The recent attempt by the Preservation Society to thwart the Revolution Wind project has inspired me to search for the logic behind its action. I think it was stated that the sight of a wind farm would “devastate the tourism industry ” in Newport. If the BOEM report is correct, the simulated view from Newport shows barely perceptable images the size of toothpicks on the horizon on a clear day. Regardless, I wonder what data the Preservation Society has that would lead them to make such a statement. Even if the wind farm was more visible, the statement can been seen as an insult to the intelligence of tourists. When I visit natural and historic sites elsewhere in the country and world, I try to do it with an awareness of how they fit in to the current and changing cultural, political, and environmental state of the world. Most are aware of climate change being an existential threat to some communities. If they are unaware of our local chronic flooding, they might be aware of the flooding in Venice. They are more likely to see a wind farm as an attempt at self preservation, rather than being in a “do-nothing” mode. As a community leader, the Society is likely aware that offshore wind power is required to meet the state’s net zero emissions mandate by 2050 and the 100% renewable power supply by 2033.
But they say “green energy projects need not come at the unneccessary loss to our community’s irreplacable character and sense of place”. The Pell Bridge was a monstrous modern incursion that destroyed the pristine view of lower Narragansett Bay, and required demolition of several Newport historic structures. Yet is culturally revered today, not to mention its central role in the region’s transportation infrastructure. America’s Cup Ave had an even bigger impact on Newport’s “sense of place”, requiring the wholesale demolition of the entire historic waterfront between Marlborough St and Memorial Blvd. In the same vein are the ubiquitous electricity poles and wires that became part of the cityscape before most of us were born. I’m not sure if they add anything to the historic sense of place, but do any of these examples limit Newport’s tourism? If so, the search for logic begs for the data to back it up.
As for the most popular Bellevue Ave area mansions? Well, we do know that they were generally not built to be in keeping with the style and proportion of the surrounding neighborhoods. To the contrary, these “cottages” were designed to be deliberately ostentatious in order to evoke the aspirations of their gilded age robber baron owners. As far as fitting in with the bucolic open spaces in the outskirts of Newport, they were an incursion in their day. As with the Pell Bridge, America’s Cup Ave, utility poles & wires, they were also abrupt visual changes to a cherished landscape.
Preservation can be about one part of a community, or an entire community.
Jon Dember
Newport
Preservation Society of Newport County files federal appeals to highlight legal errors in permitting review of offshore wind farms
Preservation Society of Newport County provides more info regarding its appeal of wind farms off Rhode Island coast
