When it comes to industrial wind, Gov. Paul LePage knows the facts. So do the people of rural Maine.
The Legislature also knows the facts, though it seems more interested in catering to the wind lobby, then in protecting the people and lands of Maine.
At a recent town hall meeting in Salem Township, the governor told us that if we aren’t happy with the wind projects that are showing up across rural Maine, that we should let the Legislature know it. It is, after all, an election year.
With many small towns adopting restrictive zoning ordinances to protect themselves, and with the people of the unorganized territories and plantations holding press conferences and speaking out against a system that caters to foreign developers at the expense of Mainers, I think we are making our point.
It isn’t about “green.” Nothing about wind is green. Any real scientist (not on the wind lobby payroll) will verify that.
And it isn’t about jobs or electricity — every European country that has encouraged the heavily subsidized wind industry has lost jobs and raised electric prices in the long run. It is about protecting the people of Maine, and it is about listening to those people, instead of catering to the politically well-connected wind lobby.
It is time for the Maine Legislature to step up to the plate. It has the facts. Now it is time to act on those facts and to simply do the right thing for the people of Maine.
Alice McKay Barnett, Carthage
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