Maine Citizens Overwhelmingly Say “NO!” to First Wind’s Bowers Mountain Industrial Wind Proposal

Maine Citizens Overwhelmingly Say “NO!” to First Wind’s Bowers Mountain Industrial Wind Proposal

In one of the most hotly disputed industrial wind development proposals to come before Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission, citizens of this state spoke out in opposition to the Bowers project by a margin of 9:1.

Champlain Wind LLC, one of the many limited liability subsidiaries of First Wind of Boston, is proposing to build a grid-scale wind facility on Bowers Mountain in Carroll Plantation and Dill Hill in Kossuth Township. The proposed development would site 22 wind turbines, each approaching 500 feet tall, on a ridge overlooking the Downeast Lakes Watershed.

Based on LURC’s Wild Land Lakes Assessment study of over 1,500 lakes, this watershed has the highest concentration of Class 1A and 1B rated lakes in the state. In order to achieve that rating a lake had to exhibit “outstanding values of statewide significance.” There are at least six lakes in this watershed that have a “1A” rating, three that have a “1B” rating and numerous others that are rated as a “2”.

During the application process, Maine citizens requested and were granted a public hearing. An astonishing 374 citizens gave oral or written testimony about this project. Three hundred thirty-seven (337) or 90.1% of those testifying were opposed to First Wind’s Bowers Mountain project.

Due to concerns that such massive industrialization would seriously damage the area’s
extraordinary scenic value; more than two dozen professional guides and many of the local sporting camp owners took precious time away from their businesses during peak tourist season to come to Lincoln to testify in person. Three prominent organizations, representing nearly 1,000 Maine business owners who are familiar with the watershed, publicly came out against the Bowers project:

* The Maine Professional Guides Association, 900 strong, which has representatives on committees such as Tourism, Conservation, Land Access, Landowners Relations, River Trust and others, voted unanimously to oppose the Bowers project.

* The Maine Sporting Camp Association, which represents more than 50 sporting camp owners.

* The Grand Lake Stream Guides Association, representing 50 full-time professional
guides who make their livelihood on the Downeast Lakes Watershed, voted unanimously to oppose the Bowers project.

Maine citizens have faith that LURC will listen to the will of the people and deny First Wind/Champlain Wind a permit to industrialize Bowers Mountain and Dill Hill.  Please consider attending the final deliberation session to be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 19th, at the Waterfront Event Center, 8 Prince Street, Lincoln, Maine.  Local residents, business owners, tax payers and tourists will be there.  I hope you will be, too.

Profiled...

What a gorgeous spring day! Oh, how I wish I’d been able to get outside and enjoy it!

Actually, I did enjoy it. Parts of it, anyway. I attended a LURC pre-conference hearing for the Highland Wind project, which was held this morning at the Maine Forestry Service building in Augusta. That wasn’t the part of the day I got pleasure from, but it was a good meeting to ‘get behind us’, nonetheless. Within a few days the Friends of the Highland Mountains and other interested parties and intervenors will know the schedule of events as they pertain to our most pressing project in the Plantation of Highland.

The part of the day which added additional sunlight to an already dazzling and warm Thursday came before and after the meeting.

I took Josie-Earl with me.

I’d requested that she be allowed an ‘excused absence’ from school, so that she could attend the meeting, too. I believe such things are ‘educational’ and warrant an occasional absence from the classroom. I want my children to be young people who are active and ‘aware’. I want them to be concerned about what goes on around them, and I’d like to see them participate in the shaping of their own futures. I’ve always been of the opinion that a person has no right to complain unless they are willing to take the time (and put forth the effort ) to get involved in changing that which troubles them.

Since I’ve been devoting so much of my free time to ‘wind’, I’ve missed out on a lot of the ‘one-on-one’ time I used to have with my family. So I decided that combining an educational experience with an afternoon of ‘girlie’ shopping was in order.

As often as Josie and I clash, that doesn’t change the fact that she is a delightful young woman. I enjoy spending time with her. She’s funny, articulate, and engaging. I loved spending the day with my daughter.

When it comes to my three kids, I am so very lucky.

After a ten hour day ‘on the road’, I returned home to find forty-one emails waiting for me. I changed into my ‘grubs’ (running pants and a baggy sweatshirt--typical garb for this country girl) and sat down to deal with those many notes. The first one I opened was from a friend in Massachusetts who is also involved in the effort to stop needless and expensive industrial wind sprawl on our mountains. She told me that she’d been searching for something online, and ran across a website called ‘Carbon Capture Report’.


And on this site, she discovered that I have been ‘profiled’.

Profiled. Like I’m an ‘enemy of the state’, or something.

In all honesty, I haven’t had time to read the whole thing. I opened the link, scanned it quickly, and minimized it to the bottom of my screen. It is held ‘in reserve’ for later, in case I get caught up on my work and can devote a few minutes to reading what is there.

All I know is this: The corporate wind lobby is a powerful entity. It has sufficient resources to devote to foolish endeavors such as tracking the activities of a woman from the western mountains of Maine—those same mountains which the wind industry currently covets. Corporations like Independence Wind, First Wind, Maine Wind, Iberdrola Renewables, Patriot Renewables, Eolian Energy…these corporations stand to make millions in tax-payer subsidies if they can build their projects on Maine’s iconic ridgelines.


I also know that the corporate wind lobby is worried. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t waste their time in this manner.

And…I believe that the corporate wind lobby is dirty.

That being said--I also believe they are uninformed. Behind the ball. Wrong. I am far more active in this effort than their statistics show me as being.


If there are folks from the wind industry who want to know my stance on grid-scale wind developments on Maine’s mountains, they need only call me. My home number is (207) 628-2070. My email address is roomtomove@tds.net. I am an open book, and I will not be intimidated by the very corporations which have infiltrated my state--and my federal--government.

This isn’t solely about industrial wind. Not anymore. It is about right and wrong. It is about corruption. Indoctrination. It involves the fabric of the very foundation in which we Americans believe.

I had a wonderful, happy day with my daughter. Feel free to add that to my stats.

In the Words of a King-- "It's all about the View"

Former governor Angus King and his partner, Rob Gardiner have once again submitted a permit application to LURC for a 39 turbine grid-scale wind energy plant on Highland’s mountains, at the gateway to the Bigelow Preserve and the Appalachian Trail. Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission determined Highland Wind LLC’s application was complete on February 23, 2011, even though that application is NOT complete, as evidenced in news articles in Friday’s Kennebec Journal and Portland Press Herald.

Mr. King is wasting our tax-payer money by continually submitting permit applications which fall short of the requirements for completion. LURC staffers have already spent countless hours reading each of his applications. The Commissioners have already had to rule that HW LLC’s first application be pulled and the ‘expedited clock’ stopped. If ordinary citizens can read an application and determine that it is lacking, I assume that Mr. King, Mr. Gardiner and their attorneys know the same thing.

I suppose the applicants hope to have the missing data and documentation and road crossing permits in hand before LURC rules on whether or not to grant them a permit for their project—but that’s not the way this works. The burden of submitting a completed application rests with the applicant. Not with the LURC staff. Not with the interveners in the case. Not with the citizens of Maine. And yet, it is we who are paying the price while this limited liability development company tries to get its ducks in a row. The Section 1603 cash grants for these projects will expire in December, and those no-strings-attached grants are huge. Mr. King and Mr. Gardiner will lose out on millions of free tax-payer dollars if they do not receive approval, and soon.

So they play games and waste our resources in the hopes that it will all work out okay for them in the end.

I predict that it won’t. I believe that Mainers are waking up to the realities of this scheme to line over 350 miles of our mountain ridges with expensive and intrusive industrial turbines which produce power that is unreliable, intermittent, cannot be stored, and for which our grid was not designed. I believe that the people of Somerset County have the courage and the strength of character to stand up and make common sense decisions. Sound science and economics do not support the notion of mountaintop industrial wind in Maine.

The following quotes are from Angus King, taken from his video, “A Vision for Maine—Inauguration 1995”.

"We certainly can do tourism better. Just to our south, to the north, and across the ocean are millions of mobile, affluent and time-pressed individuals who would love Maine if we could get them here, first. But we must think strategically about tourism-- spreading out the seasons and the locations where we welcome visitors. In the process of rebuilding Maine, we must never compromise our environment... Our final natural resource is our QUALITY OF LIFE. We have what the world wants... creative and hard-working people, an unspoiled natural environment and a civil society that works..... We share a common heritage. We share a common stewardship of the land. We share a common pride in an extraordinary place called Maine....and the best of Maine-- a land of deep woods, jagged coasts and people of integrity--will endure and flourish."


The former governor wanted to encourage tourism. “We have what the world wants,” he said. I urge Mainers to visit First Wind’s ongoing destruction of Rollins Mountain and Rocky Dundee in Lincoln, in the shadow of Mt. Katahdin. Then picture the same thing happening all across this state. Estimates for this little rural corner of Somerset County are for upwards of 300 turbines. Everywhere we look, there they will be. Huge. Unnatural. Inefficient, intrusive, foreign-made machines. In every direction, we will see evidence of greed. Evidence of folly. Evidence of corporate-run state policies, rather than common-sense rule by the People. A tourist attraction? No.


This is another quote from Angus King, recorded in a meeting last May in Skowhegan.

"There's not a sound issue, there's not a health issue, there's not a bird issue, there's not a wildlife issue… No issues of wetlands.... we're not 'removing' anything-- we're MOVING...when you build a road, as I say, when you build roads, you cut out the high spots and fill in the low--we're moving a lot of earth, but nothing's being taken away from the mountains…”

This is an excerpt from the Highland Wind LLC permit application, submitted to LURC in December, 2010.

“A total of approximately 3.1 miles of existing logging roads are being rebuilt, and
approximately 15.1 miles of new roadway are being constructed. In addition, turbine sites must be graded to approximately level with no more than three percent cross slope. Table 12-1 below outlines the cut and fill requirements for the different portions of the Project. Roadway construction along with the 39 turbine pads results in the earthwork volumes listed below.”

Those turbine sites which must be ‘graded to approximately level’ are on the tops of Stewart, Witham and Bald Mountains, and Burnt and Briggs Hill. The total ‘cut’ from the project is estimated at 1,518,000 cubic yards. That’s more than 90,000 dump trucks’ worth of earth excavation for this one project. The ‘fill’ is listed as 1,438,900 cubic yards. It’s being blasted and excavated from the mountains, and then used to build 18 miles of slope-side roads and turbine pads. But, no. It’s not being ‘taken away from the mountains’.

And again from Angus King last May, when speaking about the Highland project:

"So-- it's all about the view. And the view is important because the Appalachian Trail goes over Bigelow....Stop by Mars Hill! It's cool! It really comes down to-- are we going to say 'no' to a half-billion dollar infrastructure project producing renewable energy because of the VIEW? I think that's the question. The interesting thing about this project--we're involved in some others-- the others have some different issues, but this one is really the view. And, you know...people throw in a lot of other stuff, but it's really about the view. What will the impact be? Well, it'll be visual--you judge.”

Mr. King, despite his continual assurances that this project is ‘all about the view’, knows better than that. His patronizing attitude is intended to gain him some support for his project. He hopes that if he repeats that tag line often enough, Mainers will look upon those of us who are opposing his project as selfish elitists who would put our ‘view’ before anything else. We who care about the big picture, and who have spent months researching the facts about industrial wind, oppose this project—and others—for a variety of reasons related to economics, the environment, residents’ healthy and quality of life, and Maine’s unique ‘quality of place’.

I once thought former governor King cared about those same things.

A Moment of Silence For Rollins Mountain and Rocky Dundee

Before First Wind.....


And after....

I’ve been single-minded over the last year and a half as I’ve made an effort to help educate Mainers about the realities of industrial wind, and as I’ve worked to halt the destruction of Maine’s ‘quality of place’. There’s no quick fix. This is a long and drawn-out battle and the opponent is a wealthy and powerful corporate lobby which enjoys the backing of some high government officials, departments and independent organizations.

As long and as hard as I’ve toiled though—there are many others in Maine who have been at it longer. Men and women whose battle scars are deeper and whose knowledge and experience far surpass mine. Citizens who are in a place--and who have a perspective--which I dread having to share.

First Wind is building their industrial wind facility on Rollins Mountain and Rocky Dundee in Lincoln. This financially troubled company did not have to prove they had the capacity to fund their project before the Department of Environmental Protection granted them a permit. The Friends of Lincoln Lakes have filed an appeal based on First Wind’s lack of financial capacity, but the blasting of mountain ridges and the building of new mountain-side roads continues, unchecked.

Here are two links which I hope you will check out. The first will take you to YouTube, where you will see a short DVD which I put together with my friend Tom Olds. This music video consists of photos of Maine, the way it is. Maine… the way it SHOULD be.

The second link will take you to photos snapped by my friend Brad Blake on February 20th in Lincoln, the land of thirteen lakes. These photos show First Wind’s Rollins project, currently under construction.

First—the “before” shots, and then--the “after”.

Our hearts are breaking as we watch the destruction of our high terrain areas for an energy source which is not reliable, is not constant, is not able to be stored, and is not needed in the state of Maine. This should not be happening. But the wind lobby did their ground work under cover of darkness—misleading Mainers about the benefits of Big Wind, and neglecting to mention the many negative impacts.

Now, in the light of day, we watch. Like an accident happening in slow motion, we can’t take our eyes off the scene of the tragedy. We don’t want to look—but we can’t help it.

But we can help keep this from happening again. To learn the FACTS about the plan to develop hundreds of miles of Maine’s mountaintops and to find out what you can do to help, please call me at (207) 628-2070, or email me at roomtomove@tds.net.

Let’s make this the last grid-scale wind turbine facility to be built in our state. Together, we can bring common sense, ethics and fiscal responsibility back to Augusta. By standing together, we can move mountains… or better yet—we can preserve and protect them.


*******************************
First Photo: Rocky Dundee before the turbines
Second: Rocky Dundee under construction, Fe. 20, 2011
Third: A Rocky Dundee ridge with waterfront cottages on Upper Cold Stream Pond below them
Fourth: Welcome to Lincoln--with turbine towers in the background

Propaganda, Rhetoric and Hype

Propaganda, rhetoric and hype. These are tactics used by the wind lobby to ‘sell’ their product. I’ve seen evidence of it ever since I began paying attention to their PR campaigns—a diligence I began almost 15 months ago. The wind lobby is professional, and their ‘spin’ has been expertly handled. Their propaganda is believable, if one doesn’t look beyond the surface to see the facts.

Today, I acquired a copy of a document which drives home the depths to which the wind lobby will sink to gain support.

Following are quotes from a document titled “Mars Hill, Maine Wind Energy Farm, The Most Commonly Asked Questions…”

Mars Hill, in Aroostook County, is home to Maine’s oldest wind energy facility. This grid-scale project is owned and operated by First Wind, aka UPC wind partners, aka Evergreen Wind Power.

Mars Hill was the testing ground for industrial wind in Maine. The ‘guinea pig’, I suppose. Mainers had no concept of ‘wind’ when this development was proposed, and surely, the residents of this town in our northernmost county didn’t know when—or IF—they were being ‘shined’. I would not be surprised if the residents of Mars Hill took these words from First Wind to heart, believing them without question.

“There is virtually NO mechanical noise from these turbines. If you are near a turbine, you may hear the sound of the wind and the ‘swooshing’ sound made by the slowly turning blade parting the air. If the wind is blowing, the background noise of wind in the trees is likely the only sound you will likely hear! You will not be able to hear any noise at all at the bottom of the mountain.”

“These turbines turn very slowly, rotating 10-20 rpm! That means it takes 6 seconds to the fastest 3 seconds to complete a rotation! Numerous studies have been done around the world and have found no significant adverse affects of monopole towers and slow rotation blades on birds or other wildlife in this type of environment. Your car or the picture window on your house will likely kill more birds than a wind turbine will!”

“All of the electricity from the Mars Hill “wind farm” will be used in the region, most likely by Aroostook County homes and businesses. Power will be delivered to Maine Public Service (MPS) and the “grid”. Other interconnection options are being considered.”

“The estimated cost/investment will be $55,000.000.00. It is paid for by private investments of UPC wind partners, the parent company of Evergreen Wind Power. The town of Mars Hill will be a major beneficiary of the project and will pay nothing for its development but receive major economic and social benefits.”

“The construction work will be by local businesses if possible and certainly from people and companies from within Maine.”

“One tourist bureau, at a similar wind farm, reported an increase of visitors to their town of over 60,000 per year. The town of Mars Hill could be a very busy place after construction, too!”

“According to Governor John Baldacci’s office of Renewable and Energy Independence the annual Contribution of annual reduction of air pollution offsets (Based on United States average power generation:

120,000 Tons Carbon Dioxide (Contributed to “global warming” or “greenhouse” Effect.) This is the equivalent of removing exhaust emissions of >17,000 automobiles.”

I have quoted these bullet points in context. I’ve copied the exclamation points, the misspellings, and the awkwardly structured sentences.

I’ve also tossed my head, rolled my eyes, gritted my teeth, and sighed.

We’ve learned so much since the days when Industrial Wind first came to Maine.

But have we learned enough, and will our education have come too late to save other communities from the same fate as Mars Hill?

Those turbines which produce ‘virtually no mechanical noise’? Currently, there are a dozen families in Mars Hill embroiled in lawsuits with First Wind, due to the health and quality-of-life impacts brought on by the turbines atop this ridge.

Those ‘monopole towers and slow rotation blades’? Those slow rotations can be up to 180 miles per hour at the tips. Yes, the ‘rpm’ number sounds low, but when those blades sweep an acre and a half of airspace with each revolution, they are hardly benign. And a quick Google search will show exactly how gently industrial wind turbines treat raptors, song birds, and bats.

The Bentec Study from Colorado showed that wind energy facilities do not, in fact, significantly reduce carbon emissions, and may actually increase them. This study was performed at request of a petroleum company, so the wind lobby likes to discount it. However, it was verified by independent scientists, and other, similar studies tell the same story. Seventeen thousand automobiles? Give me a break…

And wouldn’t it be interesting to see if Mars Hill has seen their number of tourists increase by 60,000 per year? It’s a fact: many people do travel to Mars Hill. The wind facility has gained notoriety as the Maine Wind Wars have heated up, and folks want to see what all the fuss is about. But 60,000 per year? Not a chance. And once 350 miles of Maine’s irreplaceable mountain summits are littered with these 40-story machines, the novelty will wear off. What pulls tourists here from around the world will be gone forever. Maine’s unique ‘quality of place’ will be a thing of the past.


Propaganda, rhetoric and hype. When will Mainers learn to separate the wind lobby’s sales pitch from the facts about industrial wind?

**************************
All photos are of Mars Hill, Maine

Spinning in the Wind

A group of concerned Mainers gathered on Monday at Rollins Mountain in Lincoln. A violent storm had moved into the region overnight. It was cold, driving rain poured down… and it was windy.

I used to love the wind…

The Friends of Lincoln Lakes have fought a long and hard and expensive battle. Several weeks ago, they lost this fight—at least to outside eyes—and First Wind was given the ‘go ahead’ by Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection to start construction on their proposed project. Forty industrial wind turbines overshadowing the Land of Thirteen Lakes, and in the shadow of Mount Katahdin. And… for what?


Wind industry mouthpieces list off the negligible benefits and most Mainers… most Americans… heck! Most PEOPLE believe them! The industry claims economic benefits in the form of temporary construction jobs and increased sales for businesses in the ‘host’ communities. They tout the ‘free’ fuel of wind… while never mentioning the hugely expensive cost of building, maintaining and transmitting the power. Wind energy is anything but affordable, often costing up to three times more than conventional power sources. Wind industry execs state, shamelessly, that wind will reduce our dependence on foreign oil. They say it will bring American soldiers home. More falsehoods, but do most people question those statements?

No.

To our detriment, we have been conditioned to believe that which is told us by people in positions of power or authority. Spin doctors know what buttons to push, what catch phrases to use… how to tweak the ‘fear’ nerve or the sympathetic heart strings. Corporate trainers work their recruits, teaching them how to answer questions with just enough factual information to be believable, while not divulging the complete TRUTH to the common citizen. I’ve listened to these prevarications and misleading statements for a solid year. The wind industry has it down to an art. It’s bull$hit, but it smells sweet. Wind industry trainees are even taught how to deal with people like me. You know… those thorns-in-their-sides, pains-in-their-asses who show up uninvited wherever they go; sitting in their meetings, asking pointed questions, demanding proof, asking them if they will put their claims in writing…. That kind of person. I’ve heard tell we even have a name. Folks like me are called “MADGE”.

I wonder what that means?

Below is an excerpt from the Portland Press Herald. It is a fine example of the ‘spin’ corporate executives glibly apply when the need arises.

“First Wind spokesman John Lamontagne called Monday’s protest unfortunate. “First Wind is pleased to move ahead with the Rollins Wind project and put people to work in northern Maine during a tough economy. It’s unfortunate a small group of renewable energy opponents have chosen to protest that, but we respect their rights to do so,” Lamontagne said in a statement.

“This project will put more than 200 people to work during construction, and generate enough clean, renewable power for more than 24,000 homes in Maine. We’re proud of that.”

First off: Wind turbines do not and never will produce their nameplate capacity because the wind simply does not blow steadily every day and night… 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Actual production levels vary from 11-33%. Those 24,000 homes that could be electrified number, in truth, anywhere from 2,600 to 8,000. That’s a significant difference, if you ask me.

Mr. Lamontagne, whose name means “the high mountains”, is currently involved in shaving the tops off ours. Blasting, excavating, bulldozing… whatever it takes to build the roads and clear the turbine sites on our iconic and pristine ridges. Notice his choice of words when describing those valiant Wind Warriors who stood outside in the driving rain to participate in their lawful right to peaceful assembly. He labeled the demonstrators as “renewable energy opponents”.

Perfect! Just what I would expect! If you want to sway citizens who have not yet been educated on the real truths surrounding the plan to decimate 360 miles of high terrain ridges in a state with a poor inland wind resource, that’s the ideal tag to put on people who are anything BUT opponents of renewable energy! The 'windys' are good at their jobs. I’ve got to give them that!

The thousands of Mainers who are fighting to stop mountaintop industrial wind are not opponents of renewable energy. We are opponents of waste, and stupidity. We are against corruption and greed. We oppose sending the lion’s share of our hard-earned tax dollars overseas to countries like China, where the wind turbine parts are manufactured. We don’t believe in sacrificing a quality of place which is precious and unique in order to line developers’ pockets with cash for a power source which is undependable and intermittent, which cannot be stored, and which is incompatible with our grid. We oppose the destruction of our mountains, the fragmenting of wildlife habitat, and the carelessness and uncaring attitude which has made many of our fellow Mainers sick and anxious and unhappy in their homes.

But… what are Wind Warriors for? We are for sensible and affordable energy practices which are proven by science and economics. We are in favor of conservation and efficiency. We are supporters of our neighbors, and champions of our natural resources. And we promote—and expect-- honesty and integrity when dealing with our government and those corporations who desire to do business in this state.

I wasn’t at the Lincoln rally on Monday, but my heart was with my fellow Wind Warriors. We’ll leave the ‘spin’ to the wind industry and the administration which has decided to allow them to pillage and despoil our land.

In the meantime, if you want the FACTS, please come see me and I’ll point you in the right direction. We are up against a Goliath, but we are armed with the truth. And here in Maine, where the brave are denounced and branded as ‘renewable energy opponents’, we will not back down. We will not give up. We will not be intimidated.


We will WIN!


**********************************
Top Photo: demonstrators at Rollins Mountain, Lincoln, Maine
Middle Photo: New turbine pad under construction at Rollins, with Maine's highest mountain, Katahdin, in the background.
Bottom photo: A silly pic sent me by a friend in Mississippi
**********************************


It's time for a contest! The Friends of the Highland Mountains are putting on a comedy and music event to raise money for our expert witness fees, which we will need when the time comes for our public hearing. Please given me your suggestions for what the acronym "MADGE" stands for... and the winner, chosen by the Turbinator, my friend Tom (if he says 'yes' when I ask him, which he will... won't you, Tom?)will win two tickets to the event on December 4th at 7:00. Come on... this wind stuff is CRAP! Let's turn it into some FUN!!! Just put your suggestions in the comments section. Winner will be chosen on November 27th. MADGE: Meddling And Dangerous Gigantic Environmentalist??? oooh... not as easy as I thought!!!

A Week in the World of Wind

There’s been a lot happening in the world of ‘wind’ here in the state of Maine. I wish I had more time to write it down and post it to GAG, but the fact that I haven’t been able to is a symptom of the viral spread of industrial wind.

I am more convinced than ever that we, the PEOPLE, have to stop this at the state level, and then--at the national one. There are a dozen small citizens’ groups across Maine battling their own individual projects, and we are each standing up to--and facing down--very rich and powerful (and sometimes multi-national) entities. These industrial developers have the backing of our current administration, too, so the battle is far more difficult than if we had a level playing field.

This week alone, the Friends of the Highland Mountains were involved in opposing three different industrial wind companies here in the western mountains. We voiced our opposition to a request regarding a development on the other side of the famed Kennebec River, proposed by First Wind, who has asked for a TIF (tax incremental financing) from our county government. Among the many other wind developments they have in the works, First Wind is proposing to line the mountains of Bingham and Mayfield with 400 foot tall turbines. That they should request a TIF is brassy, to say the least. TIFs were designed as a way for municipalities to entice businesses to their locale, in the hopes that those businesses would bring enough jobs and economic development to offset the tax revenue lost by a TIF. However, wind developers are BEGGING for permission to despoil Maine’s mountains—and if they are successful in obtaining their permits, approximately 60% of the cost of their projects is ALREADY paid for by American tax payers. TIFs should not be granted to these companies when they are asking US for permission to come here, and when they bring few full time jobs. In addition, a good percentage of the part time jobs don’t originate in the towns where the projects are proposed, but are given to companies from elsewhere which are already contracting to the wind developers and which have the expertise to build these mountaintop developments.

We also had an opportunity on Wednesday to make clear before Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission our future opposition to Iberdrola’s plans to place grid-scale wind turbines on the ridges of Lexington and Concord Township. I had the opportunity to speak to four representatives of Iberdrola in the lobby outside the LURC commissioners’ meeting room after our appearance and I did my best to politely but unambiguously make plain to the developer that they are not and will not be welcome here. This particular battle is going to be monumental, unless the people of Maine stand together and let this conglomerate know that we are hostile to their plans—that we are not willing to be their next conquest. Iberdrola, partnered with Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, a government controlled entity of the United Arab Emirates, is the world’s leader in wind power. After exhausting the subsidy resources and imperiling the job market in their home country of Spain, Iberdrola set its sights on other European countries, as well as North Africa and North America. The U.S. government has made it clear that American taxpayers will foot the bill for any ‘renewable energy’ company which wants to develop our wind resources, and Iberdrola heard the clarion call and rushed to our shores. Shame on us. The government and the wind industry use the lure of ‘getting America off foreign oil’ as one of the scare tactics to entice citizens to comply with their plans to industrialize our mountains. Once Iberdrola gets a toe hold here, we will be beholden to the Middle East for our very own wind.

As an aside, less than 2% of Maine’s electricity is generated by oil-fired plants--and then, only on those few days of peak demand which we might have during a heat wave. Our dependence on ‘foreign oil’, which we obtain from Canada, is due to our need to heat our homes and power our automobiles—neither of which are done by electricity.

In addition to dealing with First Wind and Iberdrola, we also had a ‘wind event’ closer to home. On Saturday, Highland Wind LLC held an open house at the Highland Plantation fire house. Angus King and Rob Gardiner came with a host of ‘experts’ to try to convince Highlanders that supporting their project was a good thing for the wallets of those living in the Plantation, as well as being beneficial to our environment. These developers have gone to extraordinary lengths to sweet-talk the locals. Considering the fact that they do not need the approval of the Plantation, since it is our LURC commissioners who will decide whether or not to approve their application, their actions speak volumes.

We Mainers who are exercising our rights and ‘having a say’ are making these developers very nervous.

Most of us chose not to attend the open house, even though there was a ‘curiosity factor’ involved. But we didn’t want to ignore the affair, either, as we thought perhaps that would be seen as indifference. And so… we did something guaranteed us by the Constitution. We staged a peaceful demonstration.

Ever mindful of our community, which is trying very hard to stay ‘together’, we decided to wait until after the start of the open house to assemble. And we limited our demonstration to one hour, as well. There are still a few who support the project due to Mr. King’s and Mr. Gardiner’s promises of economic gain, and it is important to us that we find a way to disagree with our neighbors without being disagreeable. And while our opposition to the project is an adamant one, we wanted to be mindful of those who decided to avail themselves of another opportunity to hear those promises made by the developers. We know those ‘promises’ to be a sales pitch, and a flimsy one, at that. But just as we have the right to lawful assembly, so, too, do others have the right to attend a program which was open to the public.

As always, I was extremely proud of the people who gave up their Saturday morning to stand out in the cold and stand up for what they believe in.

Before I close, I’d like to add something in response to a question my aunt asked me yesterday. My aunt doesn’t support mountaintop industrial wind. But the same question gets posed to her as gets asked of other Mainers who are opposing this misguided plan, and she wondered what my answer was.

“If not ‘wind’, then what? What is the alternative, if we want ‘green’ energy?”

I’ve written several times in the past about wind power’s very questionable ‘green-ness’. About the fact that, due to its intermittent and undependable nature, back-up generators must always be kept online for those times when the wind doesn’t blow. And in their ramped-back state, those generators burn less efficiently and pollute more. One needs only to look at countries in Europe which have relied heavily on wind energy for the last decade or two to see the evidence… these same countries have some of the highest emissions ratings on the continent. Included in the ‘green’ factor are many other parts to the equation, including one of the most important, as pertains to industrial wind in forested, mountainous regions like Maine. The amount of deforestation which happens as a result of building the roads and clearing the turbine sites removes precious vegetation which is vital to capturing carbon and cooling this state. Those same slope-side roads fragment wildlife habitat. Those spinning turbines kill migratory birds, and the changes in pressure created by those massive blades cutting through different atmospheres creates barotrauma in bats flying in the vicinity, causing their lungs to explode. Runoff from erosion affects water quality, as does the herbicides sprayed to keep the transmission corridors and roadsides from re-vegetating—and that doesn’t even take into account what those herbicides do to our animals which hunt and forage in those areas. This list of environmental impacts goes on and on.

Taken individually, those environmental effects are bad enough. But add them together and the cumulative impacts are enormous. I’d like to paste in a quick synopsis written by a friend which explains better than I can the quality of this wind power which the developers are trying so hard to sell us on-- this ‘renewable’ and ‘clean’ energy which is so wonderful that we must sacrifice a great deal, including our unique quality of place and quality of life. I hope this helps my aunt to better understand why her niece is committed to stopping mountaintop industrial wind in Maine. This wind power scheme asks too much, and delivers far, far too little.

“Wind never replaces any generation. It can never be counted on, so as the demand forecasts are looked at for the following day--with great accuracy--when (grid operators) need to buy additional power in the day-ahead electricity market, wind cannot be considered. Even with a forecast of 100% wind, it cannot be counted on. So when (operators) have to beef up (supply) in advance of anticipated heightened demand, they must buy something else like natural gas in the day-ahead market so that an adequate reserve is in place. When wind electricity simply 'happens' the following day, it always is an unnecessary add-on, a veritable poster child for 'too little, too late'. But it is an expensive one, because the ratepayer is nevertheless required to fund it, although it was not needed. The wind industry's implementation plans rely upon citizen ignorance…”

“Citizen ignorance”…my friend does not mean that Mainers are stupid. Certainly not. But most of us have no idea how our energy supply is anticipated or how our demand is met. We leave that to those whose job it is to know such things. However, that paragraph is an important one. Wind is being sold to the citizens of this state by those who stand to profit from it, but we are only hearing one biased side of the story. Wind is always an ‘extra’. It cannot and will not ever be a primary, dependable source of power unless the day comes when scientists figure out how to store it. But because citizens’ support is needed, it is better for those with a stake in the game to keep those facts about this energy source to themselves.

It’s time we learned the truth. As I read and listen and learn, I am more convinced than ever that we are being taken for the biggest ‘ride’ of our lives. And the stakes are as high as they’ve ever been. I didn’t go looking for this fight… it came to me. It’s coming to all of us. As I look at a map of Maine, dotted with pins to show each met tower, each wind development already built or in the stages of being built, and all those developments which are currently proposed, my heart flip-flops. None of us are immune to the viral spread of wind. Very few of our peaks and ridges are safe. Unless we start paying attention, unless we become informed individuals, and until we stand together and demand that our leaders learn the facts and act on them according to the rules of ethics, we are going to see this state fall. Very soon, our mountains will be littered with massive machines which produce a power which is not ‘green’, is not needed, and cannot easily be integrated into our grid. And for what? The high costs come in the form of our hard-earned money, environmental degradation, and Maine’s unique quality of place.

I’ve never been a fan of ‘hype’. I have always considered myself to be a voice of reason and of reasonableness. I certainly never, ever imagined I would hold a sign and stand with others at an organized protest. It’s one of those many things which are outside my comfort zone--acts which, until recently, were beyond the scope of what I could imagine myself doing. But dammit, this is wrong! I truly believe that. And I also believe that we Americans and Mainers have been too content inside our comfort zones… so content that we’ve ignored what’s been going on all around us. We are being exploited, as are the natural resources of which we are all stewards.

I’m forty-seven years old and I never thought I’d march in a picket line. But then, I never thought I’d need to.

I guess a woman does what a woman’s got to do. As long as industrial wind is knocking on Maine’s door and trying to push its way inside, any ‘comfort zone’ I might have stayed inside is a thing of the past.