For several
years, Mainers have been listening to the rhetoric concerning ‘industrial wind’
churned out by former governor and U.S. Senate candidate, Angus King.
Because
it is important to deal in facts, let’s take a look at Mr. King’s own words.
When
making his point about Maine’s dependence on ‘foreign’ oil, Mr. King said this
in May, 2010: “I haven't talked to anything about
global climate change… but the bottom line is--we've gotta stop burning-- and
we particularly have to stop burning stuff we have no control over and that we
depend on. It just strikes me as not very sensible to be so totally
dependent on other people, particularly people who don't like us very much.”
When promoting his recently published book; Mr. King said this about
his 15,000 mile cross-country trip in a luxury motorhome. Note
the contrast between his former policy of not ‘burning stuff’ and his new
mantra.
“"It's amazing the number of people I talk to who get kind
of misty about the idea of traveling across the country with their family… It seems to be a fantasy many Americans have,
and part of the purpose of the book is to encourage people to do it. If I can
learn to back up a bus, believe me, anybody can."
King said he was also going to the Family Motor Coach
Association's annual convention in Madison, Wis., where he’d present a
slideshow and try to 'sell a few books'.
These ‘motor coaches’ burn inordinate amounts of fossil
fuels—at a rate of 4-8 miles to the gallon.
Surely Mr. King doesn’t mean to recommend that every American fulfill his
or her fantasy of driving across America while burning ‘stuff’ provided by
people who ‘don’t like us very much’?
In Wells, Maine,
Mr. King said, "It's a new world we're in, and the solution is
electricity. We can heat with it and
cars can run on it, and the wire delivery system already exists."
And yet, the PUC (Docket No. 2010-180)
stated that Mr. King’s company, in collaboration with CMPC, wished to build 39
miles of new transmission lines to accommodate the wind generated electricity
which might be produced by his Highland wind project. This multi-million dollar line (now built) will
be paid for by CMP rate-payers--not by wind developers such as Mr. King.
Referencing the Highland project, Mr. King said: "There's not a sound issue,
there's not a health issue, there's not a bird issue, there's not a wildlife
issue-- if you want to see the effects of wind turbines on wildlife... on
animals... go to... google image...put in 'wind turbines cows' and you'll see
hundreds of pictures of wind turbines and cows sitting around underneath
them... completely unconcerned, doing whatever it is cows do..... No issues of
wetlands.... we're not 'removing' anything-- we're MOVING...when you build a
road…you cut out the high spots and fill in the low--we're moving a lot of
earth, but nothing's being taken away from the mountains.”
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| Impact from a simple met tower, erected to gather 'wind data'...a precursor to a 39 turbine industrial wind project |
Mr. King’s permit application for
the Highland project states that 1.5 MILLION cubic yards of earth and granite ledge
will be blasted and excavated on Highland’s mountains. He’s correct--it’s not being taken
off-site. However, it’s disingenuous for
Mr. King to behave as if there will be no impact to those high-terrain regions
due to his ‘moving’ of 90,000 dump-trucks full of earth.
This is a quote from the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife ‘Agency Review” comments submitted to LURC in April, 2011:
“The passage rates of nocturnal migrants
and diurnal raptors through the project area are among the highest reported for
projects in Maine. Furthermore, a high proportion of nocturnal migrants and
diurnal raptors pass the project area at altitudes equal to or less than the
maximum turbine heights, greatly increasing the risk of collision….
“MDIFW has provided technical assistance
and consultations to this project since 2007. Despite considerable discussions
and previous project modifications, an array of concerns remain unresolved and
are evident in the application now before LURC. As proposed, we feel the
project in Highland Plantation is not an appropriate site for this development
and consequently poses a significant adverse impact for wildlife resources.”
And yet, Mr. King states “there’s not a
bird issue, there’s not a wildlife issue’.
Really?
This is a quote from Mr. King’s Inauguration video in 1995.
"We
certainly can do tourism better. Just to our south, to the north, and across
the ocean are millions of mobile, affluent and time-pressed individuals who
would love Maine if we could get them here, first. But we must think strategically about
tourism-- spreading out the seasons and the locations where we welcome
visitors. In the process of rebuilding
Maine, we must never compromise our environment... Our final natural resource
is our QUALITY OF LIFE. We have what the
world wants... creative and hard-working people, an unspoiled natural
environment and a civil society that works..... We share a common
heritage. We share a common stewardship
of the land. We share a common pride in
an extraordinary place called Maine....and the best of Maine-- a land of deep
woods, jagged coasts and people of integrity--will endure and flourish."
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| Windtoons by John Terry in support of the Highland Mountains |
Years later, Mr. King had this to say:
"So-- it's
all about the view. And the view is important because the AT goes
over Bigelow....Stop by Mars Hill! It's cool! It really comes down
to-- are we going to say 'no' to a half-billion dollar infrastructure project
producing renewable energy because of the view?
"I suspect that there may be people who say, "I
don't want to see a wind turbine when I'm hiking up the Appalachian
Trail. I think there will probably be people who say, 'I DO!' … So
the idea that this is somehow going to kill tourism... I don't buy it. As
I say, some people won't like them and some people will say they think they're
pretty cool.”
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| Windtoons by John Terry in support of protecting Maine's Appalachian Trail |
I will concede that, as long as industrial wind turbine
developments are still a novel feature on our landscape, some people may be
drawn to them—may take the drive to see what all the fuss is about. But a second trip, or a third, or a tenth? How thrilling will the sight of turbines be
once they dominate the horizon in every direction?
On the other hand, how many people return to Maine year
after year to experience the wonders of nature and to absorb the peacefulness
and tranquility and beauty that gives Maine its renowned “Quality of
Place”? Once more than 300 miles of our
ridges are strewn with 400-500’ tall turbines which can be seen from distances
of 20 or more miles away, will they be an anomaly that is worthy of making a
special trip to Maine in order to view them?
Is it realistic to believe that tourists 'to our south, to the north and across the ocean' will come to see
mountaintop after mountaintop littered with industrial machines? Or will there come a time when most
nature-loving tourists (currently contributing to our $10billion tourism industry)
seek out those few remaining wild places, like those which Maine once had,
before the proliferation of mountaintop turbine facilities?
Mainers DO share “a common stewardship of the land and a
common pride in an extraordinary place called Maine”. But based on Mr. King’s contradictory words,
I’m not sure he shares much of anything with me.
