Thank you for the delightful column by Ron MacArthur titled “Tourists: Who are they and why do they come here?”
I too enjoy all the concerts, fairs, etc., that summer and tourists make possible. One of the top draws for tourists is the beach. From my personal experience, I find that most people who visit the beach enjoy swimming, sunbathing, building sand castles, fishing, playing ball games, reading, relaxing and seeing and being seen in colorful and skimpy swimsuits!
As far as looking at the ocean, people like to look for dolphins and birds. They do not, as far as I can tell, enjoy the noisy airplanes that fly by advertising insurance or bars or health policies. They do not enjoy the rusty giant cargo vessels from China headed up to Philly. But in spite of these annoyances, they still come to the beach. They do not say how awful that is, and they won't ever come again. They ignore these issues.
However, there are some in our county who are so upset at the possible visual impact that may be caused by tiny wind turbines, that they assert that wind farms will hurt or even kill the tourist industry or real estate industry. If people are not driven from our shores by the ugly cargo vessels, which are much closer to shore and more visible than the wind turbines would be, then they won't be driven away by wind generators. Instead, they will look at fun stuff other than wind turbines just as they ignore the noisy airborne advertisements in favor of the cute ghost sand crabs.
These naysayers may even learn to enjoy the wind turbines. I do. I saw the wind turbines off the coast of Rhode Island and they are marvelous. I look forward to the Maryland and Delaware wind farms that will provide clean renewable energy, help protect our beautiful beaches from the ravages of climate chaos, and benefit our grandchildren.
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