Remembering Baxter's legacy key to not exploiting mountain resources By CHRIS O'NEIL
5/26/12
Maine Voices: Remembering Baxter's legacy key to not exploiting mou...
By CHRIS O'NEIL
EXCERPTS:
Fernald is a relevant policy that ought to be remembered a hundred years later as our mountain resources are exploited for the export of wind power.
Fleming's story was accompanied by a photo of dinner jacket-clad Baxter fishing Kidney Pond: The summit in the background is Mount O-J-I, so named for its three iconic rock slides which then spelled its namesake letters.
Baxter in the photo is facing east toward nearby Katahdin.
A contemporary photo of Mount O-J-I shows that subsequent slides rendered the O-J-I letters undistinguishable, ironically reinforcing Baxter's powerful statement made as he bestowed his great gift: "Buildings crumble, monuments decay, and wealth vanishes, but Katahdin in all its glory forever shall remain the mountain of the people of Maine."
Like the unwitting Sen. Baxter learning of Parkhurst's unexpected death in 1921, those of us today fighting the economic and environmental destruction that is mountain wind power are benefitting from unexpected economic and political forces.
Reliable options are rendering wind power unaffordable, unnecessary and useless even as political patience is waning.
This is good for Maine's economy and environment. As one of the cleanest electricity generating states in the nation, having long ago gotten off oil and coal, Mainers must consider the legacy we will leave.
If mountaintop wind power goes the way of Parkhurst, some people might lament their good intentions unrealized. Others will lose potential riches. But Maine's trademark quality of place -- as valued by Gov. Baxter -- will continue to benefit all of us.
Let us remember Baxter's legacy as we create our own.
Chris O'Neil is president of Friends of Maine's Mountains, an environmental organization.
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http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/remembering-baxters-legacy-key-t...
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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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