Governor Signs LD 828 into Law--Unorganized Territories Citizens Now Have a Say About Wind Power Proposals

Yesterday, Governor LePage put his signature on LD 828, enacting it into law, and bringing this multiyear legislative effort to a close. It was a true grassroots effort, and it couldn't have happened without support and participation by a lot of people. A mountain of thanks goes out to all of you who answered the many calls for action.

What did LD 828 do?
Simply put, LD 828 established a process that would allow residents of the Unorganized Territory (UT) to petition for removal of their communities from the expedited permitting area. It doesn't prohibit wind power development in any of these places. Rather, it just makes it possible to restore the voice UT residents had in their communities' futures prior to the 2008 Wind Energy Act.

What now?
This is the last Legislative Alert/Update I expect to send to this email list. If you'd like to continue receiving information on the newly created removal process, send me an email at utcffp@gmail.com and I will put you on a new email list to be used specifically for that purpose. Questions are likely to arise, so I plan to establish a web resource that can be accessed by UT residents - or anyone else - who might be looking for information on the removal process. 

A note on LD 828's trip through the Legislature.
It would take a lot of space to recount LD 828's journey in detail, so I won't even try here. Some remarkable - and disturbing - things happened. If you're interested in any of the details, please feel free to contact me at the email address or phone number below.
 

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Thanks to these legislators.
The first, and only, roll call vote on LD 828 was in the House, with all subsequent approvals coming unanimously without roll calls. After more than an hour of floor debate, this initial vote in the House was very controversial, but the following legislators stood with us despite many days of heavy lobbying to cast their votes against us. If you have time, I hope you'll consider sending a short thank you to these supportive House members. 

As a timesaver, you can copy and paste the entire list of email addresses below into the Bcc line of your email.

Susan.Austin@legislature.maine.gov, Kevin.Battle@legislature.maine.gov, Bruce.Bickford@legislature.maine.gov, Russell.Black@legislature.maine.gov, Andrew.Buckland@legislature.maine.gov, Richard.Campbell@legislature.maine.gov, Paul.Chace@legislature.maine.gov, Dale.Crafts@legislature.maine.gov, Kathleen.Dillingham@legislature.maine.gov, Larry.Dunphy@legislature.maine.gov, Anthony.Edgecomb@legislature.maine.gov, Eleanor.Espling@legislature.maine.gov, Robert.Foley@legislature.maine.gov, Karen.Gerrish@legislature.maine.gov, Phyllis.Ginzler@legislature.maine.gov, Randall.Greenwood@legislature.maine.gov, Sheldon.Hanington@legislature.maine.gov, Jeffery.Hanley@legislature.maine.gov, Stephanie.Hawke@legislature.maine.gov, Frances.Head@legislature.maine.gov, Norman.Higgins@legislature.maine.gov, Brian.Hobart@legislature.maine.gov, Jonathan.Kinney@legislature.maine.gov, MaryAnne.Kinney@legislature.maine.gov, Lawrence.Lockman@legislature.maine.gov, Ricky.Long@legislature.maine.gov, Joyce.Maker@legislature.maine.gov, Richard.Malaby@legislature.maine.gov, Donald.Marean@legislature.maine.gov, Michael.McClellan@legislature.maine.gov, Carol.McElwee@legislature.maine.gov, Robert.Nutting@legislature.maine.gov, Beth.O'Connor@legislature.maine.gov, Wayne.Parry@legislature.maine.gov, John.Picchiotti@legislature.maine.gov, Richard.Pickett@legislature.maine.gov, Dwayne.Prescott@legislature.maine.gov, Roger.Reed@legislature.maine.gov, Deborah.Sanderson@legislature.maine.gov, David.Sawicki@legislature.maine.gov, Stedman.Seavey@legislature.maine.gov, Roger.Sherman@legislature.maine.gov, Heather.Sirocki@legislature.maine.gov, Thomas.Skolfield@legislature.maine.gov, Paul.Stearns@legislature.maine.gov, Joel.Stetkis@legislature.maine.gov, Timothy.Theriault@legislature.maine.gov, Jeffrey.Timberlake@legislature.maine.gov, Michael.Timmons@legislature.maine.gov, William.Tuell@legislature.maine.gov, Beth.Turner@legislature.maine.gov, Karen.Vachon@legislature.maine.gov, Nathan.Wadsworth@legislature.maine.gov, Raymond.Wallace@legislature.maine.gov, Dustin.White@legislature.maine.gov, Tom.Winsor@legislature.maine.gov, Stephen.Wood@legislature.maine.gov, Roberta.Beavers@legislature.maine.gov, Henry.Beck@legislature.maine.gov, Ralph.Chapman@legislature.maine.gov, Justin.Chenette@legislature.maine.gov, Michelle.Dunphy@legislature.maine.gov, Benjamin.Chipman@legislature.maine.gov, Jeffrey.Evangelos@legislature.maine.gov, Stanley.Short@legislature.maine.gov, Gary.Sukeforth@legislature.maine.gov, Denise.Harlow@legislature.maine.gov, Craig.Hickman@legislature.maine.gov, Terry.Morrison@legislature.maine.gov, Catherine.Nadeau@legislature.maine.gov, William.Noon@legislature.maine.gov, Stephen.Stanley@legislature.maine.gov, Arthur.Verow@legislature.maine.gov, Charlotte.Warren@legislature.maine.gov
 

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Again, many thanks and much appreciation goes out to those of you who've been involved with this effort. Citizen involvement can and does make things happen.

Best,