Long Islander's Blog (3,023)

While lawmakers, facilitated by the media and so called environmental groups (the latter ON THE TAKE), have wasted precious time and money pursuing fanciful and cronyistic wind power, they have unconscionably moved Mainers closer and closer to disaster.

EXCERPTS:

How did we get here? Over the past 15 years, New England has implemented shortsighted electricity policies that have led to a hodgepodge of mandates…

In an examiner’s report filed with the Maine Public Utilities Commission, the commission’s staff recommended against designating GridSolar LLC as the state’s smart grid coordinator but directed the commission to solicit proposals to fill the role of solving transmission and distribution problems with new technologies, dubbed nontransmission alternatives.…

Like wind power, hydropower produces “green” energy that involves no carbon emissions into the atmosphere. But while wind turbines operate only when the wind blows, the regularity of tidal movement and river currents gives hydropower the added advantage of predictability, making it a much more reliable source of energy.…

EXCERPTS:

ALEXANDRIA — Opponents of new large-scale “industrial” wind plants in New Hampshire are bringing back an expert who they credit with helping to deter new wind-power developers with his 2013 claim that the state would see little, if any, benefits from wind power generation.

“Dr. Luce’s last appearance drew rave reviews and it was the basis for a lot of what happened,” she said. “He makes a lot of…

Opponents of a 148-megawatt wind farm in the Aroostook County town of Oakfield that broke ground in September are asking a federal judge to withdraw the project’s permit and require additional review to see if it harms endangered Atlantic salmon.…

The federal court usually starts very promptly so you should be there by a bit before 11 am.

Please attend if you can and support our Oakfield/Island Falls friends in Federal Court .

Relaying a message on behalf of Donna Davidge:…

EXCERPTS:  Did anyone hear a peep from Mr. Lee and all those Big Wind cheerleading organizations two years ago when, without debate or even a single NO vote, the Legislature increased the speed limit on I-95?  

In the most recent year of EPA data (2012) Electricity Generation accounted for only 10.8% of Maine's CO2 emissions.  But Transportation CO2 was responsible for a whopping 50.1% of Maine CO2 output. 

Since 2007, Maine, for the noble cause of…

....... that is being foisted on consumers by the politically influential companies that make the hardware and software that are required for the smart-meter conversion. – Consumers Digest

....... In this poll, about 1/3 of the people who had Smart Meters installed had an increase in energy costs, and one quarter had them double, triple, or more.…

Hydropower is the first segment of the renewable energy sector that his administration is tackling during his second term.......

Though wind developers with more than 100 megawatts of capacity can qualify, other states in southern New England offer more generous renewable energy credits, which along with federal wind power production credits have fueled development in the state......…

Following are links to select articles from the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting which provide coverage of or related to the Maine PUC. The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting is a nonpartisan, non-profit news service based in Augusta focused on in-depth reporting serving the need of the Maine's citizens to be fully informed about the actions of their government and public servants.

With regard to the Maine PUC their mission (as published on their website)…

That wind farm, known as Weaver Wind, would be built in Osborn and Eastbrook, if it gains the necessary approvals. Most of the turbines — 14 of them — would be located in Osborn, while eight would be located in Eastbrook.....Asked why First Wind is going so far beyond the mandated financial minimum with regard to community benefit funds, Baldwin said the company wants to show residents......…

Jeremy Payne said renewable energy could provide a valuable hedge against the volatility of fossil fuel prices, as the prices of wind and solar don't spike and are actually trending downward....basically all of our clean energy investments have happened in rural Maine," said Payne. "These are areas that are starving for investment and starved for employment. This is a billion-dollar industry that is here today, and if we're not careful, it may not be here tomorrow."…

A bold new report has been released showing how Maine can become energy independent – if, by “energy independent,” we mean heavily dependent on government subsidies.

http://www.dailybulldog.com/db/opinion/politics-other-mistakes-rodent-logic/

So Angus King has joined a Senate committee to help Maine’s tourism, through policymaking. His posturing would be laughable if it didn’t indicate how short he thinks our memories are.…

Just three Republicans backed the measure — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine; Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who wrote the first PTC law in 1992; and Mark Kirk of Illinois, who is expected to face a tough re-election race next year. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who has criticized the credit in the past, was the only Democrat to vote against it.…

To quantify the dilution of wind power, consider a supermarket. Each square meter of floor space calls for about 300 watts for lights, refrigeration, heating, etc. The energy produced by a wind farm is about 5 watts per square meter — many square meters of wind farm are needed to supply one square meter of supermarket. Building larger and larger wind turbines does not help. Larger units must be spaced farther apart. The 5 watts per square meter prevails.

China has 50 nuclear…

We can only hope that as Mainers become more and more familiar with the shortcomings of intermittent wind power generation and the environmental degradation that results, they will look at future development proposals with an ever more critical eye.

http://www.mdislander.com/opinions/editorials/wind-power-co2

and…

Those include the Weaver Wind, Bowers Wind, Molunkus Wind and Somerset Wind projects....The Bowers project is listed as in development despite permit denials by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and a pending appeal with the Board of Environmental Protection.…

Angus King's Record Hill Tourist Attraction

"Indeed, tourism is one of the cornerstones of the Maine economy, supporting thousands of important jobs and helping communities to thrive," King said in a prepared statement. "As a member of the Senate tourism caucus, I look forward to working with my colleagues to further the interests of Maine's tourism industry."…