settled for microphones and moderators. At first glance it was apparent that the supporters far outnumbered the detractors. The opponents had gotten there early, as is their way, and signed up for all the slots.

As I entered the gym, I noticed that a bunch of people dressed like the rich guy from Gilligan’s Island were intermingled with the people wearing the “save our sound” stickers. I was later given a flyer from one of these guys that stated they were Yachters Against Windmills Now or YAWN. I had a good little laugh when I realized that the rich opponents of this project actually couldn’t tell the difference between these masters of satire, and themselves. Here is a small selection from their flyer.

“YAWN opposes the Cape Wind Farm proposal and pledges to spend another $20 million to continue dragging out the regulatory process into the hither beyond. We will suck the wind out of Jim Gordon’s sails and and run him aground. Nantucket Sound is our national treasure.

We are big supporters of coals, added Peabody. We believe that coal ripped out of flattened mountains in distant states is a far superior energy source than sustainable wind generation.”

I was sitting just behind Gordon as people against the project stood up and literally screamed at the top of their lungs about how this “experimental” project, and this “industrial park” would use a “loop hole” in the law to “destroy” the Cape’s way of life. Gordon sat calmly listening to these hysterics, the sound system occasionally topping out in a horrible atonal screech as people tattooed a tirade onto our ears about how wind turbines would destroy the planet.

To pass the time I kept a small tally of “for” and “against.” As the little hash marks started to pile up on the “against” tally I started to think that perhaps no one was going to support the project, and I started to wonder if I myself should go sign up for a speaker slot if only to add one voice in favor of the project. I looked down at Gordon and saw that he didn’t seem to be worried.

After the first 15 opponents to the project had laid out their arguments using the tactics of fear, uncertainty and doubt, something happened. A well dressed man in a suit stood and calmly laid out a rational and highly convincing argument for why wind farms are not only awesome but necessary. He pointed out that this project has been studied by just about everyone for 7 years! That It will provide jobs, clean energy, clean air, and as all the studies point out have almost no impact on the environment.

It was like the dam had broken. The next 20 people who spoke were almost entirely for the project. There was a representative from Governor Patrick, from The Sierra Club, from Greenpeace, from The Union Of Concerned Scientists, the local Airline Cape Air, and even the Massachusetts Audubon, not to mention all the supportive citizens and well wishers.

There also seemed to be a fun streak a mile wide in the project supporters. My friend Carl once again sang a glorious song about the benefits of wind power. There was a polar bear, several poets, people in capes with wind turbines on them, even a group of people dressed as sheiks calling themselves Sheiks Against Wind or SAW. SAW spoke eloquently about the benefits of oil, and how it is super good, and how wind power is bad because it reduces the use of oil, and SAW’s profits. Even the stone faced moderators smiled. How could you not love a project supported by these kind of people.

Jim Gordon even got up and gave a nice talk about what his goals were for the project and how he hopes that his long fight to build America’s first offshore wind farm was coming to a successful end. I found myself wishing the same thing. I sometimes can’t believe that this project has taken so long to get going. It would seem about the most obvious thing in the world, especially after the Draft Environmental Impact Statement came out more of less putting to rest any doubt about the negative impacts of the project (there are none).

We can only hope that this fall, when they release the final EIS, that the project will go forward, against the wishes of a very few very rich. This project has always had great merit, been much needed, and been in the perfect location. The recent high oil prices, melting ice caps, and rising seas only make it more so now. I think the thing that struck me the most was how almost every single young person that spoke at the hearing was in support of the project. This says to me that projects like this are inevitable, the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. If we wait till then, it will be too late.