A friend once said, “the more ads you see for something, the worse it is for you.” They were talking about junk food, but I could say the same for Central Maine Power/Avangrid, who’ve spent $16 million to sell us on the New England Clean Energy Connect, a project Mainers know precious little about.

NECEC might be a good investment for these companies, but isn’t good for Maine.

There will be new short-term jobs constructing the corridor. There will also be job losses in outdoor recreation, and at biomass plants and lumber mills.

Discounts to CMP ratepayers will be spread over 40 years which, according to Natural Resources Council of Maine, will reduce monthly electric bills by 6 cents.

River ecology and water quality in Maine’s north woods will be impacted, affecting native brook trout, threatened Canada lynx and endangered wood turtles.

And Maine is only part of the story; the rest lies in Quebec, where 36% of Hydro-Quebec’s power comes from protected First Nations ancestral land. Imagine living at the foot of a Hydro-Quebec dam. Before one’s eyes, lands and waters their ancestors fished, trapped, and hunted for thousands of years is eviscerated in the name of “green energy” for America, but not for them.
Deliberate disregard of human rights and land rights by Hydro-Quebec, silent complicity by Quebec, and apathy by the Canadian and U.S. governments regarding NECEC are acts of racist violence motivated by greed. On behalf of all our people and our planet, I denounce the NECEC project, and will continue to do so for as long as it takes.
Amy Partridge-Barber, Carrabassett Valley

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