A poll conducted in March by the Portland-based research firm Critical Insights showed such strong opposition to the proposed CMP electricity corridor that it is surprising how far along the proposal has come. In the poll, 65 percent of Mainers were opposed to the corridor, with 51 percent being strongly opposed. In Franklin County, 90 percent of those polled opposed the corridor. Only 7 percent strongly supported it, but the supporters have been busy championing the plan.

The NECEC corridor wasn’t the first choice of CMP’s foreign parent company; the New Hampshire Northern Pass was rejected by that state’s evaluation committee. Vermont rejected it as well before Maine was approached as a conduit of power from Quebec to Massachusetts.

Leaving aside the assertion that hydropower is “clean” energy, I have to wonder about all the goodies that have been promised to Lewiston in exchange for another substation off outer Main Street. These promises are coming from CMP, the company that was never able to resolve the over-billing issues of a few years back. So often, the combination of over-promising corporations and credulous politicians leads to under-delivery. Consider the fate of a much smaller project in Auburn — the Chinese medical tourism development on Minot Avenue — lots of fanfare, then silence when it fell through.

Anyone who cares about preserving Maine’s natural capital through protecting its forests should look carefully at the history of the CMP electricity corridor project. Western Maine deserves better than that.

Renee Cote, Auburn