Before going further with wind power, Maine should take a hard look at the costs. Up-front cost is, of course, enormous and largely borne by us.

The clear-cutting and demolition of the mountains will have major impacts on tourism here — another cost to us — and will also cause more erosion and water quality issues downstream.

The power lines will be horribly intrusive, marching back into our hills; and the electromagnetic fields they produce are such a serious concern that the Environmental Protection Agency even recommended that they be classified as a Class B carcinogen, right up there with PCBs and dioxin (unfortunately not yet listed).

Those cancers would be another cost borne by the public, along with the much lower property values near the lines, the serious health concerns of the windmills themselves, and the impacts on our wildlife. And the fact that money invested in industrial wind is money not invested in true green energy.

Green energy is essential and, if this was it, maybe those costs should be borne. But in fact, industrial wind power way out in the Maine woods is such a power-guzzling monster to build and run that it only makes sense when you realize that actually it has nothing to do with green energy. It’s all about huge profits to the companies that are paid more (by us), the more bloated the project.

The Maine Legislature has created a monster with its windpower legislation. I urge lawmakers to reconsider and to overturn it.

Sally McGuire, Carthage

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