A wind power project off the coast of Massachusetts has spawned a political drama worthy of Hollywood.
It stars Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and lots of expensive lobbyists.
New Hampshire Congressman Charles Bass has a supporting role.
NHPR Correspondent Julie Donnelly has more from Washington.
In the middle of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation act is an obscure little section - number 414.
The measure could spell the end of a controversial wind farm planned for Nantucket sound.
The project, called Capewinds would place dozens of wind turbines hundreds of feet tall about 5 miles off the shore of Cape Cod.
Section number 414 would allow Governor Mitt Romney to block the project if it interferes with Coast Guard navigation.
The Coast Guard did not request the legislation.
Spokeswoman Angela McArdle says they don't know if Capewinds could compromise safety for Coast Guard personnel.
"the Coast Guard has not yet established definitive standards for siting windfarms or for determining their impacts on navigational safety. We're developing those standards and those will assist in making assessments like that."
If given the chance, Romney says he will veto the project.
Massachusetts Representative Jim Delahunt - a democrat who serves the Cape Cod region also opposes it.
And so does Senator Ted Kennedy.
But none of those parties was responsible for the provision in the coast guard bill.
That idea came from the powerful chair of the Commerce committee, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.
And immediately rumours began to fly on Capitol Hill.
Stevens is strong advocate of expanding domestic energy production.
He's relentlessly pushed for oil drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge.
So why would Stevens - a republican - want to help Ted Kennedy - a Democrat who has been one of the most vocal opponents of ANWR drilling in the Senate?
Senator Stevens says there is nothing fishy going on.
"It is not an issue based on friendship, nor any past favors or future favors. It is strictly a provision based upon my long-held belief that states should have the final say on projects which will directly impact their land, resources and their constituents."
But New Hampshire Congressman Charles Bass doesn't buy it.
" this effort is being spearheaded by …members of the Alaska delegation who have complained that the New England delegation has no business getting involved with Alaska issues, and now they themselves are trying to kill a renewable energy proposal in Massachusetts potentially I guess to influence the Massachusetts vote on ANWR. I can't say that for sure, but I can't think of any other reason why they would."
Representative Bass calls the Capewinds project a win win situation.
He says it's expected to create four hundred and twenty megawatts of power.
That's almost as much as the combined output of the two coal boilers at the Bow Power plant in New Hampshire.
And he says it will create that power, without harming the environment.
Congressman Bass has written a letter to House leadership - signed by almost forty colleagues, supporting the wind farm.
But one indication of the influence of Senator Kennedy and Congressman Delahunt is that the list includes only one New England democrat- Rhode Island's Jim Langevin..
Maine Democrat Tom Allen was one of the first Congressmen to sign on to Bass' letter.
But he later removed his name - because he says he did not want to step on Delahunt's toes.
"I'm a strong supporter of wind farm projects in New England, including in my state. I just felt in that case that I need to be sensitive to what another member feels about a project in his district….."
To supporters of the Capewinds project, this is the ultimate not in my backyard issue.
But Senator Ted Kennedy says this is not about protecting the view from the Kennedy compound in Hyannis.
It is, he says, about process.
Specifically Kennedy opposed a provision in the Energy bill that passed last year without his vote.
The section exempted the Capewind project from the competitive bidding rules that new wind farms would have to follow.
" We wrote in the Energy bill a whole set of exemptions which have effectively given the developer an unfair advantage to exploit twenty four acres of fragile land. This is a special interest program to benefit some wealthy developers and I don't think that's right"
Senator Kennedy also dismisses the rumours that he might abandon his opposition to Alaskan oil drilling to repay his Alaskan colleague Ted Stevens.
When asked if he would continue to be a vocal opponent of drilling in ANWR, Kennedy replied - "I certainly will".
For NHPR News, I'm Julie Donnelly in Washington.
