7.14.2007 | NIMBY

Ah, the bloviating of insincere politicos. Pictured is one of the worst of the worst, the ultra-liberal Jim Moran (D-VA). Moran represents, among other places in deep blue Northern Virginia, Old Town Alexandria.

What is Moran doing in the picture? Doing what he does best: bloviating, this time against anything that furthers a lefty cause. In this case, the lefty cause is to have a pristine environment while still being able to drop by one of the ten thousand or so Starbucks in Old Town and order a double mocha fat free latte. And sip it in air-conditioned comfort whilst cruising the internet on free WiFi provided by public tax dollars.

Can you smell the hypocrisy? Hmm, almost as delicious as the aromas wafting from those Starbucks outlets. The focus of Moran's ginned-up ire is the Mirant power plant, which has become a crusade for the City of Alexandria (unofficial city motto: we can waste your tax dollars better than anyone else).

In a recent issue of The Weekly Standard, Jonathan Last has a brief essay on the battle royal being fought by the hypocrites to root out the power plant. After all, it uses coal (gasp!) and thereby pollutes what should be a perfect little community.

Mr. Last provides a brief overview of the lawsuits that the city has engaged in; losing all of them, because of simple common sense: the power plant was there a long time before Alexandria became an egotistical enclave of affluent hypocrites.

One thing I recall from the time I lived in Alexandria was that some residents of the high-rise condominium built right next to the plant would complain about how dirty the air was. Which one might sympathize with, except for one inconvenient fact: the plant was there when the condo was first built. It takes a certain kind of an idiot to complain about something that should have been evident before they moved in.

But, then, the people who complain the loudest about alleged environmental problems do tend to not notice large facts -- even when they move in right next door to a coal-fired power plant.