Going with the wind

"You can just plunk one of these things down in your yard - that's 400 feet tall - and get approval for it," he says.

But other residents say that even if the windmills mar the view, that's a small price to pay. "We have a ski area out there that I'd rather not see," notes Dominic Golding, an environmental-studies professor in Princeton. "I think a windmill is more attractive.... Whatever the disadvantages, it may be a small tradeoff for the energy we get."

Jessica Almy never thought she'd find herself on the opposing side of a renewable-energy project.

A wildlife advocate for the Humane Society's Cape Wildlife Center in West Barnstable, Mass., Ms. Almy cares deeply about developing clean-energy sources to reduce the threat of global warming. In principle, she even supports offshore wind farms.

Just not in Nantucket Sound.

"I think environmentalism fundamentally comes from a desire to protect the communities that you know," she says, struggling to explain her position.

To be fair, the windmills in question are not small. Cape Wind Associates, a collaboration between a Massachusetts energy company and wind-power company, has proposed building 170 turbines spread out over 28 square miles several miles south of Hyannis. Each would be 426 feet tall, and many would be visible from shore (just how visible is a point of contention). The upside: Their output each year would provide more than 70 percent of the Cape and nearby Islands' electricity.

But since Cape Wind proposed the project last July, it has sparked a controversy as wild as the 40 m.p.h. gusts that make Nantucket Sound such an attractive place for windmills. The battle has pitted environmentalists against environmentalists and polarized Cape residents. Opponents compare it to building huge towers atop the ridges of Yosemite or the Grand Canyon, while supporters say all the commotion is just an extreme form of NIMBYism - Not In My Back Yard.

"Like anything in life, there are tradeoffs," says Charles Kleekamp, who lives in the Upper Cape town of Sandwich.

Mr. Kleekamp has spent years fighting a nearby power plant - one of Massachussetts' so-called "filthy five" - and he's thrilled at the prospect of using wind energy instead.

"There are those who think wind turbines are ugly," he adds. "And then there are those of us who think they're graceful, profound studies in motion and energy."

The rallying cry for the antiwind folks is that a seascape of windmills could threaten tourism and fishing. Some environmentalists have also raised concerns that turbines could kill shorebirds that migrate through Nantucket Sound each year.

Almy, a lifelong wildlife lover, worries that underwater construction noises might confuse the seals that live in the area, or harm their hearing. But she also recognizes the dangers fossil fuels pose and the need to develop alternatives - like wind. "I think all environmentalists want expeditious development of renewable energy," she muses. "And all of us want protection of ocean resources. We're just divided on the specific projects."

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