Long Islander's Blog (2,994)

“Fishing, both ground fishing and lobster fishing is the concern over and over,” Blum said, who also raised concerns about negative impacts on tourism. “That is the only other way we make a living here … and I mean unless I’m missing something, I don’t think tourists come to look at electrical infrastructure and substations.”

PORT said that if town officials don’t take steps to prevent the project from coming ashore in St. George, they will strive to force a public vote to bar the…

Energy & Environmental Newsletter: October 16, 2017

By John Droz, Jr. -- October 15, 2017

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy and environmental policies. Our premise is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science (please consult WiseEnergy.org for more information).

A key element of AWED’s efforts is…

In September, the city solicited bids to remove the wind turbine........The bidding process closed on Tuesday.

“We received only one bid and it was well above our initial estimate,” said Sutherland in an email on Wednesday. “We’re having an internal conversation now and are reviewing our purchasing policy to determine the best course of action.”…

With Congress contemplating a rewrite of the tax code, opponents of that deal are hoping to end those tax breaks early, putting the wind and solar industry on the defense. 

"A deal is a deal," American Wind Energy Association CEO Tom Kiernan told the Conservative Clean Energy Summit last week. "Just stick with that [production tax credit] phaseout."…

Citing the negative impact it could have on the Moosehead Lake region's efforts to rebrand itself as "America's Crown Jewel," Piscataquis County commissioners have signed a letter stating their unanimous opposition to the proposed Somerset Wind project.…

Currently, the ordinance requires a minimum setback of 2 miles from each wind tower to the closest point on any property line of nonparticipating parcels. Tower heights are limited to 250 feet, and decibel levels at the property line at night may not exceed 25 dBA.

A-weighted decibels, abbreviated dBA, are an expression of the relative loudness of sounds in air as perceived by the human ear. 

The requirements effectively ban wind projects in Bethel, according to town…

Sustainably minded Maine millennials juggle multiple jobs to make a living

“Everyone is overqualified,” she added. “We all do it for the mission.”

The mission is to make a better, more sustainable world and there are many ways to do that. For Gilbreath, it’s through food policy, for others it might be promoting clean energy.........…

Do the folks in Ohio realize that EDP Renewables is owned by the People's Republic of China? It's bad enough they collect interest on our $20 trillion debt. But they also put us into yet deeper debt by taking advantage of the moronic crony subsidies along with all the other leeches in the wind industry.

See:…

Not as long as we get Noreasters.

The AWEA claims that wind "farms" survive hurricanes:

"In summary: wind turbines can survive hurricanes. It’s up to existing projects, project developers, turbine manufacturers and the industry as a whole, to update the public on how turbines handle extreme weather events".…

9/29/17

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry formally proposed that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) take swift action to address threats to U.S. electrical grid resiliency.  Pursuant to his authority under Section 403 of the Department of Energy Organization Act, the Secretary urged the Commission to issue a final rule requiring its organized markets to develop and implement reforms that would…

Environmental groups in Maine have been fighting pipeline expansions, favoring investments in efficiency, wind and solar........In his remarks to the gas group, LePage blamed “liberals” who have pushed policies to subsidize wind and solar energy for Maine’s above-average electric costs, noting that nearly half of the state’s electricity is generated by gas. …

Those of us involved in the wind battle before CMP got to build its "CMP Upgrade" or Maine Power Reliability Project (MPRP) will recall that during the "sale" of this project to Mainers, the media hammered away about the project being needed for reliability -- primarily needed because of "aging lines" and population growth (despite population forecasts of next to nothing for both Maine and New England). What the Maine ratepayer almost never heard from the…

The various companies currently operating in Palo Alto County would have us believe that their proposed 177-turbine project is all but a done deal. In fact, a neighbor of mine was approached just a week or so ago for permission to cross his land with connecting cables. When he declined, the man insinuated that they would be able to do so anyway. This is not true. If you don't give them permission, they cannot cross your land! What disturbs me most is the unscrupulous but highly effective…

Hopefully industrial wind in the monument's long touted nearby host communities is not in Mr. St. Clair's "plan" or definition of what is acceptable. Tourists seeking tranquility would be repelled by noisy and flashing turbine blight.

BDN - Canadian company wants to mine land near Maine’s national monument

Environmentalists have expressed concern about development around…

According to ISO New England Inc., a non-profit group focused on transmission systems, between 7,000 and 8,000 MW of generation could be shut down in the next 10 years as state regulators scramble to meet their climate goals. In January, officials confirmed the 2,000-MW Indian Point nuclear facility, located about 77 kilometres north of New York City, would be shut down in 2020.…

One would think that the wind industry's "army of bloggers" which we have read about, may well be in violation of FTC rules when they post online comments pushing a wind project, etc. without disclosing their ties. For example, a farmer who stands to get lease payments from a wind developer if a project goes in might blog or comment online as to why the project is great. If that farmer doesn't disclose his financial relationship to the project, it would…

This is to let you know that wind warrior Mike Bond's thriller Killing Maine will be free on Amazon from Sept 11-15. For anyone who has not read this gripping story, I encourage you to take advantage of this most special offer. 

Here is the Amazon link:…

“When tasked with selecting nominations for the ad hoc committee, I was very transparent about selecting individuals from both sides of this issue,” wrote Mr. Votra in the letter. “This appears to be nothing more than an attempt by Avangrid to silence the opposition.”

http://www.windaction.org/posts/47158-wind-company-opposes-appointment-to-state-siting-board…

People at a public information meeting say they believe the project will serve wind farms.

Carroll said the project filings on the transmission line project could be done by next month.

“The Public Utilities Commission has to approve it, but if the PUC approves it and the (Department of Environmental Protection) doesn’t approve it – a no and a yes doesn’t get us where we need to be,” he said. “We would have to go back to the drawing table to see what we could…