A Process That Brings Government To The People Versus A Government Removed From The People.
"Well, Stan, here’s another fine mess you have got us into. The old Laurel and Hardy bit fits like a glove with the Board of Environmental Protection and the Department of Environmental Protection positioned as cute and lovable adversaries over the Passadumkeag Mountain Wind Project.
They haven’t made TV like that for a long time. Sometimes, government bureaucrats resemble the citizens they serve. A split decision over wind power, isn’t government supposed to be above all that. Come on , kids, we must play together . What is the problem ? You say your behavior is under direction of those called Representatives , Senators and Governor and their laws and the people, well, they don’t know what’s best for them.
Forget the miserable laws, the citizens that came that July night to meet the DEP think democracy is when their voices are heard and creates comparable response . In the case of Passadumkeag Mountain and the people living near it, their voices were eloquent and delivered to the Department of Environmental Protection in a manner that even this bureaucratic unit knew, without a doubt, what the only right decision was. It was democracy and as I witnessed it that July night, I sensed something more than any law or rule could empower us into believing was the right course, the human character and sense of environment, the passion for enjoying a spot on Earth like no other spot on Earth was moving and the applause that followed every speech moved even the cold heart of the DEP.
If, in fact, the BEP believes it’s actions are in line with law and rule enacted by the State Legislature, while the DEP believes local democracy is an important guide in decisions of subjective content as views are, then we have a problem here. The people in the unorganized territories of Maine need a voice and the Legislature of Maine needs to get out and hear their voices the way I heard them that amazing night.
Your laws on wind power have ripped apart Town after Town and left the people in unorganized territories wondering what it takes to be listened to . Now, you have your own bureaucratic units at odds with each other. So I end with the same question I have asked over and over, What is it going to take to fix government ? Wisdom ?"
Views: 130
Comment
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Comment by Deborah Andrew on March 23, 2018 at 10:29am
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Some thoughts, for whatever they may be worth:
- Decisions arrived at by majority vote are deeply flawed for several reasons: (1) the majority may not be motivated by the common good, (2) the majority may not be well informed, (3) the minority, no matter how large in numbers, is not pleased with the outcome and immediately retreats in order to make plans as to how to prevail in the future, (4) the majority may not be well informed, (5) either the majority or the minority may be acting on beliefs that cannot be supported by facts based on arms-length, well research.
- While any tool, no matter how elegant in design and execution, is only able to express its full potential depending upon who is using it, decisions made rigorously using the Sociocratic method of arriving at consent, comes closer than any I know of to the possibility of arriving at wise decisions designed to be revisited should they have, or even indicate the possibility of unintended consequences.
- Unless and until we are able to pass and abide by legislation that: (1) removes money and incentives for personal gain from politics, (2) limits the ability for any individual to achieve personal wealth in excess of, perhaps, $500,000, (3) establishes a ratio of COE pay to that of the lowest paid worker that results in a truly living wage & benefits, (4) the return of Glass Steagall, (5) breaking up of the 'big' banks and a return to a time when banks were based in a community and served that community, (6) making hedge funds and their ilk illegal ... there will always be the undue and harmful influence of those whose main motivation is increased wealth and power, power over others.
I wish that I could offer at least an approach that might achieve the above. There are individuals and groups attempting to achieve some, if not all of these changes. However, the excessive wealth and power that exists in the hands of a few coupled with the increasing numbers whose voices and psyches are numbed by poverty, near poverty, or the fear of poverty increases the challenge.
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Comment by John F. Hussey on March 23, 2018 at 10:27am
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The "wind bastards" will dry up as blow away as soon the money is cut off. Without free money they cannot afford to keep the wind turbines spinning and they will be abandoned. At that point can we have Thermite and Tannerite parties?
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/
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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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