Maine Wind Farm Opinion

An op-ed piece in the Bangor Daily News on 6 June 2007 re-visits the continuing story of the proposed windmill farm near the Appalachian Trail. In the piece, titled "Climate Change Calls for Leadership on Wind Power," Sherry Huber writes the following (in amongst a much longer piece)

"Every form of energy production causes impacts, and wind power is no exception. Modern wind turbines are very large, and thus highly visible. This is the major complaint facing the Redington Wind Farm, which would be easily seen from the Appalachian Trail. Opponents also raise concerns about wildlife and forest impacts, particularly on Redington Pond Range.

"But now the developer has proposed a down-sized project further from the Appalachian Trial and away from the most sensitive mountain. Redington Pond Range would be permanently protected and a 54 megawatt clean energy project would be built on Black Nubble. This seems like a great compromise, but some groups remain opposed and are working to defeat the project on procedural grounds. Rather than letting LURC evaluate a Black Nubble Project on its merits, opponents want LURC to force the developer to start the application process over again. In the energy development business, delay often means defeat.

"During my years following public policy, I have seen this pattern before. Advocates get so entrenched in their positions that they refuse to budge when a compromise emerges, even a compromise that is self-evidently in the public interest."

The author served in the Maine House of Representatives and currently chairs the Mainewatch Institute board of directors.

The four comments posted online about the article on the 6th were all against the wind farms.