Mommy, Can We Photoshop Them Out?

So Maui's got a wind plant in one of its most scenic spots, where tourists gather to photograph the beaches and the humpback whales. The local PTB sited this 20-turbine mess on a state conservation ridge line, visible from nearly everywhere people gather. The developer, UPC of Massachusetts, is such a good corporate neighbor that it even has photos of the endangered Hawaiian nene on its website. Do these people have no shame?

And the benefits? It generates about 9 percent of Maui's electricity, but further wind projects are on hold because no one can figure out how to integrate additional wind power into Maui Electric's delivery system. It's just too erratic.

Given Maui's abundant solar resources, it's a shame that such an inappropriately sited project was given the "green" light. But greed is ubiquitous. Like they say in Hawaii, even the missionaries who came to the islands to do good ended up doing quite well. Kinda like the wind developers.

The moral of the story is that you can't count on people to do the right thing, even when it seems most obvious.