Cancel culture strikes again in Maine.
The New England Clean Energy Connect corridor is to be 145 miles in length with all but 53 miles ready to connect. Much of the power goes to Massachusetts, just as it did when Maine Yankee was in operation until 1996. Since no one is ready to discuss nuclear power again, the corridor is our only viable alternative. Do it now or do it later when it is far more expensive, intrusive and regulated.
When Maine needed to relieve congestion on the Maine Turnpike in the 1980s, early cancel culture called it “gold plating the turnpike.” Many of our present voters were kids in the back seat and were unaware of the slow bumper-to-bumper traffic, often averaging 45 mph or less in either direction, between Portsmouth and Portland. It was a dangerous road that improved with widening to meet improved National Highway Safety Standards for 53 miles out of nearly 300 miles of Maine’s Interstate 95.
Logical people would see the corridor is a minimal project that adds jobs and lessens the electrical load stresses on New England’s power grid. These are the same stresses that cause many of California’s annual forest fires. Of course people may want to eliminate existing jobs too in Maine by retroactive laws; maybe they can start with their job, not those feeding and sheltering a family.
Cancel culture needs to be stopped here in Maine, or it won’t stop anywhere.
Larry Mayes, Lewiston
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