Maine Senate approves legislation to allow Sears Island offshore wind terminal
April 15, 2024
Stephen Singer
Press Herald
The House rejected the measure last week and will now reconsider the Senate version, which would exempt sand dunes from environmental protection in a bid to advance Maine's drive to generate offshore wind.
EXCERPTS
The Maine Senate on Monday night approved legislation providing a carve-out in environmental regulations that would allow construction of an offshore wind terminal on Sears Island.
The Senate voted 21-13 on the measure, which pits two competing environmental issues: protecting a sand dune system on Sears Island and advancing Maine’s drive to harness wind from the Atlantic Ocean and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The House of Representatives rejected the measure last week and will now reconsider the Senate version that would exempt the sand dunes from environmental protection. The Mills administration and other supporters of the wind port must persuade some of the 80 lawmakers who voted no to switch sides. The bill was backed by 65 House members.
Sen. Mark Lawrence, D-York, cited a slew of recent storms that have pounded Maine and said the issue is “about climate change … and whether we are actually going to do something about climate change.”
Brakey Sen. Eric, R-Androscoggin, said he’s not necessarily opposed to developing the Sears Island dunes. But he said he believes wind power is a “scam,” and “I don’t like the idea of us going further down that road as a state.”
“To someone who’s a skeptic of wind, what can you tell us about the benefits of this port to counterbalance our skepticism about wind power?” Brakey asked.
Read the full article at:
https://www.pressherald.com/2024/04/15/maine-senate-approves-legisl...
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Comment
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Comment by Long Islander on April 17, 2024 at 8:29am
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Comment by Dan McKay on April 17, 2024 at 7:00am
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Lawrence is pushing forward with the "crime of the century" This is beyond ignorance, it is an intention thief of ratepayer money and absolute destruction of modern civilization by bringing energy to a halt. That Man Has no right to chair an energy committee.
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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