Biased Reporting Continues Promotion of Wind Power in Maine--the Latest Example

One of the problems we have continually struggled with is the bias of the Maine media in their complicity with the wind industry in promoting this scourge in Maine.  When I saw this completely biased article in the Lewiston Sun Journal, from a reporter who I know must have my phone number and email from previous interactions (as well as contacts for other wind power critics), I got angry and fired off this email:

"Mr. Karkos, I have to strenuously object to the article "Wind project for Dixfield years off; Carthage project under construction" as one of the most blatantly, one-sided pieces of reporting I have witnessed in a long time.  The Public Relations consultants for Patriot Renewables and American Wind Energy Association couldn't have crafted a better promotion for wind power than this cheerleading piece.

 
As soon as you include a quote like "Wind farms are getting to be more of an accepted thing as time goes by," you have a journalistic obligation to engage the well known critics of industrial wind projects to weigh in and have an opportunity to challenge such statements.  You have to know by now many local people in Carthage, Dixfield and other areas in the River Valley Region who oppose the proliferation of industrial wind projects in the region.  Additionally, representatives of Friends of Maine's Mountains and Citizens Task Force on Wind Power, two state-wide organizations were not contacted for their perspectives on these wind projects.  This is shameful, biased reporting and the readership of the LSJ deserve a better representation of facts regarding wind power and acknowledgement that there are a plethora of negative criticisms regarding the wind industry."
 
Brad Blake, Chair
Citizens Task Force on Wind Power
Here is the story in the LSJ:
This is the photo from the LSJ that went with the wind cheerleading article, a depiction of the destruction of Maine's western mountains.  Photo by the reporter, Terry Karkos

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Comment by Jim Wiegand on June 26, 2015 at 11:46pm

A quote from the article......"Wind farms are getting to be more of an accepted thing as time goes by," I will elaborate further............                                     

 

Wind farms are being accepted more by some because the industry is buying supporters like Audubon, the Sierra Club, lobbyists and the media to spread their propaganda.                                                                                         

 

However those not getting paid, that despise "the big green turbine lie", are growing at a much faster pace worldwide.

 

Here is another clarification......Look at all the one sided quotes from the turbine peddlers and you will understand what kind of reporter you have here.

 

And one last thought, I happen to know this industry is capable of just about anything. That's why think another look at the vote would be very interesting. They way I see it is a tie. One vote tally for and one vote tally against.

Comment by Penny Gray on June 26, 2015 at 7:40am

Dear Mr. Karkos,

It was quite a shock to see the photo of Saddleback with the turbines and the industrial road atop it in your recent article.  My father's ashes are near the peak of that beautiful mountain which has stood like a quiet and dignified sentinel over that valley for thousands of years.  That mountain was a special place to me, wild and unfettered by human clutter and noise.  It would be wonderful if you could write an article that covers both sides of the contentious issue of industrial wind projects  that are being built on Maine's mountains in order to satisfy the renewable energy mandates of southern New England states.  We are sacrificing our quality of place as well as our environment, rural residents and wildlife for green symbolism.  I moved from Carthage when the permit was granted to Patriot Renewables because the town of Carthage had been completely torn apart by the fight between pro and anti wind residents, and  I couldn't stand to see that mountain defiled.  50% of the people feel the same way I do.  Twenty five percent have benefitted from the wind projects ($$$) and the other 25% have bought into the wind industry spin. This is not their fault.  The media has been complicit in promoting the completely unproven benefits of these enormous machines.  We rural residents don't have the money to stand up to these well heeled out of state corporations. Some objectivity would be very much appreciated.
Respectfully,
Penny Gray
Fort Kent Maine

 

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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