Environmental sage Bill McKibben is upset that more environmentalists don't really support wind power. Sure, national environmental groups talk about the importance of wind as an alternative energy source, but green groups nonetheless oppose many of the wind farm proposals that are actually put on the table, such as the plan to put wind turbines off the coast of Cape Cod.

In part, wind power has failed to take hold

because environmentalists, particularly in the crowded East, haven't come to terms with this technology. In fights in Cape Cod, the mountains of Vermont, and the ridgelines of Maryland, they've divided into bitter factions over almost every turbine proposal. On one side, national environmental groups like Greenpeace have backed many installations, arguing that the dangers of global warming far outweigh any local effects. On the other side, neighbors of proposed wind farms have joined with local chapters of big conservation groups to fight the Statue-of-Liberty-size windmills on environmental grounds, chiefly arguing that they'll destroy the scenic beauty of their areas.

Such environmental impacts are real, McKibben argues, but must be compared with the environmental impacts of the alternatives. Or, as GristMill's Dave Roberts puts it:

If environmentalists take global warming seriously, and expect others to take it seriously, maybe they shouldn't become bitchy provincialists the minute you want to build a wind turbine that impedes the scenic view off the back porches of their vacation homes.

This just goes to show that all energy sources have environmental impacts, and there is no free lunch.

McKibben also attributes the failure of wind power to the policies of the Bush Administration. Here is where McKibben's analysis is much less clear. He cannot simultaneouly maintain (as he does) that wind power is "cost-competitive with fossil fuels," and yet is faltering, in part, due "scant government support for renewable energy." If wind power were truly cost-competitive -- and I am skeptical that it is -- then it does not need government support. McKibben can't have it both ways.

Speaking of alternative energy sources, Lynne Keisling has some interesting observations on alternative energy sources, including wave power, here.