My letter to the EUT Commitee
February 3, 2016
Honorable Members of the EUT Committee,
I am writing to express my dismay and outrage at the proliferation of wind turbines in Maine. Since the passage of the Expedited Wind Act in 2008 wind turbines have negatively impacted the viewshed of literally thousands of square miles of Maine. Dozens of turbines are visible from the top of every mountain in Western Maine. And for what???? To save Maine from global warming? To be a leader in fighting climate change? To replace heating oil with electricity because heating oil would become unaffordable? These were the reasons given by then Governor Baldacci and former governor and would be wind developer Angus King for imposing this unimaginable travesty on Maine’s landscape.
Since 2008, when Gov. Baldacci (who is now a highly paid executive in the wind industry he imposed on Maine while in office) rammed through the Expedited Wind Law as a Governor’s Emergency Bill, the weather in Maine has exhibited no warming trend. On the contrary, 2013 and 2014 were the coldest winters since 2008. (See charts 1 and 2 below) The cost of heating oil has plummeted (see chart 3) while wind turbines require subsidies worth as much as the value of the electricity they generate, subsidies without which the industry would not even exist.
Maine has become a prostitute to the electricity demands of other New England states, and while the wind developer pimps are taking our tax dollars, Maine is getting raped. It is insane public policy to allow this desecration of Maine's landscape to continue. I implore you to vote OUGHT NOT TO PASS on ANY LEGISLATION that will increase opportunities for wind turbines to be constructed in Maine. Preferably, you will place a moratorium on wind turbines while you work to restore the environmental protections that were removed to grease the skids for this industry.
Sincerely,
Steve Thurston
Ferrisburgh, VT and Roxbury Pond, ME
PS: To see the impact of turbines on what had been described by an LL Bean Outdoor Adventure Leader as "a jewel of the western mountains" click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjXERhHmuP8
Chart 1.
http://www.weatherdatadepot.com
Chart 2.
http://www.weatherdatadepot.com
Views: 236
Comment
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Comment by Monique Aniel Thurston on February 3, 2016 at 9:00pm
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Funny how Angus was worried about Maine cold winters becoming uninhabitable, while he pushed hard to decrease global warming and thus make Maine winters even colder.
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Here is an excerpt of Angus King speaking at Bowdoin College in 2008 about why we need wind turbines . This excerpt deals mostly with his predictions about oil prices . See entire article by clicking on the link,
this excerpt is taken from the article written by NRCM :
" King, who is now working on two conventional wind farm proposals in western Maine, did not say how such a massive project would be paid for, except that it will take government and private funding.
But he insisted that the price won’t look so daunting in 10 to 12 years as oil and gas prices triple. Oil could realistically cost $300 a barrel in 2020, he said.
“Filling up your (car’s gas) tank will be $200. To fill up the (heating oil) tank in your basement with oil — $2,000.” Maine, with its cold winters, will be uninhabitable, he said.
King’s idea is provocative, said Pete Didisheim, advocacy director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine and a leading wind energy advocate. “It’s a bigger concept than anybody’s talking about.”
Land-based wind projects are far more financially sound, he said. The technological challenges of building large floating platforms, among other things, means offshore wind power is at least 10 years away.
http://www.nrcm.org/news/environmental-issues-in-the-news/king-push...
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Avangrid Inc (AGR:New York Consolidated)
As of 8:04 PM 02/3/16 All times are local (Market data is delayed by at least 15 minutes).Executive Profile*
John Elias Baldacci
Vice Chairman,Avangrid, Inc.Age Total Calculated Compensation This person is connected to 12 board members in 1 different organizations across 1 different industries.
See Board Relationships60 $100,000 Background*
Hon. John Elias Baldacci serves as Vice Chairman of AVANGRID, Inc. and also has been its Non-Executive & Independent Director since January 16, 2014. Hon. Baldacci serves as Vice Chair of the Board of the Northeast Midwest Institute. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in History from the University of Maine at Orono.
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Comment by Jim Wiegand on February 3, 2016 at 8:14pm
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If true, the fact that former Gov. Baldacci is now a highly paid executive in the wind industry could be viewed by some as an unethical reward, a delayed payoff or even the acceptance of a bribe for his part in the Expedited Wind Act.
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Comment by Long Islander on February 3, 2016 at 8:10pm
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Amen.
Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
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