If They Can Do Away With Wind In The Desert, Why Can’t We Do It Here In Maine?

If They Can Do Away With Wind In The Desert, Why Can’t We Do It Here In Maine?

The Federal Courts just shot down a huge development of 87 wind turbines in the desert of Nevada because the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had inconsistencies in their reporting of endangered species and impact to the environment the project would do.  I have been to the area around Lake Mead where this project was to have been built, and it is basically a wasteland compared to the mountains and viewshed we have here in Maine.  I just returned from Southern California and the industrialization of the desert there is appalling.

In terms of endangered species, we have had a resurgence in the last 25 years in our Bald Eagle population, and though it has been removed from the list, it is still a protected species, vulnerable to the spinning blades of wind turbines.  Bird strike deaths are up, though they are not properly reported.

Industrial wind turbine towers, that are taller than any building in the State of Maine, have no place on our mountaintops.  We are becoming the industrialized wasteland of New England, and for what reason?  Our New England neighbors want to live the “green” energy life at our expense.  All the power created in our desecrated mountains is going out of state and we have to pay for the transmission, loss of our pristine lands and wildlife, and loss of property values.

Our government lied to us in 2008 when they pushed through the “Expedited Wind Act” and told us we were the Saudi Arabia of wind.  We are not.  In fact we are at the bottom of the country’s wind list regarding onshore wind. We cannot get accurate efficiency statistics on Maine’s turbines, that’s classified information by the developers, but it lies in the 25 to 30 % range. (See Map) 

Wind energy is just a way that Governor (Baldacci, now a Vice Chairman of the second largest Wind Company in the US) and his corporate cronies (King, et al) were able to tap into government money.  These people profit greatly from the government subsidies and are hard pressed to make any money if they don’t exist.  The only time there is a big push to build wind turbines is when the subsidy is in place.  In the years when they can’t get the money, they have put forward very few proposals.

Now the Congress and President have put the PTC subsidy in place for 5 more years, and the number of proposals has exploded!  At the latest count they are at 51 new bids. They are looking to TRIPLE the number of turbines in Maine in the next few years. 

As our elected representatives gain more control over our tax dollars, they entice businessmen to the trough and then they demand campaign contributions in return.  They also get jobs for their aides and friends in the form of lobbying contracts.  All the insiders get rich at the expense of the ordinary taxpayer and ratepayer.  Maine is a prime example of that.

To quote Mr. Dean Chambers, “It is clear that the “green” in renewable energy is the money, much of it from federal subsidies, that flows from the taxpayers and into the pockets of the politicians, cronies and corporations involved.”  In spite of the claims from wind companies, wind is not cheaper, is not cleaner, is not friendlier to the environment and does not produce enough reliable energy to compete on the open market.  Let the free market reign and stop the invasion of mass industrialization in Maine for the wrong “green” reasons.

 James J. Lutz

Bangor, ME      

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Comment by Penny Gray on March 16, 2016 at 8:10am

The fight is not lost.  Resistance is not futile.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/high-court-overturns-p...

Comment by DarrylMueller on March 15, 2016 at 8:55pm

This is great news! Someone actually did something right. But we need to do this on a National Scale. Remember Charlie the Tuna, so lets do the same for Avian, Windmill Free Electric. Thank you for Posting!

Comment by Eskutassis on March 13, 2016 at 5:01pm

I tried to have this printed in the BDN, PPH,LST,Ellsworth,etc and they all rejected it.  I can only try again.

Comment by Marie Jane on March 13, 2016 at 4:13pm

Why you ask........perhaps because your name is not Reid as referenced by Paula on Friday.

Lots online about this; but, check the following link out.......what is good for Harry Reid is/should be good for Maine (New England......the U.S.).  The residents have become the endangered thanks to the ill-conceived industrial wind turbine agenda.........it must stop! 

Court Stills Wind Energy Project in Harry Reid’s Hometown

dailysignal.com/2016/02/24/what-the-defeat-of-a-wind-energy...

What the Defeat of a Wind Energy Project Means for Harry Reid ... rare defeat to the U ... behind wind energy, residents of Reid’s hometown helped ...

Comment by Jim Wiegand on March 11, 2016 at 12:56pm

This is a very well stated and right to the point letter. As for the wind industry inconsistencies (really 1st degree fraud) in their reporting of endangered species and impact to the environment from projects, this should be one on the primary arguments to stop all these turbines in Maine. This fraud should be brought up at every single meeting and legislative session pertaining to wind projects.

Maine is clearly not the Saudi Arabia of wind but this statement does give everyone some incite into the numbers of wind turbines and projects this industry already had secretly planned for this state back into 2008.  The latest 51 proposed projects, does not even begin to cover the numbers of projects planned.  This statement about Saudi Arabia is no different than the industry lies in the early 1980's about these turbines getting us off Middle Eastern oil.

Of course if the industry were honest about their lousy turbines there would be none. People would realize the destruction, the cost and the absence of benefits derived from them.

What the people of Maine need to understand is that their state is clearly a conduit for massive long term corporate profits that will leave this beautiful state an industrial wasteland. 

 

       

Comment by Penny Gray on March 11, 2016 at 11:03am

Excellent letter.  Should be in all the newspapers.

Comment by Paula D Kelso on March 10, 2016 at 11:32pm

Can't remember the reference source but in a previous blog post, that desert wind facility was originally more like 127 turbines, but mysteriously 40 turbines next to Harry Reed's land got cut from the project. And I forget the exact connection, but the BLM head was a former Reed employee or some such. It was also interesting to learn from a related article that there is a particularly toxic fungus that is in the desert crust and with such extensive removal would potentially be a health hazard for that area. What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.

 

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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