I’ve seen, first-hand, the way the wind blows in Augusta. It’s a Big Wind, and very, very powerful.
Citizens across Maine have looked to our Legislators for shelter from the storm. Once Industrial Wind was given preferential treatment in Maine, the negative effects of these sprawling industrial turbine facilities soon became apparent. Serious health effects, loss to value of real estate, higher electric rates, and loss of potential revenue which might be obtained through increases in property tax bases through the granting of TIF’s are only a few of the negative impacts which have been--or will be--created by the Wind Energy Plan.
And so, finding little recourse, citizens who wished to see measures adopted which would protect health, finances and Quality of Life wrote concepts which would do exactly that. We contacted our Legislators, who sponsored these measures. They were submitted to the Reviser’s Office, and drafted as bills. We were granted Public Hearings, and came out in force from every corner of Maine to testify. As pertains to a dozen of these bills, we were limited to three minutes of testimony… for 3-4 bills at a time.
Yes, that bears repeating.
We were required to testify on bundles of three or four bills at a time—and had a TOTAL of three minutes in which to give our testimony on the whole ‘package’. One minute or less, per bill. Most of these bills went before the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, but LD 1157, “An Act to Protect Revenue in the Unorganized Territory”, was heard by the Taxation Committee.
At their work session, Taxation voted “Ought to Pass” by a vote of 9-4. Subsequently, the Committee members were pressured by others (Rep. Stacey Fitts and Rep. Cornell du Houx from the EUT Committee, among others) to reconvene and vote again. Is it unconventional for the members of one Committee to lobby another Committee to re-think and re-cast their votes? Is this not tantamount to saying that the members of the Energy Committee know more about taxation issues than the Taxation Committee members do? I was present for the second vote, and once again Taxation approved the bill by a vote of 6-3 by those present. In the interim, two Representatives had been convinced to change their votes—but their stated reasoning for doing so was weak and not based on fact. Still, I was pleased and relieved that the corporate wind lobby hadn’t been able to change the outcome.
I was shocked when I was informed that the Taxation Committee ONCE MORE came under pressure by the wind lobby to take a THIRD vote! Surely, it isn’t standard for the Senate president and others to try to influence the votes of a Joint Standing Committee!? Such tactics showed the desperation of the wind lobby. This time, however, the Committee stood their ground, refusing to revisit LD 1157.
On Wednesday morning, LD 1157 was debated in the House and voted on. The bill was struck down by a vote of 99-49. Two thirds of the House voted against the Taxation Committee’s recommendation that the bill ought to pass.
Several Legislators told me that the lobbying and the pressure by the wind industry was fierce. I’ve seen and heard it myself, first hand. My naïve vision of what Augusta stood for and how it operates has been shattered by a dozen trips to the Capital. I watched as the wind lobby created theater out of the Public Hearings, pulling in workers dressed in hard hats and reflective vests who admitted to being paid to appear before the Committee to plead for their jobs. I listened as one senior Democrat on the EUT Committee, whose wife is a prominent attorney for wind developers, embarrassed the Representative who was sponsoring some of the protective ‘wind’ legislation. Confident that his apparent conflict of interest will not affect his position of power, he brazenly told those workers that “THAT guy wants to put you out of a job!” as our Representative passed by in the hall.
That statement was untrue. Uncalled-for. And extremely unprofessional. Conduct unbecoming an elected official, and most especially when referring to a colleague sitting on the same Committee. Those are bullying tactics in the highest degree.
But that is what the wind industry does. It is appalling that such behavior is allowed—and even, condoned--in our State capital.
As disillusioning as this process is, I have learned that there are many courageous men and women representing us in Augusta.
Some of them listen to their ‘everyday’ constituents instead of the few corporations with power. Some listen to voices of reason and common sense rather than bow under the weight of intimidation. Some of them even listen to their hearts. In a different world, I would name some of these ethical and brave Legislators, but I fear that to do so would cause them to bear the brunt of subsequent pressure or public disparagement by the powerful wind lobby. That’s how bad it is in Augusta… and how domineering the industrial wind groups have become.
These brave Legislators know who they are, though… and they have my deepest gratitude and respect.
On Friday, June 3rd, Friends of Maine’s Mountains held a press conference in the State House, calling on members of Maine’s 125th Legislature to support Representative Larry Dunphy’s minority report version of LD 1366, “An Act to Update the Maine Wind Energy Act”. Out of more than a dozen measures introduced and voted down by the EUT Committee this session, his version of LD 1366 is the only one remaining which might give Mainers protection. It introduces setbacks for industrial-sized wind turbines, to a distance which should protect Mainers from the unique high, low and ultra-low (infrasound) frequency noises and shadow flicker effects created by the huge machines. It also allows those living within that setback area to sign a waiver, thereby giving individuals the right to choose for themselves how close they want to live to wind turbine facilities. It calls for moving up studies of Maine’s Wind Energy Plan from 2013 to 2012—something the EUT Committee members all approved of—but removed the portion mandating that ‘sound’ be studied. With that adjustment to the bill, Rep. Dunphy’s version will save Maine tax-payers money.
Sounds simple, right? Something every Legislator can get on board with? After all, it saves money, protects Mainers, and gives them a choice, all at the same time. The Wind Energy Act COST Mainers money, did NOT protect them, and TOOK AWAY their right to choose whether or not to live in close vicinity to industrial wind facilities. This is a fair and balanced bill.
It’s not ‘anti-wind’… it’s ‘pro-Mainer’.
Jeremy Payne of Maine Renewable Energy Association ‘crashed’ FMM’s press conference. As if he’d been invited, he marched in and took a seat just as the press conference was beginning. That was okay…. We were on State property, and he is a Maine citizen. Besides… we’ve nothing to hide. We have the truth on our side; truth based on science, economics, and ethics.
Representative Dunphy’s ‘minority report’ hadn’t yet been made public-- so I’m sure, once Mr. Payne ‘caught wind’ of FMM’s press conference, he decided it would behoove him to learn all he could about how his lobbying efforts should be directed. After all, his job isn’t finished yet. To date, the corporate lobby he is a member of has only killed 95% of the legislation we’ve submitted or supported.
As FMM’s Government Affairs Director, Chris O’Neil, outlined details of the minority report for the press, Mr. Payne tapped away at his hand-held computer. After Chris spoke, FMM’s Executive Director, Susan Davis gave a statement. Mr. Payne tapped some more.
And then… Art Lindgren from Vinalhaven Island walked to the podium.
Art spoke of how his life had been ruined by industrial wind turbines. How the “24/7 noise is a killer”. How the investment he and his wife made in their home has been rendered practically worthless. How dreams had been shattered and health impaired. He talked about a gentleman who’d testified for the wind lobby at the public hearing in April—a fellow who’d been homeless and unable to pay his child support payments. This man was picked up while hitch-hiking, and had been offered a job by a subcontractor for a wind developer. This formerly homeless man called wind turbines ‘three hundred foot trophies’.
But Art and his wife and his neighbors don’t see it that way, nor do several families in Freedom and Mars Hill. They see wind turbines--and the developers who built them--as dream killers. As stealers of their health and happiness, and robbers of their investments. Like the rest of us, Art doesn’t begrudge Mainers their jobs… and yet—those wind industry jobs have ruined his life, and the lives of many others.
I don’t get emotional very often, but tears came to my eyes as I listened to his story.
Jeremy Payne didn’t listen, however. Perhaps he felt guilty or ashamed, as most of us would, for promoting something which is proven to negatively impact Mainers’ lives. Perhaps Art’s story struck a nerve. Maybe he was bored by the press statements. Or maybe, Mr. Payne had gleaned the information he needed from the Press Conference, and it was imperative that he scurry off to rally his troops and scrounge up some support, so that he could begin to mount a defense against the minority report.
If WCSH TV’s evening report is any indication; that is exactly what Mr. Payne did. Reporter Chris Rose is seen in the video, interviewing Rep. Stacey Fitts in the corridor of the State House, while Jeremy Payne rests nonchalantly back in a corner, leg bent, one shoe propped up against the wall of that venerable building.
Rep. Fitts told the reporter that our voices weren’t “falling on deaf ears” but that our needs had to be balanced against “the needs of the energy issues for the state of Maine…. For the country and for the region”.
How many times must we debunk the value of ‘wind’? How many times must we point out wind’s negligible contribution, and its negative impacts? Not just to the health and well-being of Mainers, but to the state, the country, and the region?
And then Mr. Payne was interviewed. As has become typical Standard Operating Procedure for the wind industry, he resorted to dire predictions. Threats, almost.
He said that ‘wind’ is the only industry that has been ‘investing in Maine in the last couple of years.’ That as long as we had a predictable and reliable climate for wind, developers would continue to invest… but if there were ‘efforts to derail them and change things along the way’, it would result in grim circumstances. He stated with assurance that the ‘investors will go away’.
Grid-scale industrial wind facilities are not investments. Those hundreds of thousands of dollars which have been spread around Maine by the wind industry and touted as the be-all, end-all for our economic salvation are paid for--in large part--by you and me. Worse, because America does not have a surplus of tax-payer dollars sitting around in the bank, we borrow much of that money. Borrow, with interest due, from countries such as China. And then… we spend the lion’s share of those borrowed funds on turbines. Turbines manufactured in and purchased from countries such as… China. THAT is not investment. That is not a sustainable goal. That is not a reliable way to get a return on our money.
That is a disaster in the making.
If wind facilities were valuable and viable, they would not require that 60-70% of their cost come from subsidizations of one type or another. Subsidies like no-strings-attached 1603 cash grants from the Federal government. TIF’s granted from municipalities or counties. REC’s, carbon credits, accelerated depreciation. And more.
A press conference is designed to call attention to an issue of significance. The hope is that reporters will take what they hear and see, and follow up on those observations by doing some real investigative reporting. That they’ll not blindly believe the group hosting the press conference, nor will they have faith in or promote the agendas of those who speak in opposition to the statements made. The hope is that the press will research the FACTS.
I haven’t yet figured out why the media shows indifference to a topic of such major importance. I’ve yet to understand how dozens of Mainers can complain about significant health issues, but be given little credence. I can’t comprehend why those who have the power to change public policy and institute common-sense plans and procedures are turning deaf ears and blind eyes to a problem that will have long-term impacts on the economy, environment, health and well-being of this state.
What I have figured out, to my consternation, is which way the wind blows in Augusta.
Mainers are seeking shelter from the storm. I hope the members of the 125th Legislature hear us when we ask them to support Rep. Larry Dunphy’s minority report version of LD 1366, ‘An Act to Update the Maine Wind Energy Act’.
