In Dec. 2013, after nearly four years of basic wind warrioring, the Business and Consumer Court agreed with the Beckfords of Rebel Hill Farm and vacated Pisgah Mt, LLC's permit. The Court concluded the Clifton Planning Board did not enforce the ordinance that Pisgah was unable to comply with. At that time we wondered if the town government would know it was time to fold 'em. Nope!! After having wasted $75,000 in their legal support of Pisgah, the Select Board gave the Planning Board applause, literally, and watched as the gutting of the wind ordinance began. As the Planning Board worked to remove all the requirements that Pisgah couldn't meet, the Clifton Task Force on Wind (cliftonwind.org) put together a citizen's petition that calls for a setback vote on June 10. And, Pisgah appealed to the Maine Supreme Court. Sooo, for those keeping score at home, we have....

1. A vote June 10th to create a 4000' setback from property lines. Not really a responsible distance, but it beats the current 4000' from residences that allows the developers to use our land for his buffer. And, to get the project done would require mitigation with residents that aren't real sweet on industrial wind.

2. A vote July 1 on Planning Board amendments. Includes a repeal of the June 10 vote if we win. The biggies also include removing all low frequency standards, all ambient sound mapping requirements, and giving the Board more power to waive requirements. Oh, the Planning Board will also get to decide if noise complaints are valid. Then for good measure, the Board made the crucial changes retroactive to 2010 in a ridiculous bid to allow the failed application to walk again. For more on the gutting and its gory details, check the cliftonwind.org website. 

3. The Law Court has received briefs from both parties (the Beckfords representing themselves) and Pisgah's reply brief. 

The tone of our town government and the developer's supporters in the past few months has gone from defensive to accusatory to increasingly vicious. But in March we managed to elect a Select Board member who is oppossed to the project, and today the Clifton Task Force earned the honor of being the target of a hate-site that Google removed. And our signs are way better!! So we must be doing something right. Still, we have no idea how the votes will go, our town is terribly divided.

If anyone is able and willing, we could use some shifts poll-watching on Tues. (don't really know what that entails!) and some help with other stuff that day. Also a canvasser or two would be helpful. Let us know through this site I guess. Thanks for caring, we know we're all in this together.

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Comment by alice mckay barnett on June 6, 2014 at 9:22pm

representing yourself.....noise complaints is an health issue...local health board is neccesary

 

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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