It’s hard to count all the ways Gov. Paul LePage has thrown monkey wrenches into the windpower business — the first substantial new industry Maine has developed in several decades.

It reminds one of Richard Nixon’s White House tapes remark, that “the American economy is so strong only a genius could wreck it.” Nixon proceeded to do just that with an ill-advised scheme of wage-and-price controls, followed by various de-controls, which seemed solely motivated by his desire for a smashing re-election victory. These gyrations helped bring on a decade of “stagflation,” a confounding combination of high inflation and low growth that took two major recessions to sort out.

LePage’s effort to sabotage windpower is perhaps not quite so consequential, but in a state desperate for jobs and now being left behind by a modest national recovery, it’s perhaps even more perverse.

It wasn’t really surprising, though it was alarming, to read emails the administration sent back in May confirming it was already trying to scuttle a major offshore wind contract with Statoil, the Norwegian energy company – a threat carried out, with the unwise acquiescence of the Legislature – the following month.

The administration insists it was justified in quashing the Statoil contract because it preferred that a University of Maine-led consortium get the nod, but that only makes sense if you think it’s OK to disregard the law and retroactively cancel contracts.

True, LePage has been disregarding inconvenient statutes from the beginning. He canceled bond sales because he insisted the state couldn’t afford them – even though Maine law gives governors no such authority over borrowing approved by the voters. He’s now saying he won’t meet his constitutional responsibility to propose a supplemental budget next January because he doesn’t like the one the Legislature enacted over his veto in June.

Enabling such behavior, as Democratic co-chairs of the Energy and Utilities Committee did over the Statoil deal, does no one any favors, and encourages LePage to continue reversing course with every passing breeze.

For it’s not as if he has any real regard for the University of Maine. He flat-funded its budget again for two more years, meaning it will be six years without the university receiving even a penny of new state money. He’s also blocked consideration of research and development bond issues that were a major source of innovation and growth in the university’s science and technology programs.

All in all, LePage has made it clear he always prefers private to public education, and his sudden lurch toward the university on off-shore wind means only that foreign energy companies bother him even more.

The result of his meddling could well prove disastrous. Both Statoil and the University of Maine received testing grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, two of seven awarded nationally, and the only two from the same state.

The big action, though, will be three $50 million grants to be awarded for offshore wind production. There’s a theory the now-scuttled contract would have given Statoil a leg up, but the University of Maine model is more innovative, which could be a big plus with DOE reviewers.

What’s clear is there isn’t enough room in the offshore contract granted by the Public Utilities Commission, then withdrawn, for both Maine projects. The danger is that LePage’s maneuvering will kill federal support for both projects.

It’s not certain this would really bother LePage. His stance on offshore wind has little to distinguish it from the successful onshore industry he’s worked so hard to undermine.

That success is now really beyond doubt. Several Maine-based wind projects have just earned long-term competitive contracts with utilities in Massachusetts and Connecticut – exactly the markets Maine’s industry is poised to serve.

Yet at LePage’s direction, the Department of Environmental Protection is doing everything it can to slow down projects. It has turned down two major installations based solely on aesthetic considerations – so-called “visual impact.” The citizen Board of Environmental Protection has overturned one DEP decision; the other appeal is pending.

Under LePage, DEP seems to have no interest, according to recent reports, in maintaining lake water quality, ensuring full compliance with the federal Clean Air Act, or making sure children’s aren’t harmed by everyday products sold in Maine.

But DEP is doing its darndest to make sure Maine Guides don’t have to see miles-distant wind towers when taking their clients out to fish.

It all leads to the interesting question. On windpower, LePage gives the lie to the notion he’s a “business friendly” governor. But what then, exactly, is his goal?

Douglas Rooks is a former daily and weekly newspaper editor who has covered the State House for 28 years. He can be reached at [email protected].