In light of the recent Maine Supreme Court decision regarding the unconstitutionality of the referendum on the NECEC, I have a few comments about this entire process.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission is comprised of three people in appointed positions and none of whom have any educational or practical work experience in the natural resource use/conservation sector. These three represent Maine people on decisions such as the NECEC?

The “Say No to NECEC” PAC has nearly 10,000 members, takes no corporate money, and has hundreds of people, if not more, who have advanced university degrees and decades of practical experience in the natural resource use/management sector and who adamantly disagree with moving forward with the NECEC.

Three people for and thousands against? How could this possibly be a balance and accurate representation for Maine?

Maine enjoys a rather positive reputation across the United States for its natural beauty, hard-working people and practical approach to solving problems. This reputation has been compromised and sullied by corporate pressure and the lure of big bucks to a few selected individuals.

How can we ignore facts such as the governor’s brother, Peter Mills, on the board of directors of a nonprofit tied to Central Maine Power; the Mahoney brothers, one a vice president for Avangrid and one a high-level manager for CLF; and former Gov. John Baldacci on the board of Avangrid, making $200,000 a year? These are just a few examples among many.

The influence of a few players counterbalances the collective will of the people by a whopping margin.

The opponents present fact upon fact regarding the long-term effects that will happen because of the NECEC and the proponents continually state that “this is a good deal for Maine.” Most of the benefits are steeped in suggestion; disguised as more benefit than reality demonstrates; and have not been supported by anything that resembles scientific methodology.

The driving force behind this project is money, pure and simple. And this money comes from huge foreign interests in Canada and Spain.

Maine’s reputation, built through decades of hard work and moral backbone will be toppled by a few people and a few bucks directed to critical pressure points.

I don’t blame the Supreme Court. It did the job it was supposed to do. I blame a few greedy people for where we are now in this continuing and sordid saga of “good” versus “evil.”

If this project indeed does go through, Maine will never again be what it was and is. We will simply drop out of the ranks of places to visit because we were different, ethical, and morally attached to our natural wonders.

Richard Aishton, Farmington