4/25/17

MAINE

Here you’ll find information on Maine’s outdoor recreation economy, as well as the issues OIA and outdoor businesses are working on relating to climate change, international trade, regulatory and recreation policy. Dig in and take action.

Download the full report on Maine here:

https://outdoorindustry.org/state/maine/

Download the full U.S. report…

April 25, 2017

The outdoor recreation industry is a powerful force in the overall U.S. economy, with consumers spending $887 billion annually on outdoor recreation and creating 7.6 million American jobs......

Download the report right here at the following link where you see:…

The Eagle editorial's implication that NIMBYism must not stand in the way of saving the planet is as irrational as it is unfounded. The hard-working politicians and administrators in the East have neither wind nor ridges in their backyards, so they pontificate to us out here in the Berkshires that we must (must!) accept wind turbines on every ridge if they say so. Or else.

No thanks, that's not my idea of a free country.…

Biologists fear that all eight of Maine's bat species are in trouble — if not from white-nose syndrome, then from wind turbines, though some turbine operators have started shutting down the machines when bats are most at risk of getting killed by them.…

BATES – Conceptions and Constructions of Rurality: A Case Study on Wind Power Development in Maine

My research was aimed at understanding why people were in such strong opposition to the Bowers Mountain project.

http://scarab.bates.edu/envr_studies_theses/140/

FIRST WIND: Superior court justice…

Would the UMS board of trustees be equally willing to listen to Mainers and the tourism industry as to how its politically correct and self serving (grant $$$) wind advocacy is harming Maine's hallowed countryside the state over?

Divestment group members say they plan to continue promoting further divestment at system trustees meetings and urging system officials to take action.

“This is very different from other…

The 15-turbine wind power project on Green Mountain National Forest land in Searsburg and Readsboro is overseen by Oregon-based developer Avangrid Renewables.

A spokesman for Avangrid, when reached by the Banner on Friday, directed an inquiry to the project's civil contractor, Reed & Reed Inc.…

The civil contractor for the project is Reed and Reed Inc. of Woolwich, Maine. A representative from Reed and Reed said that the company was aware of an incident but would give no further comment, including whether or not Sprague was an employee of the company. A representative for Avangrid declined to comment.;;;;;Ground broke on the project, the first of its kind on National Forest land, in September.......…

Since the turbines went online on Dec. 17., no one has complained. “There has not been one complaint. Not one loud noise complaint, and not one bird kill,” said developer Paul Fuller...................…

According to a 2009 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the tax burden of green policies would be three times more expensive for low income households than for middle income ones. This reflects the reality that higher electricity prices raise the prices of many other goods and services. Consumers end up paying for more expensive electricity in the form of higher prices.......

On the whole, green energy is more expensive than electricity generated through…

Thibodeau will formally announce the goal Thursday at a 1 p.m. news conference at City Hall, where he will be joined by councilors Belinda Ray and Jill Duson, Mayor Ethan Strimling and Glen Brand, the state director of the Sierra Club.

http://www.pressherald.com/2017/04/20/portland-councilors-want-city-to-use-100-clean-energy-by-2040/

Public Hearing, Today at 1:00 PM for about 4 hours LD 1224, SP0415 An Act To Allow for Greater Energy Competition in Maine by Amending the Law Governing Electric Generation or Generation-related Assets by Affiliates - Sen. Mark Dion of Cumberland Subjects: ELECTRIC UTILITIES, DELIVERY, AFFILIATES

Work Session, Today at 2:00 PM for about 3 hours LD 1061, HP0744 An Act To Increase Investment and Regulatory Stability in the Electric Industry -…

Now, thanks to Big Environment and their powerful friends like U.S. Sen. Angus King, you see massive turbine blades placed atop huge concrete foundations that ruin the mountainous landscape. They’re just plain ugly, noisy, dangerous to birds and taint what makes Maine unique – unbridled wilderness.

If wind power worked, I might look past these sensory impacts. But it doesn’t, because wind, even massive arrays like the one on Mars Hill in eastern Maine, can’t provide enough electricity…

Parker said the acquisition made sense because Reed & Reed has been getting contracts for wind energy projects, and electrical transmission is a major component of any wind project.

http://www.pressherald.com/2017/04/17/maine-construction-firm-reed-reed-buys-new-hampshire-subcontractor/

Energy Secretary Rick Perry has ordered 60-day study of the U.S. power grid, which will examine whether policies that favor wind and solar energy are accelerating the retirement of coal and nuclear plants critical to ensuring steady, reliable power supplies......Perry asked his chief of staff, Brian McCormack, to develop a plan for evaluating to what extent regulatory burdens, subsidies, and tax policies “are responsible for forcing the premature retirement of baseload power…

“It’s a bad deal for America,” Pruitt continued. “It was an America second, third, or fourth kind of approach. China and India had no obligations under the agreement until 2030. We front-loaded all of our costs.”........

The Trump administration has previously said it is currently reviewing its position on climate change and energy policy and remains noncommittal, for now, on whether it will follow through on the president’s campaign pledge to “cancel” the 2015 Paris climate…

Lawmakers will consider two bills that seek to address deficiencies in the Renewable Portfolio Standard, which even advocates admit isn't working as intended......These facts also add context to an often-cited statistic: Maine gets 40 percent of its electricity from renewables, a larger share than any state in the country.......…

US Senator Susan Collins essentially also advocated for a setback (hers was 20 miles) for offshore wind turbines. Do these pols not think inland people vote as well?

According to the transcript published in the Legislative Gazette, in his Jan. 10 State of the State address at Farmingdale State College, Mr. Cuomo stated the following: “I’m calling on LIPA [Long Island Power Authority] to approve a 90 megawatt wind farm. It’s enough to…

Parts I and II

Part I

The reality is that non-dispatchable generation technologies, (wind and solar) cannot be directly compared with dispatchable generation technologies (coal, natural gas, nuclear, biomass, and generally speaking, hydro). This is a common mistake. The DOE/EIA cautions about this in levelized costs for generation technologies[2], and the same considerations apply to other generation characteristics such as capacity and electricity…

A seven-year battle over the Northern Pass transmission project takes a critical step forward Thursday when a hearing at the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee begins on the $1.6 billion plan to bring power from Canada to markets mostly in southern New England.…