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Hi Stacey.
I think that sounds like an excellent idea, and frankly, I'm surprised we haven't already started the process. It may be too late for some of the proposed developments that are already slated for rural Maine, but while we are working on stopping those, we need to be looking at the big picture. The future of our homeland is at stake.
I do believe that educating the general public on the realities of Big Wind must go hand in hand with any initiative, however. Most Mainers simply have not had the time or taken the initiative to research this issue. We've been fed the line that 'wind is green, and green is good'. End of story. But it is NOT the real story, and we need to find way to bring the facts about this multi-faceted issue to our citizens.
Yup, Stacey... it surely makes sense! Thanks for caring.
Hi Joanne!
You are so right! And THANK YOU for taking the initiative and speaking to your town council! Education is paramount to winning this battle, but we small groups and indviduals have to work very hard to offset the publicity put out there by politicians and developers who have more money, resources and influence, and who only tell part of the story.
Unfortunately, developers come into towns and spin lovely tales of vastly reduced taxes and non-existent or very low electric bills, and the citizens can't help but be swayed! Times are very tough, and some of them are fighting for their very homes. It's only natural to take care of their families and livelihoods, first. But they aren't getting the whole story! They aren't told HOW LONG that industrial wind plant's property will retain its huge value, thereby making them the tax payer who pays the lion's share. They aren't told about depreciation and devaluation of the turbines and associated machinery, nor are they given any hint as to how quickly that value can be reduced to zero, putting them right back where they started, or worse. They are placated by the developers who tell them that 'impact studies' are being completed...that LURC is involved, and the ME IF&W, and the DEP. People think all the i's have been dotted and the t's crossed and they don't feel concerned enough to ask the hard questions. They don't demand to have those promises put in writing. I think perhaps it's because the 'carrot on a string' of reduced financial burdens is such an incredible relief, they don't dare rock the boat.
But I truly believe that if citizens learned the facts about 'Big Wind', they would offer a resounding 'No!' I believe if they truly thought about all the impacts of putting 300+ miles of industrial turbines in Maine they would not be so easily quieted. There are huge environmental costs, health problems, bird, bat and animal deaths. There is a loss of our culture and quality of life. Tourism will be affected, for how can it not be? People 'from away' flock here for our quiet and unspoiled wilderness. They come to escape the industrialization of the cities... and yet, what they are escaping will be HERE. And lets not forget one very important truth: Maine does not need this, and Mainers will not benefit from this 'green' power. Every bit of it will be shipped out of state. But it is OUR mountaintops and OUR natural resources that will be sacrificed to sate others' needs. And as far as 'green' goes... add the emissions created during the manufacturing of the machinery (paid to foreign countries overseas with OUR tax dollars) and the permanent deforestation of hundreds and thousands of acres of carbon neutralizing plants and trees, throw in herbicides to keep the transmission corridors and access roads clear, and these things are not nearly as 'green' as most people believe.
But the general public doesn't hear those parts of the equation, amd most don't take the time to research it for themselves. We are simply too busy and stressed to, and I've been as guilty as the next person of believing what those 'in the know' have told us.
But this is serious, and we need to slow down. We need our representatives and senators to step up to the plate and put a halt to the granting of any permits under LD#2283. We need to step back and not behave recklessly with our best and last resources-- our natural ones. The only 'hurry' is for subsidy dollars, and the only 'emergency' was the people of Maine. Those pushing for industrial wind developments did not want Mainers to be able to step in and put a stop to their projects, so we were removed from the equation. That's my 'take' on LD#2283. LURC and the people of Maine had a good portion of our power stripped under cover of darkness by the passage of this 'emergency' measure. I resent that, and I believe that as other Mainers become aware of the facts surrounding Big Wind, they will take issue with it, too.
U.S. Sen Angus King
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 - 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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