Baldacci should introduce emergency legislation to rename Maine from "Vacation Land" to "Industrial Waste Land". 2700 megawatts of land based wind turbines by the year 2020 will require 1800 1.5 MW turbines, the most popular model in use in Maine, made by GE, owner of NBC, CNBC, MSNBC (notice all the subliminal messages showing slowly spinning turbines in wide open grasslands on those channels?). Do you think GE might have a lobbyist or two in Washington? How about 150?
Roxbury is the tip of the iceberg. There are 50 wind projects the size of Roxbury on the wind industry's drawing boards. There will not be a horizon from Buckfield to Quebec that is not dominated by monstrous arm waving machines.
As Mr. Dwight says, our grandchildren are footing the bill for this unprecedented assault on Maine's landscape. If only the money being used to subsidize wind power in Maine were instead spent on Conservation and Efficiency programs. Each household in Maine would be eligible for $14,000 in incentives for insulation, new windows, a 95% efficient gas boiler to replace the 60% efficient oil fired dinosaur in most basements. The savings in foreign oil for home heating could easily reach 50% with such simple, cost effective improvements.
Instead, we are destroying Maine with thousands of wind turbines, hundreds of miles of 35' wide roads blasted across fragile mountain ecosystems, and hundreds of miles of new transmission corridors to remote turbine projects. When the goal of 2700 MW is reached the combined total of the electricity from all these turbines will only generate about 4% of the daily demand of the New England grid, not when the grid needs it, and often times replacing existing renewable electricity already in place. So much for saving the planet.
Is there any doubt about where Baldacci sees his next job? His former chief of staff and former head of the PUC Kurt Adams is now VP at First Wind. I bet he will put in a good word for his former boss.
I would like to see
I would like to see photographic evidence of the thousands of birds killed by turbines. I also question as to whether some sort of property taxes would be paid to the communities where they were located. Some people do not object to the turbines even if they can be seen on a daily basis. Few are located within view of someone's house. I don't object to them, but would prefer the state develop offshore natural gas. The natural gas could be used to run electrical power plants, heat all kinds of buildings, and even used in motor vehicles. Natural gas burns cleaner than fuel oil, gasoline and deisel fuel. I have been told by an eyewitness that visited Alaska there are natural gas fields that have gas wells already drilled and capped. There is supposedly enough gas there to supply most of the power needs of the USA for eighty (80) years. Why aren't we using this gas? Is it the oil companies or our government keeping this gas from being used? Canada is going to import natural gas, store it, and then sell it to the US. We should develop our own supply. If Alaska can deal with the people in the gas and oil industry, why can't Maine?