All Blog Posts (9,994)

“On wind energy, we get a tax credit if we build a lot of wind farms. That’s the only reason to build them. They don’t make sense without the tax credit.”

   - Warren Buffet, April 2014

What does that mean in plain English? - It means taxpayers struggling to make ends meet are subsidizing the second-richest person in America and the third richest person in the world via the wind industry's…

Like a lot of Maine citizens, I didn't really know much about the wind turbines. We all read about them, I read where some complained about them. I didn't give it much thought at the time, probably like many other residents. One day last Winter, I decided to ice fish at Ellis (Roxbury) Pond, a first & last trip for me. Here I was on a beautiful day, the fishing started off great and then I started to hear them. I describe the sound as a pulsing "whooshing" noise, it was extremely…

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) took out a full page ad in the November issue of Downeast Magazine to thank its benefactors. The list includes:

Wind Developers: First Wind, Emera Maine, Patriot Renewables, Brookfield Renewables (NH)

Contractors: Cianbro, Reed & Reed, James Sewell Co., Sargent Corp. 

Law Firms: Verrill Dana, Pierce Atwood, Preti Flaherty

Scenic…

Losers

Angus King: Pundits expected a close divide in the U.S. Senate, with Republicans gaining a thin majority. In such a scenario, King could be a valuable ally to Republicans. With an expected 53-45 majority for Republicans, King suddenly wasn’t so important, so he announced Wednesday that he…

Others say the hydropower supply, as the top renewable energy in Maine, needs to be kept stable or increased.

http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20141103/CURRENTEDITION/310309999/1092?utm_source=enews&utm_medium=Daily%2BReport&utm_campaign=Thursday

Lacking the wide-open spaces of Iowa or Texas, prospective wind sites in the Granite State would be relegated to ridge lines, mountaintops or densely populated areas. Growing weary of wind development, local residents began to consider wind turbines a pock against the region’s natural beauty.…

During the lame duck session, one of the top priorities for President Obama and Majority Leader Reid is the passage of a tax extenders package that includes a retroactive extension of the decades old wind production tax credit (PTC).…

Gov. LePage: Wind harming our quality of life and mountains

Time now to investigate the corrupt Maine environmental groups on the take from the wind developers.

Hopefully the great disrespect shown to Governor LePage by the Maine wind industry and their sock puppet "environmental groups"…

The vote prevents the Waldo Community Wind project, a planned six-turbine, 18-megawatt wind power project proposed by Portsmouth, N.H.- based Eolian Renewable Energy LLC, from going forward.…

George Smith, outdoor writer and former Director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine (SAM), recently lost his father. My sincere condolences to the family.

On 10/31 he devoted his BDN column to remembering some of the great hunting trips he and his father shared. He closed with an insight that I think many of us share:



    "We didn’t have firearms that day,

     and didn’t kill anything,

     but that’s the smallest part of hunting..."



As I read that my…

A 3,500 word shill piece for renewable energy from the same newspaper that didn't think a 19.6% overnight hike in wind power-caused transmission rates for its readers was newsworthy.

The Danish island of Samsø becomes a classroom and source of inspiration for a group of Maine students and residents…

For them it’s their best opportunity to drive back the spread of industrial-scale wind power that’s plowing through quiet communities and destroying families. On November 4th, they will be checking the box next to those candidates who promise to permanently end the wind production tax credit (PTC).

http://www.windaction.org/posts/41543-vote-no-on-big-wind

The pipeline could carry about 1.1 million barrels of oil per day over 2,860 miles to reach New Brunswick and, as it passes around Maine, could come within 20 miles of the border. “The proposed Energy East pipeline would still threaten to pollute our waters and air, and send our climate past its tipping point,” said Emmie Theberge, with NRCM. Glen Brand of the Sierra Club said increased tanker traffic to serve the pipeline in New Brunswick also stands to threaten habitats…

It would be an understatement to say that the outcome of the 2014 elections is important for wind energy producers. In an effort to see PTC friendly Harry Reid as Majority Leader, the wind industry has essentially turned the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) into their own personal Trojan horse.

Much of the LCV leadership has deep ties to the wind energy:

• Tom Kiernan, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) serves as the Treasure of the LCV.
• Peter…

In the Legislature, Cray served on two committees: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and Energy, Utilities and Technology. He sees wind energy as an important issue in Somerset County and said that if elected, he would like to further explore the impact of the newly approved Bingham Wind Project on the county.

“I think it’s a really important issue,” said Cray. “I’m not a big proponent of wind power. I think it’s a cost that I just don’t see the benefit of.”…

A Facebook page titled the “Town of Frankfort, Maine, Community Page,” which is not run by the town, has become a venue for residents to share their thoughts about the wind project. Many of the comments written there are vehemently opposed to Eolian.

“Promises are short-lived, damage to the environment is permanent,” one man wrote last week.…

A spokesman for First Wind declined comment.

http://www.pressherald.com/2014/10/29/foes-renew-challenge-of-joint-wind-power-venture/

BDN: First Wind - Houlton Water to appeal investment from Emera

Houlton Water said that it plans to challenge the PUC decision on six different points, including…

From today's Maine Sunday Telegram:

The tightening gap between LePage and his challengers in the head-to-head matchups began to show in the September poll. Since then, Smith said, “I don’t think there’s been anything to change that sense of momentum for LePage or that…

The recent Sun Edison $2.75 million deal where environmental groups look the other way as First Wind (Sun Edison) kills Maine with the Bingham project is at least the third in a series of large wind industry mitigation payments in Maine. Moreover, it would appear the earliest deal (1996) involved at least one person who today is with Sun Edison. Finally, there are documented references from the mid 1990's to ENRON Wind in Maine and there also may have been some interference on behalf of the…