John Kerry: Maine's NIMBY's have no empirical evidence for their "anxiety"
Pushing alternative energy a tough sell
Published Wednesday May 12th, 2010
Not in my backyard: Director of Maine's energy agency coins 'anticipatory anxiety' - (the feelings people have related to the installation of new wind mills in residential areas
SAINT JOHN - When Maine moved to allow energy corridors through its borders to pipe energy into New England, it faced tough opposition from its own citizens, a top state official told a Saint John audience
John Kerry said his focus as director of the Maine Office of Energy Independence and Security is to move the state away from its expensive dependence on fossil fuels, but in advocating a shift to alternative energy sources he often comes face to face with the "not in my backyard" factor.
He pointed out that 70 to 80 parties intervened against the energy corridor bill, most of whom were residents facing an expansion in infrastructure near their homes. Opposition to nuclear power, natural gas, ethanol fuel, and even hydropower can be strong, he said.
Kerry, who spoke at the Energy Council of Canada's Saint John Forum, noted a recent development in Maine that he termed "anticipatory anxiety," related to the installation of new wind mills in residential areas. Residents in the state, which is already home to 95 per cent of New England's operating wind power, have voiced concern about noise, shadow flicker and the potential impact on their views.
Kerry said later in an interview that the state was addressing the anxiety "as reasonably as we can."
"People have concerns when turbines are developed near residential facilities but there is no empirical evidence that they are cause for concern," Kerry said.
He did note, however, that there has been little opposition to the development of large-scale wind farms off the coast of Maine and the state recently passed legislation to encourage offshore wind with a goal of creating capacity for 5,000 megawatts of power in the next decade or so.
Kerry emphasized Maine's interdependence with its Canadian neighbours. He identified Irving Oil Ltd. parent company, Fort Reliance Co. Ltd., and Emera Inc. (TSX: EMA) as potential future users of energy corridors in the state.
"We are respectful of the fact that New Brunswick does want to develop as an energy hub. We see Maine as a corridor to the sink down in New England."
Kerry also commented that the state could work with its Canadian partners to combat the threat of Midwest wind power. He explained in an interview that the energy source is developed in conjunction with coal power and with the costs of transporting the energy to Maine across other state boundaries, it is an economic and environmental issue.
"It certainly becomes an issue for public policy planning in New England and the Northeast because it could impact the development of renewable resources here," Kerry said.
Kerry closed his remarks with a quote G.K. Chesterton, which reflects Maine's own challenges in convincing its residents to endorse a shift to new energy sources: "What's wrong with the world is that not enough people are saying what's right with the world."
http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com/journal/article/1048965
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Comment
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Comment by Brad Blake on May 23, 2010 at 10:03pm
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Here's good news for the people of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia from Chief Wind Zombie John Kerry of Maine. We are determined to make Professor Habib's pipe dream of floating wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine a reality. So, we will hereby create a boom for salvage companies in the two provinces. The next time a "Perfect Storm" like the one of late October 1991 comes roaring up the Gulf of Maine with sustained 65 know winds and 39 foot waves (source:http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/satellite/satelliteseye/cyclones/pfctst...), the entire mess of thousands of turbines on their floating platforms will end up somewhere in the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy. Should be easy pickings at low tide! I just hope the price of scrap stays high so you make a handsome profit on the destruction of this multi-billion dollar folly. Oh, and sorry about that huge slick of oily lubricants from the turbines when it happens.
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It is outrageous for John Kerry to make these remarks about wind development in Maine. He knows full well what citizens have been trying to say about the negative impacts of industrial wind in our state. But he and soon to be ex-Gov. (thank God!)Baldacci have been pushing Maine down a destructive path by not only supporting the proliferation of wind turbines but actually expediting them. Citizens have been stripped of their rights to determine whether or not and where one of these sprawling industrial sites gets built. State agencies that are supposed to protect the environment from damaging development are rubber stamping the destruction of 350 miles of Maine's northeastern uplands and western mountains. For a fickle trickle of unpredictable, unreliable, costly electricity to be sent to southern New England.
John Kerry, there is no threat from mid-west wind. The threat is the drain of taxpayer subsidies and costly electric rates from any wind project, anywhere it is built.
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Comment by Long Islander on May 12, 2010 at 6:00pm
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Tree Hugger + Sea Hugger spells TS for the wind thieves.
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Comment by Ron Huber on May 12, 2010 at 4:58pm
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Kerry "did note, however, that there has been little opposition to the development of large-scale wind farms off the coast of Maine..."
A word from the sea-huggers: There's not a groundfisherman alive who is pleased to hear about offshore windfarms, especially well offshore, since the inshore istoor lobster trap-heavy during the best inshore groundfish seasons. And it's not a tub-like void out there in the Gulf of Maine, it is a mirror of the western Maine mountains, only sunken. Seamounts, steep cliffs, valleys, ledges, fish going about in submerged flocks like geese or ducks, or sidling around like deer and moose. See fishing grounds off Penobscot Bay at http://penbay.org/wrich/fginnergom2.html for an example of how it was out there, before the 20 century's mechanized fisheries changed everything.
So the siting of deepwater offshore is going to be haggled and fought over with the same grim tenacity you upland Nature-huggers show in your struggles.
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Comment by Karen Bessey Pease on May 12, 2010 at 4:57pm
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This is not a good day to get me wound up... Day two of Sisk/Trans-Canada Public Hearing, on a slow burn, need chocolate...
:o)
Kaz
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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