Feds sets up Maine Offshore Wind Task Force. State told: map offshore wind sites. AUDIO

Federal offshore wind agency tells Maine: prepare to turn federal & EEZ waters off state into offshore wind farms. (tv news coverage)
State officials must come up with maps of wind-suitable areas off Maine by next Task Force meeting.

Links below to audio recordings of this meeting, and key govt contacts.

On Tuesday September 14th, the Federal offshore wind officials of BOEMRE, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, met with Maine and federal agencies (including PUC) in the first meeting of the new Maine/Federal Offshore Wind Task Force. The meeting was convened to bring Maine state officials, legislators and tribal representatives, along with local federal officials, together with the Bureau's Maine Project Coordinator and staff. More than 40 attendees filled the room at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center.


Before any further action, Governor Baldacci has until September 24th to decide whether to sign onto a new federal charter which establishes the Federal/Maine Task Force. This commits the state to following the federal lead when it comes to picking locations off Maine for ocean wind turbine projects.
The first goal of the new Maine Task Force is to delineate locations off Maine's coast in federal waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone offshore. State and Tribal officials were briefed on the purpose of the Task Force and the new federal regulations that apply, then told to meet with their constituencies in the commercial and recreational fishing industries and other interested persons and hash out possible locations. The state and tribal agencies would then bring this draft maps to the next meeting of this Federal/State Task Force. The state and tribal officials were also asked to approve a Maine Renewable Energy task Force Charter

At Issue:
Earlier this year, Maine's legislature passed and governor Baldacci signed LD 1810 n Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Governor's Oc... This sets up state offshore windfarm laws and regulations. Key among the provisions of the new law is directing offshore wind power efforts at least ten miles offshore and limiting it to floating technology in deepwater locations.

But the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy would like to change that. It is interested in considering ocean windpower in all federal waters from three miles offshore and out. Their plans also include promoting shallow water "monopole" type windmills, driven right into the seafloor, instead of floating. While state officials and legislators questions the federal representatives, the resolution of these two positions is not clear.

While the federal plan would not affect most Maine lobstermen, the announcement confirms concerns raised after passage of the bill by groundfishermen that they, along with scallopers, shrimpers and other offshore fishermen, could find access to their fishing grounds at possible jeopardy. According to Aditi Mirani, Federal Project Coordinator for Maine, concerned citizens and state agencies have ten days to send their comments and decisionas about the new "Charter".

Initially, the Task Force organizers had planned to limit public question and answer session to the close of the meeting,. However, after a request by a citizen, the governor's office had the agenda modified to allow for him to ask a question earlier in the meeting. The questioner noted that the agency is organizing ocean windfarming along the entire Atlantic coast, and that impacts to migratory species like tuna, whales and seabirds from windfarming off North Carolina or New Jersey could require that Maine reduce its offshore wind impacts to those migratory species. Would the Federal task convene a coastwise review of this issue? The officials said they would look into it.

Key people to contact: Aditi Mirani (703)-787-1752 Aditi.Mirani@boemre.gov, Federal coordinator for Maine offshore wind projects. // Karin Tilberg 207/287-353 Karin.Tilberg@maine.gov Governor's Sr. Policy Advisor.
// Beth Nagusky (207)287-2812 Beth.A.Nagusky@maine.gov Maine DEP Commissioner

AUDIO MP3 RECORDINGS:
MAINE TASK FORCE MEETING
SEPTEMBER 124, 2010
, Hutchinson Center, Belfast Maine
FEDERAL BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, REGULATION AND ENFORCEMENT

MORNING SESSION
***Introduction 1 Meeting Facilitator 7 minutes








AFTERNOON SESSION










END

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U.S. Sen Angus King

THE UNTOLD STORY OF RECORD HILL WIND

The Untold Story of Record Hill Wind, continued

 

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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