Comments on: We Can Get There From Here: Maine Energy Efficiency Ballot Initiative

By: Frank J. Heller

Frank J. Heller — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:38:23 +0000

I would be glad to help with signatures on any petition that fully includes native hydro power as both renewable and sustainable in the renewable portfolio. Obviously, the majority of Mainers, once they become fully aware of the downside of corporate wind farming, reject it. Many prefer the multiple advantages of hydro power generated & distributed locally.

By: Alan Michka

Alan Michka — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:29:16 +0000

The irony here is that the Governor’s recent push for more hydropower from Canada and greater availability of natural gas for home heating will probably have far more potential for a quicker reduction in carbon emissions and other fossil fuel pollutants than the CLF single issue campaign of MORE WIND TURBINES ON MORE MAINE MOUNTAINS. It’s got to really irritate them that they’re being upstaged by LePage with a clean energy idea that actually makes more sense than the “pop culture” plan that they are promoting.

The clean energy referendum initiative is a pig in a poke. Do your homework before you sign this idealogical manifesto. Pay attention to the conspicuous lack of details describing the implications of this referendum.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:14:09 +0000

I am sure Maine citizens favor clean and renewable energy but what they are becoming increasingly aware of is that folks like you and the NRCM have not done their homework.
It appears to me and many others that your effort is merely a disguised attempt to promote further development of the scam called wind power. You must know that wind can never replace base power on the grid and the billions being spent on it should be redirected to more promising energy sources. Big Wind and their Portland cabal of Greenpeace lawyers main goal has been to make their pockets green while increasing the national debt.
Please base your efforts on science and let go of your political agenda for the sake of Maine and the country.

By: Barbara Durkin

Barbara Durkin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 06:05:01 +0000

I hope that Governor LePage continues his battle against the RPS in Maine. The dominant wind force in MA and ME is First Wind. The Director of First Wind is Patrick Wood III, who was Chairman of the TX PUC when the RPS, model statute for the states’, was adopted. Wood was later appointed Chair of FERC and tasked by President Bush to clean up after the CA energy crisis and Enron.
In Wood’s failure to do so, he set the stage for his personal gain, stimulus, grants and loan guarantees.

Now that First Wind has exposed the residents of Maine to wind energy, the bloom is gone and the thorns are all that’s left.

As reflected in a Report by the Maine Center for Public Policy:

‘Some who created wind-power fast track now questioning the goals they set — Maine News — Bangor Daily News

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Wind Energy Act of 2008, which gave developers a fast track for putting up wind turbines on some of the state’s treasured high ground, was a piece of legislation passed at the time in the name of jobs, energy independence and climate change.

“There is tremendous potential for Maine to become a leader in clean, renewable energy, including wind energy,” said Gov. John Baldacci, who appointed the task force whose report led to the bill. “This kind of investment would create jobs and help to expand Maine’s economy.”

But now, two years after the law was championed by Baldacci, some members of the task force who supported the Wind Energy Act are questioning whether the goals they set for wind power can or even should be achieved.

Critics and even some one-time supporters say the proponents of the law were swept up in a tidal wave of enthusiasm for a technology that turns out to require significant sacrifice from the state, but has little to offer Maine in return…” [cut] continue reading this article by link:

http://bangordailynews.com/2010/08/09/news/some-who-created-windpower-fast-track-now-questioning-the-goals-they-set/