MPBN and First Wind
I know this is a free country and public broadcasting relies on corporate underwtiters these days. But that didn't make me any happier when I saw the following company listed as one of their underwiters on their website.
First Wind
(617) 964-3340
85 Wells Avenue, Suite 305
Newton, Massachusetts
http://www.mpbn.net/Portals/0/Documents/UW/MPBN_Radio_UW.pdf
One of the things that bothers me is that this company was provided with a gift of $114 million in federal stimulus dollars, part of which I, as a taxpayer, funded. If I personally want to contribute to MPBN (which has some great programs, writers, etc.), that is my business. But I object when my tax dollars are given to a company that then just gives them away to MPBN or other causes.
If you are going to apply for my tax dollars, cut unnecessary spending first. Was contributing to MPBN necessary?
Views: 168
Comment
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Comment by Lyle on April 22, 2010 at 7:52pm
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Here is the original http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/124349.html cross posted in a couple other major Maine newspapers. Would be good to see this go National or even International.
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There was a brief story on the Kurt Adams affair on MPBN but it was not as in depth as the newspaper ones and did not rely on any serious endeavour to find out what what was going on.
http://www.mpbn.net/News/MaineHeadlineNews/tabid/968/ctl/ViewItem/m...
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Comment by Joanne Moore on April 22, 2010 at 7:22pm
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When I used to watch the TV I would tune in to Mystery on PBS. Nine times out of ten that a**hole Rob Gardiner would be on schlepping for other people's money. He could talk the hind legs off a donkey! On and on he would go, pleading for donations and wasting oxygen. My Mum, bless her heart, would say, "He looks like death warmed over." She always cut to the nub.
Anyway, to make a short story long, Old Rob would be yammering away about the dire consequences that would befall mankind if we didn't pledgeour first bornlotsa money. I made the mistake once of donating, thinking in my flighty way that this would shut him up. It didn't, but I have been hounded ever since. I always send in a nasty reply saying hell would have to freeze over first or something equally original but that doesn't stop the dunning letters saying they miss me and my money.
I see Rob Gardiner is still up to his old tricks, using other people's money and threatening dire consequences.
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First Wind advertizes on MPBN daily and often after puff pieces about the Governor and Wind Energy in Maine. Dave Fanning of PBS's Frontline criticized Public Radio's accepting dollars from corporations in a lecture to the Annenberg School of Communication late last year.
I have challenged MPBN often on Twitter about their lack of anything critical on Wind Energy in Maine and constant ads from First Wind. Come to find out that MPBN's CEO Jim Dowe was recently (Jan 2010) appointed to the Board of Bangor Hydro which has huge interests, as does First Wind, in Energy policy in Maine particularly transmission. I have asked the Ombudsman how we find out what money First Wind gives to MPBN with no reply. Apparently can only find this information out in the yearly accounts. So, like First Wind who receives large amounts of taxpayer subsidies to operate, and is secret about its operations, MPBN engages in the same lack of transparency.
Oh and remember both Angus King and Rob Gardiner of Independence Wind developers of Industrial Wind Energy and destroyers of mountaintops in Maine have associations with MPBN. In fact Rob Gardiner was involved in a management shake up at PBS. I wonder if he was the one that encouraged Public Broadcasting to accept more corporate dollars? Betcha!
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Comment by Art Brigades on April 22, 2010 at 3:31pm
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As HUGE as the Kurt Adams story is, MPBN's exhaustive coverage of state policy issues did not cover it this morning. Please note that their 5:30 pm "Maine Things Considered" broadcast features a "Brought to you by..." promo for "...First Wind, saving the planet..."
Curious to see if they continue that.
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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