Susan Cook: Justin Alfond’s ‘emergency’

Justin Alfond’s ‘emergency’

GUEST COLUMN
BY SUSAN COOK

Dear President Justin,

Do you mind if I call you that? We’ve never met or spoken so “Justin” seems a little too familiar. “President Alfond” seems a little too presidential.

LD 1750 — “An Act to Amend the Maine Administrative Procedure Act and Clarify Wind Energy Laws,” which you are very, very quickly trying to push through as “emergency” legislation — is not very presidential.

Do you really want the observations of citizens of the state of Maine to be completely disregarded by state agencies making regulations? The bill says, state agencies may only accept “the testimony of qualified experts, data gathered by objective and reliable means, and testimony and other evidence supported by independent confirmation of reliability.”

Really? That smashes the credibility of regular folk sitting in their backyard one day who can no longer hear the blue jays chirping 50 feet away because of the noise a wind turbine makes, or an asphalt plant that’s begun operation a half-mile away.

Do citizens have to hire an audio consultant before their testimony is deemed credible by President Justin’s bill? If they can’t hear the birds anymore, wouldn’t you think they’d know that?

Please continue reading the rest of this piece here:

http://www.timesrecord.com/news/2014-02-17/Commentary/Justin_Alfond...

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Comment by Sherwin Start on February 23, 2014 at 1:45pm

ITs plainly Obvious to me that the Wind Industry Has Made a "PAY-OFF" to Mr. ALFOND in one form or another!!

Comment by Kathy Sherman on February 17, 2014 at 9:59pm
P.S. after reading the commentary in full, I disagree a bit - It is not just that we are pushed not to trust our own perceptions or thoughts that underlies such warped psychology today. It is that we are pushed not to sense, perceive or think in the first place.
My fav quote: Who cares what other people think? They so seldom do. -- Florida bar waiting for airport bus and '00 election returns.
Comment by Kathy Sherman on February 17, 2014 at 9:38pm
I was quite disconcerted to see, the other day, that one of the expert acousticians who has brought their field to real life for some of us with pictures of himself climbing up to the top of a gas stack, was heartily challenged in Charlestown RI re his 'expert' standing.
We do need to find ways for the real experts, the first hand witnesses, to be able to testify while preserving their right to privacy. .And I believe that it would be a useful exercise to ask the industry to define 'expert', and here I am thinking about 'expert panels'.
Is the expert that CDC director who never met a turbine neighbor and would not listen to how what was permitted sounds? And who knew Alberta had special low frequency sound regs. but promptly dropped that issue. Is the expert that AWEA/CanWEA panelist from MIT whose NEWEEP webinar makes clear that he had not even read the papers past superficial, or is it the guy who says the first antibiotics were not tested for safety, so why should wind turbines be.
I am having more and more difficulty with irrational hate and politics here. Wish it could be 'just the facts, maman' and that that would suffice to win.
Comment by Pineo Girl on February 17, 2014 at 9:17pm

I have to apologize - I know - Sometimes I have the worst potty mouth!!

Comment by Pineo Girl on February 17, 2014 at 8:47pm

OMG  - Maybe my FCS ( stands for Fuc>>>> Crazy Sister) has finally redeemed herself!! The longtime Secretary of the Maine State Democrat Party may have seen the light!!  We need to bring her over to our side - She is a bear when she wants to be!! You go Susie!!!

 

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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