Kudos to Walter Brooks over at Cape Cod Today. He appears to have scored a significant scoop by revealing the fundraising strategies of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the foremost opponent of the Cape Wind project. The Globe ran a story based on Brooks’s scoop on today’s front page – though they only credit him in the 21st paragraph, and even then don’t make clear that it was he who broke the story. Further evidence of the MSM’s fear of and hostility to bloggers horning in on their territory? You make the call.
Anyway, I digress. Walter got a hold of a lengthy document, which was posted (possibly inadvertently) on the Alliance’s fundraising consultant’s website (and has since been removed). The document revealed the Alliance’s focus on targeting “major gift prospects,” that is, individuals who will be asked for a minimum gift of $25,000, and preferably a six-figure amount. From the document:
The Alliance has received 28 gifts of $100,000 or more since January 2004. In 2005 they received a $1.1 million commitment from Board Chairman, Bill Koch [a yachting enthusiast who, according to the Globe, has given “only” $500,000, but perhaps he’ll be giving more in the future]. Donors in 2005 who have publicly announced their gifts include: Frank and Maureen Wilkens: $350,000; Paul Fireman [former head of Reebok]: $250,000; and Mike Egan [son of EMC Corp.’s founder]: $150,000. The majority of the Alliance’s donors wish to remain anonymous due to the controversial nature of the issue. The largest anonymous donation is $850,000, with an additional $1 million request still pending from this same donor.
The document refers to $5,000 as a “token gift” that should not be accepted right away.
Between Walter’s story and the Globe’s article, there’s really no doubt about what’s going on here, if there ever was. The people leading the charge to kill Cape Wind are absurdly wealthy, and they just don’t want to see tiny windmills through the french doors that lead onto the oceanfront balconies on their McMansions. It’s one of the most extreme manifestations of NIMBYism that I can recall seeing in this state in a long time.
