Nimbyism is nothing new. It’s even logical sometimes, perhaps not always deserving of opprobrium. After all, it is one thing to be a passionate proponent of recycling, and another to welcome a particular recycling plant — with the attendant garbage-truck traffic — on your street. General environmental principles may be at odds with convenience or even local environmental consequences.
But policymakers in the United States have been repeatedly frustrated by constituents who profess to worry about the climate and count themselves as environmentalists, but prove unwilling to adjust their lifestyles or change their behavior in any significant way…
In interviews with pedestrians and motorists on Prospect Park West, opponents stridently criticized the bike lane — though (this being Park Slope) nearly everyone made a point of saying they generally approved of cycling. (One of the groups bringing the lawsuit is called Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes; the group opposed to Cape Wind is called the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound.)
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