Noah Miner lives in Gorham.

The other day I was out trolling for landlock salmon on Sebago Lake with friends. Trolling is a great way to put down the phone and connect with people and have some great conversation and debate, occasionally interrupted by a fish pumping the fishing pole. Part of what makes this state so great is the ability to enjoy these outdoor activities minutes from our front door.

The people of Maine need to realize that we can still have the quality of life we enjoy so much and also embrace progress and development. If we prevent progress and development by passing moratoriums on data centers, not building highways, protesting Amazon and complaining about the rising costs electricity, our taxes will continue to rise, our progress as a species will be set back and our taxes will force people to move out of state.

We are already the fifth highest taxed state in the nation. I graduated from Maine Maritime Academy in 1997. Post-graduation, I worked at General Electric installing and starting up power plants in the U.S. and abroad. We need power and our technology needs power. The more people we produce, the more power we need; the more stuff we buy, the more power we need.

Paper mills have power plants on site and the paper industry is fading. What better way to put these power plants to use than creating a data center on site that is fed by the power generators already in place.

In response to J. Craig Anderson’s fact brief of April 23, yes, data centers do have back-up diesel generation with onsite diesel storage; so does any gas station with underground tanks. And yes, there is a coolant system to cool the equipment. Coolant systems are everywhere. Commercial buildings and land-based lobster pounds all have coolant to transfer heat from one place to another in pipes.

People complain about Amazon in Gorham, but we can’t be hypocrites on this one. Who hasn’t had items shipped to their home from Amazon? Central Maine Power has been getting a bad rap lately, but we need to understand that solar power is expensive and CMP is increasing our rates to pay for the electricity generated by solar fields. Electricity travels on wire and wire can only handle certain amounts of load. When we put solar fields in remote places the wires, transformers and switchgear all need to be upgraded to accommodate this new generation.

The Gorham turnpike spur was shelved by the Maine Turnpike Authority. After years of land acquisition and the construction of the Gorham Bypass, which was designed with the intention of a connecting turnpike spur, a vocal minority shut the process down.

I am a regular visitor to Hillside Lumber, a company that sits on the Smiling Hill Farm property. Building materials are a tool of development and development requires roads. Planes on approach to Portland Jetport regularly fly at low altitude directly overhead of the Smiling Hill property, but the cows still make milk. The cooling tower fans and plumes of evaporated water can be seen and heard over the tree line from the top of the hill. Calpine Westbrook is a natural gas-fired power plant in the Westbrook Industrial Park right next door.

As Henry David Thoreau put it, “Man is an animal who more than any other can adapt himself to all climates and circumstances.” Thoreau understood that we are part of the plan for this planet, not just interlopers.

We can continue to expand as a species; we are the most adaptable species on the planet. We cannot prevent growth and adapt. Our younger generation is anxious about the future. We are having an impact on the planet; we always have and always will. Let’s teach the new generation that we will overcome and continue on as a species.