Long Islander's Blog – December 2016 Archive (28)

BDN - Wind Atty Juliet Browne Authors a Guide to Maine's Wind Energy Act

By Verrill Dana

Posted Dec. 28, 2016, at 12:05 p.m.

Verrill Dana environmental attorneys Juliet Browne, Scott Anderson and Gordon Smith each authored chapters of the MCLE book entitled, A Practical Guide to Land Use in Maine. The guide covers topics ranging from licensing and permitting to wind energy and shoreland zoning.

Browne, author of the chapter on the Maine Wind Energy Act, provides insights into jurisdiction for review and permitting of wind energy developments in…

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Added by Long Islander on December 28, 2016 at 2:04pm — 5 Comments

BDN - Renewable power standards face uncertain future

Although state regulators on the Public Utilities Commission created a rule, back in 2007, that envisions the program continuing indefinitely, lawmakers such as House Republican Leader Ken Fredette are asking, so what?

“Well, let’s be very clear. The PUC does not set policy, the Legislature sets policy. So in regards to any rule, I find it almost offensive that the PUC would add a sentence that would suggest that it would go beyond the legislative intent,” he said.

“I think…

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Added by Long Islander on December 27, 2016 at 11:26pm — 2 Comments

Dozens of rural Maine townships opt out of fast-track wind power zone (PPH)

About 40 communities ask to be removed, which means that wind power companies would have to go through a rezoning process to build in those places.....Milton Township is the only community where such efforts failed after opposition from a Milton landowner and EverPower Wind Holdings, which wants to build a 40-megawatt wind project.....…

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Added by Long Islander on December 27, 2016 at 11:00pm — 2 Comments

Steep slopes and several piles of glacial boulders to be trampled for "free" taxpayer wind money

It was beyond our comprehension how a 34-foot wide roadway could be engineered on steep slopes and through several piles of glacial boulders, Mack-truck size, along with some larger stand-alone boulders.

There’s a photo of me in front of one three times my height, near a stake marked “T#10.” The good news is that turbine #10 was eliminated from the project, and that boulder will not be among those blasted.

That was the major change made: elimination of the turbine most visible…

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Added by Long Islander on December 24, 2016 at 6:33pm — 1 Comment

PPH - Why Maine’s renewable power remains a pipe dream

BY TUX TURKEL STAFF WRITER

The lack of transmission lines keeps wind and hydro projects at bay.

"Many residents and politicians support a transition away from power plants fired by fossil fuels."

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/12/19/why-maines-renewable-power-remains-a-pipe-dream/…

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Added by Long Islander on December 24, 2016 at 2:30pm — 1 Comment

NEW from the EIA: Electricity a Virtual Non-Factor in Maine's CO2 Emissions

Based on data for the most recent year available, 2013, only 8.9% of Maine's CO2 emissions were the result of electricity generation. This makes Maine the fourth lowest state in the nation based on this measure. The same figure for the nation is 38.3%, more than four times higher. 

QUESTION: So why destroy the state's natural beauty (the reason Tourism is such an economic driver in Maine) with wind turbine and transmission blight in an effort to make "clean"…

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Added by Long Islander on December 24, 2016 at 12:30pm — 2 Comments

PPH - Maine Audubon exec resigns after less than a year on the job

Ole Amundsen III said his resignation was a “very difficult” decision based on quality of life. He’s been making a 2½-hour round trip daily from his home in Waterville on Interstate 95 and an increasingly congested Interstate 295 – a commute that contributed to a very busy year professionally and personally.…

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Added by Long Islander on December 24, 2016 at 11:00am — 5 Comments

James Lutz in BDN: Wind turbines kill eagles

Wind turbines kill eagles

If I killed a bald or golden eagle, both of which are considered “protected,” I would be subject to fines of up to $100,000 and jail time of 10 or more years. Yet, the misguided White House has given wind farms …

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Added by Long Islander on December 24, 2016 at 10:06am — 6 Comments

Wind PTC Opponent Fiscal Hawk to Head Office of Management and Budget

Since arriving in Congress as part of the Republican Tea Party wave elected in 2010, Mick Mulvaney has been one of the most pugilistic advocates for cutting government spending.

“We are going to do great things for the American people with Mick Mulvaney,” Trump said Saturday in an e-mailed statement. “Right now we are nearly $20 trillion in debt, but Mick is a very high-energy leader with deep convictions for how to responsibly manage our nation’s finances and save our country from…

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Added by Long Islander on December 17, 2016 at 2:30pm — No Comments

PPH Suggests Efficacy of Grid Scale Electricity Storage for Wind

"One obstacle to integrating large solar and wind projects is that operators need to constantly account for cloudy periods or sudden drops or surges in wind speed. Storing the output from solar and wind power in batteries can smooth those ups and downs....."…

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Added by Long Islander on December 17, 2016 at 5:00am — 9 Comments

Leaked Memo Reveals Trump’s Energy Priorities

The Pyle memo also says that the Trump administration will look at the environmental effects of wind energy, which means restricting wind power because of its effects on birds and wildlife. 

http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Leaked-Memo-Reveals-Trumps-Energy-Priorities.html

Added by Long Islander on December 14, 2016 at 10:14pm — No Comments

Substantive Review of the Petition to Remove Carroll Plantation from the Expedited Permitting Area for Wind Energy Development

Last Updated: December 2, 2016

For more information about the Petition to Remove Carroll Plantation from the Expedited Permitting Area for Wind Energy Development or this Substantive Review Process contact Stacie R. Beyer at (207) 941-4593, or email …

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Added by Long Islander on December 14, 2016 at 11:30am — 1 Comment

SunEdison - Calls to Prosecute Paul Gaynor (First Wind), Larry Summers, Rahm Emanuel.........

Shareholders have submitted 60 letters to Honorable Judge Bernstein, the U.S. Trustee, and the Wall Street Journal. The letters implicate at least five high-ranking businessmen and politicians of wide spread collusion, corruption, and fraud......The letters from shareholders vary in purpose and quality, but among their requests are: calls to prosecute Paul Gaynor…

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Added by Long Islander on December 14, 2016 at 11:00am — 3 Comments

Substantive Review of the Petition to Remove Milton Township from the Expedited Permitting Area for Wind Energy Development

See COMMENTS below.

Last Updated: December 5, 2016

For more information about the Petition to Remove Milton Township from the Expedited Permitting Area for Wind Energy Development or this Substantive Review Process contact Stacie R. Beyer at (207) 941-4593, or email …

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Added by Long Islander on December 14, 2016 at 11:00am — 9 Comments

Election Day was bleak for the future of ridgeline wind power in Vermont

The outcome of local, state and national voting signaled a vote of no confidence in the growth of utility-scale wind power in the Green Mountain State......

Unimpressed by the 2016 Vermont Legislature's conditional gift of slightly more say in the energy siting process, municipalities are now bypassing Montpelier. If this trend of "permission by referendum" continues, towns will have carved out a local veto power for themselves over ridgeline wind development. A new precedent is being…

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Added by Long Islander on December 13, 2016 at 9:48am — No Comments

Wind Power and Blackouts

While tornadoes were found to have taken down three transmission lines ahead of the blackout, the report suggests the system could have continued operating.

Instead it was the loss of power from the state’s wind farms that is thought to be one of the primary causes of the event.

The AEMO said a protection feature built-in to some wind farms, which the agency was not aware of before the blackout, caused some of them to reduce their output after a certain number of voltage…

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Added by Long Islander on December 12, 2016 at 7:28am — No Comments

Energy & Environmental Newsletter: December 12, 2016

By John Droz, Jr. -- December 12, 2016

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).…

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Added by Long Islander on December 12, 2016 at 7:20am — No Comments

Powerful Letter from the CEO North American Platform Against Wind Power

Part I

There has been no compassion or relief. Officers charged by law with protecting the public health ignore or bluntly turn away concerns......please also view the complete and highly clear, peer-reviewed, easily readable review of health related wind turbine impact studies over 40 years, by Drs Jerry Punch and Rick James: The Negative Health Impact of Noise from Industrial Wind Turbines: The Evidence. It is our assessment that this document is really a…

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Added by Long Islander on December 11, 2016 at 9:54am — 1 Comment

Professor Jon Reisman: Attorney General Mills: Gut the First Amendment

November 2016

Attorney General Mills: Gut the First Amendment

By Jon Reisman

The Maine legislature will be electing constitutional officers in December. The expected candidacy and reelection of Democrat Attorney General Janet Mills will have important and far reaching implications for climate change policy, freedom of speech and association, partisan temperatures and the 2018 gubernatorial election.

Mills, daughter of a prominent western Maine family, has served…

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Added by Long Islander on December 10, 2016 at 3:03pm — 5 Comments

Sound experts spar over appropriate wind turbine noise standards

At a meeting Friday in the Capitol Plaza Hotel, Stephen Ambrose, a sound consultant and member of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering, argued that sound levels permitted in Vermont are too high and are causing sleeplessness, distress and other health-related symptoms.…

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Added by Long Islander on December 10, 2016 at 11:32am — 1 Comment

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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/

Not yet a member?

Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?

We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

 -- Mahatma Gandhi

"It's not whether you get knocked down: it's whether you get up."
Vince Lombardi 

Task Force membership is free. Please sign up today!

Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

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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