Salem News: Airing Your Grievances

Originally published in the 01/09/2013 SALEM NEWS: The hotly-debated Winter Island Wind Turbine Project takes its next step:

A Pleasant Surprize

It isn't often that when the local newspaper devotes its entire editorial page to one single issue and used the cartoon you drew (and thought was rejected) as the headliner.
Forgive the choppiness of the image: I had to combine this from multiple scans because entire page was too big for the machine to do at once.

An Alternative To The Previous Post....

When I decided to do a SALEM NEWS cartoon about the stink over the air turbine plans, I actually came up with TWO ideas. I decided to draw up the both of them and let my editor Nelson K. Benton decide which one he wanted to use. (If any)
He chose the one you saw in the last post. He even added a title,"Two Lips and Hot Air" In the print edition of the paper. (For some reason, the SALEM NEWS website doesn't use the cartoons online.)
The cartoon above is the alternate version. Seeing it now, it seems to come off a little too obvious, which is probably why he preferred the second one.

Salem News: Two Lips and Hot Air

Published in the Salem (MA) News edition 08/05/2011.
The latest stink here is the city wants to put up a huge wind turbine in the Winter Island Area. a public meeting the other night turned into a huge melee with tempers rising and people walking out.
Basically, many of the residents don't want it. citing that it would be noisy, dangerous, unsafe for the kids, and deadly to birds.
I do respect the residents for their right to dissent, but I can't see the harm there would be.
Unsafe for the kids? Couldn't the parents just make sure they keep away from the thing? And wouldn't it AT LEAST be fenced off in the FIRST PLACE?
Deadly to birds? I would think MOST birds would have the instinct to keep away from a rapidly spinning object in the first place. More birds get done in from flying into clear glass windows than an obstacle they can clearly SEE.
Noise? How noisy can a turbine be? It doesn't even spin under its own power! The Shaugnessy Hospital used to have TWO wind turbines and even at full blow, they weren't that loud! Considering the noise I hear outside MY neighborhood.. traffic and drunken people shouting and cursing at two in the morning, I'd rather have the chupa-chupa of the turbine! And given winter island ALREADY gets its share of Traffic from tourism, the rowdy crowds, and the Salem Willows, you'd think a turbine would be soothing by COMPARISON!!
I think they're being a bit too picky here. If they don't want it in their neighborhood, fine. But to say not to put it anywhere at ALL...
I am NOT an enviromental extremeist. I'm not saying it's going to solve all our energy problems. but the time may come when we will definetly have to start implementing other sources of energy. (I'm sure once the big oil companies find out a way to make us pay for wind and sunlight, these projects will REALLY get started) Other countries have already started to some degree..I thought the US was supposed to be AHEAD in matters like these! It just shames me that like the war between Obama, the GOP, and the Teabaggers, all everyone is doing is yelling like spoiled children until they get their way. No compromise. No cooperation.
"Go Green..But not in MY Backyard" They say in their "Samart Phones" as they drive their "Smart Cars"
Though it doesn't seem anyone is being too smart these days..