Supreme Court to Live Stream Bowers Appeal Arguments
On Wednesday, April 8th at 2:10pm the Maine Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Champlain Wind LLC's appeal of the DEP/BEP denial of a permit for the Bowers Mountain Wind project. This will be the end of the line for this Bowers application. Champlain will not be able to appeal this any further. Here's how the Court has characterized the case:
2:10 p.m. BEP-14-291
Champlain Wind LLC v. Board of Environmental Protection
Attorneys: Juliet T. Browne, Scott D. Anderson, Gordon R. Smith, Margaret A. Bensinger, Frederick F. Costlow, Sean Mahoney
Champlain Wind, LLC, appeals from a decision of the Board of Environmental Protection that affirmed the Department of Environmental Protection's decision to deny a permit application by Champlain Wind to construct the Bowers Wind Energy Project in Penobscot and Washington Counties. On appeal, Champlain Wind primarily contests the aggregation of scenic impacts on Scenic Resources of State or National Significance pursuant to the scenic standard in the Wind Energy Act, 35-A M.R.S. § 3452 (2014). Champlain also argues that the application of the Wind Energy Act's scenic standard was arbitrary and capricious because there are no standards to evaluate aggregate impacts and that there is no evidence in the record to support the finding that the overall impacts from the Bowers Wind Energy Project are unreasonable.
If you can't attend in person, you can listen to the proceeding via live streaming. Here's the address:
http://www.courts.maine.gov/maine_courts/supreme/stream.shtml
The Court has informed us that the Justices will not entertain oral arguments from PPDLW. Presumably because we are neither appellants nor appellees. Not a problem. Back in December PPDLW filed a thorough amicus brief which thoroughly addresses Champlain's appeal arguments. Rest assured that we are not being denied 'our day in court'. We have been asked to be available to take any questions the Justices may have.
Please understand that there will be no opportunity for the public to speak. Those days have come and gone. This proceeding will address the specific grounds for DEP/BEP's denial of Bowers: Scenic Impact. Don't expect any discussion of the financial scam, health effects, noise levels, bird and bat mortality, etc. PPDLW has presented a solid case, and the State of Maine has agreed with us THREE TIMES!. Our loyal supporters flooded the record with their objections to this terribly-sited project. Let's hope that the Court's review of the complete record, plus the filing and argument of Assistant Attorney General Margaret Bensinger, will convince the Court that the Bowers Mountain Wind project will have an unreasonably adverse effect on scenic character and uses related to scenic character of the Downeast Lakes!
Heartfelt thanks to all of you who have written letters, attended hearings and provided support.
Gary Campbell
President, PPDLW
Views: 391
Comment
Maine as Third World Country:
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Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
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(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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