58°F Mostly Cloudy 
What's happening in:
1/2/10
|
28 comments
10 stories to watch in 2010 From the governor’s race to wind power, 2010 is shaping up to be a busy news year in Maine
|
Editor’s Note: A new year means a new opportunity for our reporters and photographers to inform our readers of the issues affecting Maine. Here are some of the stories we’ll be following.
1. Governor’s race
As Gov. John Baldacci enters the final year of his second term, a slew of potential successors to the Blaine House is already gearing up for what is expected to be a lively governor’s race in 2010.
Twenty people already have filed with the Maine Ethics Commission the initial paperwork necessary to run for governor, with more anticipated.
The slate of major-party candidates — Democrats, Republicans and potentially Green Independents — will be narrowed to three by the time the votes from the June 8 primaries are tallied. As of late December, there were seven Democrats, six Republicans and one Green Independent indicating they planned to seek their party’s nomination.
Another six politically unaffiliated, or “unenrolled,” Mainers round out the field of early gubernatorial candidates. While unenrolled candidates will not have to survive a primary election, they must collect 4,000 petition signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
Republicans are hoping to capitalize on Baldacci’s sagging approval ratings and potential voter discontent with the Democrat-controlled Legislature, Congress and the Obama administration to give Maine its first GOP governor since 1995.
Most of the early Republican candidates come from the business sector. The field of Democratic contenders, meanwhile, includes some veteran lawmakers and state officials.
The field:
Republicans — State Sen. Peter Mills, of Cornville; Les Otten, of Greenwood; Matthew Jacobson, of Cumberland; Bruce Poloquin, of Georgetown; Waterville Mayor Paul LePage; Martin Vachon, of Mariaville.
Democrats — Steven Rowe, former Maine attorney general; Sen. Elizabeth Mitchell, of Vassalboro; former House Speaker John Richardson, of Brunswick; Rosa Scarcelli, of Portland; former Biddeford Mayor Donna Dion; Peter Truman and Eriq Manson, both of Old Orchard Beach.
Green Independent — Lynne Williams, of Bar Harbor.
Nonparty candidates include Samme Bailey, of Gorham; Beverly Cooper-Pete, of Portland; Eliot Cutler, of Cape Elizabeth; Augustus Edgerton, of Bangor; Alex Hammer, of Bangor; and John Whitcomb, of Sidney.
2. State budget woes
In 2009, state lawmakers spent months crafting a two-year budget that was roughly $500 million smaller than the previous one. Ultimately, however, those cuts weren’t deep enough.
This legislative session, lawmakers will have to find a way to reduce government spending by more than $400 million over the next 18 months as the recession continues to take a toll on income taxes and other revenue sources for the state.
Gov. Baldacci has prepared a budget blueprint cutting $438 million from the two-year budget. While cuts are spread across state government, public schools and programs that provide health and human services will take the largest hits because, together, they make up roughly 80 percent of the state budget.
The final product that emerges from the Legislature is also likely to look considerably different from the governor’s proposal.
Last year’s budget was a bipartisan effort. While members of the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee will attempt to maintain that spirit of cooperation, the scope of the additional cuts necessary in 2010 is likely to force some tough conversations as lawmakers scrutinize important but costly social services programs.
Baldacci’s plan does not include any tax increases.
Public hearings on the budget cuts will begin in Augusta on Jan. 7 and continue through Jan. 14.
3. Wind power expansion
Like the wind itself, the story of the fledgling wind power industry in Maine, and its increasing array of critics, flows in every direction and shows no sign of ceasing.
First Wind of Massachusetts and Calgary-based TransCanada will continue to in effect vie for the title of operator of Maine’s largest industrial wind site. TransCanada is expected to finish phase two of its 44 three-megawatt wind turbines on Kibby Mountain in western Maine in 2010, the state’s largest such development. The first 22 units went on line in November.
First Wind has at least four projects in development, including new or additional wind farms on Stetson Mountain, Rollins Mountain, in Oakfield and in Rumford.
Citizens groups such as the Friends of Lincoln Lakes, which are against virtually all land-based wind development, are becoming more ubiquitous. The state’s first citizens group to take a wind developer to court, the Friends could stop the Rollins Mountain project if it gets a favorable judgment on one of its two civil court appeals. Decisions are expected at any time.
Government officials and University of Maine researchers have begun exploring ocean-based wind and wave turbines in the Gulf of Maine, which would make Maine the first state in the nation to create offshore wind test and demonstration sites. More than 30 public and private partners are involved.
Baldacci has made the creation of a renewable-energy industry one of his administration’s hallmark issues and continues to lobby the federal government for more wind-power funding, while municipalities such as Dixmont have enacted ordinances increasingly restrictive to industrial wind sites.
Other towns, such as Millinocket and Jackson, have begun researching their own wind power ordinances.
4. Health care reform
Congress continues to grapple with the historic effort to reform the nation’s health care system. In the early weeks of 2010, expect more politicized wrangling in the House and Senate as bills from each chamber are merged into a single piece of legislation.
The primary goal of the legislation is to expand health insurance coverage to the majority of Americans. Thanks in large part to its generous Medicaid eligibility guidelines, a relatively low percentage of Maine’s population is uninsured — about 125,000 individuals. Many insured Mainers are covered only by high-deductible “catastrophic” plans.
Through measures such as regulating the private insurance industry, providing premium subsidies for middle- and low-income families and individuals, and requiring most people to have some kind of coverage, reform supporters say more Americans will have access to essential health care services.
Opponents say a rash of new taxes, cuts in the Medicare program for the elderly, and a move to “socialize” health care mark the proposals for failure.
Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe has played a pivotal role in developing the Senate bill — the only Republican in either house to vote in favor of the legislation in committee. Sen. Susan Collins has maintained a lower profile on the issue. Both senators ultimately voted with their Republican colleagues against the Senate measure just before Christmas.
Democratic U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud both voted in favor of the House bill.
5. Medical marijuana
Voters in the November referendum approved an expansion of access to marijuana for medical purposes. The new law permits the growing, selling, buying and possession of marijuana through a statewide patient registry and a system of state-regulated dispensaries.
Proponents argued successfully that patients with certain medical conditions benefit from the use of marijuana under the supervision of a doctor, and that existing laws made it too difficult for many people to obtain the drug. Opponents, including several state officials, argued that expanding access to marijuana would lead to in-creased recreational use, neighborhood disruption and other problems.
Voters approved the measure by 2 to 1.
In 2010, the Legislature will review the recommendations of a task force charged with implementing the new law and making it work. Issues include patient confidentiality, dispensary regulation and limitations on the number of pot-using patients a doctor may supervise. Some communities are already exploring the implications: Brewer, for example, recently enacted a six-month moratorium on marijuana clinics opening within the city limits.
6. Bangor’s new direction
When Bangor city councilors made their decision in late October to part ways with longtime City Manager Ed Barrett, they spoke of a new direction and vision for Bangor.
Councilors have met multiple times since to define and articulate their vision, but so far it hasn’t been conveyed to the public. The Barrett decision and the unclear vision prompted one resident to take out petitions to recall five of the nine councilors. Those petitions, which need to gather 2,286 signatures by March 1, have not generated as much interest as petitioner Jim Elmore had hoped.
From the councilors’ perspectives, they recognize that they need to move on from Barrett and are confident the recall petition will blow over. As for their vision, council Chairman Richard Stone had said that he and his fellow councilors know that saying something is one thing, but doing something typically carries more clout.
So as 2010 progresses, Bangor has an opportunity to make significant strides in some key areas, specifically: hiring a new city manager, finally green-lighting a new arena, and more aggressively developing the downtown and the waterfront.
However, the area that could take up most of the council’s time is likely to be the municipal budget, and all other decisions likely could hinge on those talks. Already, the city faces a potential revenue shortfall of $1.3 million over the previous year and that number could grow to more than $3 million for the 2011 fiscal year.
Whatever Bangor looks to do in 2010, each proposal will have to answer two critical questions: How much will it cost and how will we pay for it?
7. Folk Festival future
For five years, the American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront has delighted residents of Greater Bangor every August with music and culture that is unmatched in Maine.
During that time, the nonprofit festival also has accrued significant debt, most of which has been absorbed by the city of Bangor through a symbiotic but undefined partnership.
Now that details of the city’s financial stake in the American Folk Festival have emerged, the city has closed off its line of credit, and councilors have communicated with the festival’s staff and board that changes are essential.
With the next folk festival only eight months away, board members have been working feverishly to trim its budget and come up with ways to increase revenue in order for the event to survive.
Although details of those changes have not been announced, festival director Heather McCarthy and board chairwoman Maria Baeza have said everything is on the table.
That means the event could be smaller, shorter or scaled down on the talent side. Everyone agrees, though, that the show will go on in some fashion.
8. Tax reform referendum
It has been called everything from the “Maine miracle” to “an outright attack” on working people.
And on June 8, Maine voters will have the chance to decide whether a historic tax reform measure passed by lawmakers in 2009 should go into effect or be tossed to the curb.
For years, Maine has been labeled a high-tax state due, in part, to a top income tax rate of 8.5 percent that kicks in for individuals earning more than $16,500 a year.
A bill passed by the Legislature, largely along party lines, would lower the top tax rate to 6.5 percent for most Mainers while imposing a rate of 6.85 percent for those earning more than $250,000. Coming in the middle of a recession, the tax cuts were dubbed “the Maine miracle” by the conservative editorial writers of the Wall Street Journal.
Of course, those lost income taxes will have to be recouped somehow. So the bill applies Maine’s sales tax to additional goods and services — such as car repair bills or movie tickets — and raises the meals and lodging tax from 7 percent to 8.5 percent.
Supporters insist that nearly 90 percent of Mainers will see their total tax burden drop under the changes while tourists and out-of-state visitors pay more in taxes. But opponents, led by GOP lawmakers and Maine Republican Party officials, say the broadened sales tax will hurt the poor and the elderly. Higher meals and lodging taxes also will harm Maine’s tourism industry, they predict.
Opponents managed to collect enough petition signatures to force a people’s veto referendum on the issue this June. A District Court judge recently denied a case seeking to invalidate more than 9,000 signatures. Those who brought the case say they will not appeal the judge’s ruling.
9. Maine’s deer herd
The state’s wildlife biologists had been dealing with localized population declines of Maine’s white-tailed deer herd for years — Washington and Aroostook counties were particularly hard hit — when two straight years of harsh winters took an even harsher toll.
After the second straight winter of unusually deep snow in 2008-09, the predictions became dire.
Biologist Lee Kantar of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife released the agency’s preseason estimate that hunters would tag only 19,500 deer in 2009 — far below the 10-year average of 30,353 and approaching the 1971 total of 18,903.
Anecdotal reports from hunters across the state after the recently completed hunting season suggest that it’s not just the eastern and northern tiers of the state that are facing deer woes now.
The state faces plenty of challenges in reinvigorating the deer herd, and has struggled to address those challenges. Limiting the number of deer that are shot by reducing the allotment of any-deer permits is one way the DIF&W is able to manage the herd according to its goals.
Forest cutting practices have eliminated many productive wintering areas, and predators including coyotes and bears kill many deer each year. A snaring program on coyotes has been discontinued because of concerns about how it affects the endangered Canada lynx population, and many consider a potential spring bear hunt — bears are hunted in late summer and fall — a program that would face widespread criticism.
Improving wintering habitat and reducing the effect of predators, while viewed by many as essential, are not necessarily quick-fix options.
The best-case scenario for deer during the winter in the year ahead: a moderate or mild winter that gives them (and their spring offspring) a chance to survive.
10. Fisheries regulations
New regulatory changes in several fisheries this year have raised concerns about how productive they might be in 2010.
A new federal law that went into effect in April requires lobstermen to use sinking rope on their multitrap trawls if they set traps outside an exemption line that runs roughly parallel to the coast approximately 3 miles offshore. The new law is meant to reduce the threat of entanglement to endangered whales that likely come into contact with lobster gear when they dive for food.
But the sinking rope is more costly and wears out faster, which will result in higher expenses for fishermen at the same time that the weak economy has greatly reduced the price of lobster.
Regulators also have reduced the catch limit for herring, which is the bait of choice for the lobster industry, because of unknowns in the official statistical model that is used to estimate the amount of herring in the ocean. Fishermen are concerned about the availability and cost of herring in the coming year.
The scallop fishery also has been affected. After nearly canceling the second half of last winter’s scallop season because of declining stocks, state officials decided to enact significant area closures for this winter’s scallop season.
BDN reporters Kevin Miller, Meg Haskell, Bill Trotter, John Holyoke, Eric Russell and Nick Sambides Jr. contributed to this summary.
Not registered? Click here
|
E-mail this
|
Print this
|
Local News
DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine - Michael Toby, 54, of Dover-Foxcroft was found guilty of knowingly and intentionally killing his …
MEXICO, Maine — A 66-year-old man from the western Maine town of Mexico has been charged with having child …
AUGUSTA, Maine — A proposal to transfer ownership of the armory in Fort Kent from the Maine Army National Guard to …
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — There’s a great deal of charm in the Star City, according to its new city manager, Jim …
An Orono man who was arrested in Hampden on Saturday for allegedly stalking a former girlfriend and breaking into her …
Recent comments
Everyone that I have talked to as to why they have a concealed weapon permit claims it is for hunting in the case where …
funny how a match just happens to innocently light.... Gods way of getting the fraud part out in the open.... karma.
SteveyD & Yes on One
Excellent Pot Stirrers
this is what the Repubs Destroyed with there Stonewalling & Locked Steeped N Place With Insurance & Pharma Giants …
Too BadSoSad, Drug companies do get tax payer subsidizes or free money for research and development. These companies …
Nice work BDN - you have definately hit the high points here. Congrats to all of the contributng reporters for a job well done. Now lets see you take some risks and do some hard reports on a few of these (Bangor city council is in crisis as many voters have lost confidence in them, the systematic destruction of the social service industry in Maine - which will both wipe out good jobs, but also leave our most vulnerable citizens high and dry.
all those running for governor don't have a chance might as well drop out now save your money
I know one forester that is managing a woodlot that claims he planted grass seed to help restore the deer population, of course he apparently feels that the deer don't need any trees to sustain a healty herd as they have taken virtually everything from the woodlot and that is considered good forest management. boggles the mind when a landowner hires a forester and virtually clear cuts a woodlot. any wood cutter will clear a woodlot without the expense of a forester.
"Forest cutting practices have eliminated many productive wintering areas, and predators including coyotes and bears kill many deer each year."
Black bears are very inefficient predators. Although they are classified as carnivores, the meat portion of their diet is mostly insects. Any deer they kill will be young fawns in the early spring, and only if the opportunity presents itself and the bear is unable to find other, more preferable, food.
SOLUTIONS:
1. Elect me
2. Cut taxes and get rid of wasteful government
3. Build the towers, but realize that it still takes power plants to make those turbines spin
4. Obamacare is wrong; however socialized healthcare is needed. Don't screw with people's income yah socialists
5. Go GREEN; literally ;)
6. Get a clue and fire idiotic and unwanted police officers. They do nothing. In fact I gota parking ticket (Far from downtown) for $20 one night. Hate this city
7. There is no future in it. End it now and spend money you would've paid for another Bangor Failure toward a new auditorium
8. Get rid of that crap
9. I will shoot a deer
10. wtf
This story is as fluffy as a new down pillow.
"The state’s wildlife biologists had been dealing with localized population declines of Maine’s white-tailed deer herd for years — Washington and Aroostook counties were particularly hard hit — when two straight years of harsh winters took an even harsher toll."
Two straight years of harsh winters. HUH? Someone should tell the UMS Climate Change center (Ka-ching, Ka-ching).. they are still claiming global warming and we're all gonna die.
Actually, ryanrobbins, this is a pretty good summary of the issues we are likely to be addressing. A local paper shows it still has its uses.
Three comments:
1) May God Save the Great State of Maine from the misleadership of Libby Mitchell, or any other Democrat on the slate. This state must save itself from such "compassionate" social engineers to get back to a bare bones govt we can afford in line with the Constitution.
2) Obama/Reid/Pelosicare is not about improving access to healthcare nor about lowering costs. Despite the strong levels of popular opposition, the BDN found it could only insert one line summarizing the long list of problems with this bill, even putting "socialist" in quotes. We can't trust the BDN to give us straight news when it comes to issues near and dear to the hearts of liberals. Please call Congress on Monday and voice your opposition to this atrocious bill. And please move the center, BDN.
3) It is time to have a frank discussion about the future of the American Folk Festival, yet it is unfortunate that such discussions become filled with ignorant noise denigrating its value. The story of this festival is its amazing success. Bangor has a history of pulling together to do great things only to see such energy dissipate over time. Perhaps it will be different this time and the primary funders of our wonderful festival, our local coroporations, will step up even higher and longer to sustain this amazing event. Please do not charge admission - though I am all for "user's fees", the absence of the Bucket Brigade will decrease by a great deal the community spirit that it generates every year. Attendance will drop, and we will end up with a festival that is a shadow of its current form. I trust the board and staff to make the right decisions as they move forward. After all, they have done a greta job so far, despite the debt catching up with them.
Coolfusion: still at it? Unless you're kidding, get real (NO ONE is saying "we're all gonna die".)
First Wind building wind farms all over ME is a big story. They must keep two sets of books..their SEC report states they are over 500 million in debt. Must take a lot of govt bail outs to build wind farms and pay all those "fees."
welfare dads...only they don't take a couple of hundred a month. They take millions and everybody thinks they are just great. Even conservatives like Rep. Fitts and Rep. McLeod. Greasing those palms will make you forget your values in a nano second.Marcia Famous of LURC..her husband does the bird and bat studies. Wonder how much money they collected in "fees."
We will never know . Our Attorney General had rather investigate the fishermen.
The governor's race: Pick the biggest tax-and-spend moonbat out of the bunch and there ya have our next fearless leader.
A growing undercurrent in Maine as well as other parts can be summarized by what the fictional Howard Beale said in the movie "Network":
So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"
Ixodes scapularis turbinitus - The Wind Turbine Tick, carrier of Slime Disease
The Vectors, First Wind et al., Illegal Expedited Wind Law, Cap and Trade and “Wind Zombies”
The visibly affected to date , the “Diseased”, see below…
1.The Executive V.P. and Chief Development Officer of First Wind is Kurt Adams. The same Kurt Adams who used to be Chairman of the Maine Public Utilities Commission, the State's primary utilities regulator. Prior to that, he was Governor John Baldacci’s chief legal counsel.
2.Governor Baldacci appointed former Governor Angus King to the Wind Power Task Force. He's also one of the two partners in Independence Wind LLC
.
3.First Wind's Vice President for Mergers and Acquisitions is Angus King. No, not the former Governor. His son! A Vice President at First Wind has a father on the Governor's Wind Power Task Force!
4.Ernie Hilton testified for the CMP power line upgrade on 12/10/09. That upgrade will allow the industrial wind power developers to sell electricity out of state. His wife is LURC commissioner Gwen Hilton. (http://www.hyltunfarm.com/contact/contact.php http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=lurcstaff&id=8260&v=tplcombio)
5.Marcia Spencer-Famous, the Senior Planner at LURC who oversees industrial Wind Project approvals is married to biologist Norm Famous. Norm Famous is, well, infamous for stating that they "found no bats on Vinalhaven" (Downeast Magazine). Famous helped clear the way for the Vinalhaven wind turbines that are now torturing the poor residents?
6.Barry Hobbins co-chairs the Right to Know Advisory Committee and the Commission to Study Energy Infrastructure. He is also a member of the Governor’s Ocean Energy Task Force. (http://www.mainesenate.org/hobbins/bio.htm)
7.The Governor's Wind Power Task Force produced Public Law 661, best known as the expedited Wind Permit Statute. Portland Rep. John Hinck, House chair of the Energy Committee, helped ram the Expedited Wind Permit statute into law as "Emergency" legislation. His wife, Juliet Browne was a member of the Task Force. She is alead lawyer for First Wind.
8.The Governor's legal adviser, Karla Black, sits on the State of Maine Right to Know Committee (http://www.mfoic.org/index.asp?mid=71).
9.The Director of Maine's Center for Disease Control, Dora Mills, refuses to acknowledge peer reviewed evidence of wind turbines' negative effects on human health. Her sister is Maine's Attorney General Janet Mills. AG Mills refuses to ask the wind developers to sign a Code of Conduct the way her counterpart in NY, AG Andrew Cuomo did.
10.Stacy Fitts is a member of both the Governor's Wind Task Force and his Ocean Energy Task Force. He's also Senior Engineer at energy consultant Kleinschmidt Associates. In fact, , a company that is extremely interested in wind subsidies and prides itself in the fact that it has someone on the inside in the Ocean Energy Task Force? In fact, on their website (http://www.kleinschmidtusa.com/MarineRenewable/default.htm) Kleinschmidt boasts "we have been very active in the development of state regulations in Maine, where one of Kleinschmidt’s engineers is a member of the Governor’s Ocean Energy Task Force."
11.Maine State Representative for District 11 is Everett McLeod Sr. Among the towns he represents are: Burlington, Lee, Winn and Mattawamkeag. According to documents recorded, Rep McLeod is leasing some of his land to First Wind for their Rollins Project. The Rollins Project includes Burlington, Lee, Winn and Mattawamkeag. State Rep McLeod also represents the unorganized territories that are home to First Wind's Stetson Mtn and Jimmey/Owl Mtn Projects. But wait, there's more! He also represents Carroll Plantation where First Wind is planning to put turbines on Bowers Mtn.
12.Rod Carr, Lincoln Town Council, a paid lobbyist for the major benefactors of Rollins Wind Project of First Wind in Lincoln,those being Haynes and Gardner Inc. Also a lobbyist for Central Maine Power. Forced to recuse himself only after direct legal pressure. Voted to approve TIF arrangements with First Wind.
13.Brandon Irelend of Larkin Industries , a Wind Power direct company benefactor receiving money from First Wind. Also a planning board member who voted to approve the Rollins Wind Project in Lincoln, and never recused himself .He remained secret:.Peter Phinney , forced to recuse but voted back on the planning board in a staged approval vote , voting to permit the Rollins Project. BTW, he also is the Chair of the Lincoln Planning Board, and a direct employee of Haynes Real Estate , a direct benefactor of Rollins Wind permitting.
If you've read this far, I think you'll find the following hilarious. It's from an article in the Kennebec Morning Sentinel (http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/view/columns/3708052.html):
***** QUOTE *****
I asked four elected officials -- two from each state -- if they could explain the contrast: honest government in Maine, corruption in Rhode Island.
Gov. John Baldacci said Maine politicians don't allow themselves to even get close to the edge of corruption. "Everything has to be transparent," he said. "You can't keep a secret in Maine government."
Baldacci cited the standard set for current officials by their predecessors: George Mitchell, William Cohen and Margaret Chase Smith. Men and women from both parties who can't meet the highest standards "get filtered out" long before they could become politically important -- or corrupt, Baldacci said.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOW THE CURE “ Clean Energy Demands Clean Process”
The whole process in Maine is perverted, illegal , and damaging to the public and their environment . There is little energy gain for Mainers who already have plenty, but too costly at that.It will raise electrical prices further.. It will have devastating economic consequences for the State's business community. It is ineffective in energy production . It will have ruinous long term consequences to Maine on several fronts.
It only benefits the likes of the above, not the Citizens of Maine
And now, some of Cure to this Disease ---
-A Wind Industry Ethics Code in Maine, preventing the above illegalities and perversions of process must be passed.
-Elimination of the Unconstitutional Expedited Wind Law which is causing the above .
-Allowing agencies like DEP to update its own noise and safety regulations as they apply to Industrial Wind. They must be allowed to do there mandated job . They are mandated to serve the public, not the Industrial Wind Mafia and lobbyists as they are doing now under Expedited Wind Law.
-Local Protective Ordinances Will Grow exponentially anywhere this disease moves, from now on.
-RECOGNITION THAT IT IS OUR STATE, “WE THE PEOPLE”
CENTRAL PLANNERS, YOUR NEXT PLAN SHOULD BE SHARED WITH ALL IN MOSCOW FIRST.
WE STILL HAVE A State and Federal CONSTITUTION HERE, IT WILL BE USED THIS YEAR!
"In 2010, the Legislature will review the recommendations of a task force charged with implementing the new law and making it work."
Why to heck does the Maine Legislature have to review recommedations? The PEOPLE have spoken. So what now, they are going to dissect this and turn into something other then what the PEOPLE want? UGH.
Wind power is a subsidized scam that will do nothing to lower emissions, lessen use of oil, or save the world from non-existant global warming. It will cause health problems, lower property values, destroy wildlife habitat, damage streams and wetlands, raise rates, and enrich corrupt wind developers and politicians with our tax dollars.
Zavier, you are right on the money. I wish the media in Maine had your courage!
Here's what I propose: Let's swim with the current in Washington and do everything we can to be more like Europe! Wouldn't that be great? We know that Spain, France and Germany have been subsidizing industrial-scale wind power facilities for many, many years. Let's look at their record and learn from their experience! No really, I'm not being sarcastic. Let's look at industrial wind's record in Spain, France and Germany:
Q: How many fossil fuel plants have Spain, France and Germany been able to close thanks to wind generated power?
A: Ningunos. Aucun. Keine. Zero. Zip. Nada. None!
Q: How many of the industrial wind plants in Spain, France and Germany can survive without continuous government subsidies?
A: Ningunos. Aucun. Keine. Zero. Zip. Nada. None!
Q: Which country, Spain, France or Germany, is building the most new industrial wind plants?
A: Sorry, trick question. All three have curtailed new development of industrial wind projects, at least in their own countries.
Q: If we wanted to buy second hand industrial wind turbines, where should we go?
A: Spain, France or Germany!
All three of those countries have learned that industrial wind power isn't what it's been hyped up to be. Let's learn from their experience, save billions of dollars, save our mountain tops and let Massachusetts generate its own electricity!
With respect to story # 3, wind power, what we need is for our state Attorney General, Janet Mills, to make wind companies like First Wind and Angus King's Independence Wind sign a Code of Conduct. That's exactly what First Wind had to sign in NY State, after their Attorney General began investigating them for bribery and intimidation. That investigation continues. See: http://www.ag.ny.gov/media_center/2008/jul/july15a_08.html
Also in NYS, US Congressman Eric Massa (D) has requested of President Obama that First Wind's stimulus gift (a total of $115 MILLION), be revoked and has called for a GAO investigation of them - a company with a business model of LIE, CHEAT AND CORRUPT.
See: http://batr.net/cohoctonwindwatch/CohoctonWindmillsTOObama.pdf
This company has done squat other than collect government subsidies and sell carbon credits for turbines that are not even yet operational. And your government just "rewarded" them with a gift of $115 million. Not a loan. Just a gift. And National Economic Director Larry Summers was making $5 million a year for 1 day a week of work at their half owner, hedge fund D.E. Shaw just before taking his current job. A few months later, a $115 million wholly undeserved gift from the Stimulus Slush Fund for Pet Causes and Crooked Friends.
And Baldacci is their best friend.
longtermthinker...
So Iberdrola of Spain came to the US to start building wind farms. Doesn't it make you feel all secure?
Iberdrola . ...owner of Central Maine Power funded by Abu Dhabi Energy....looking to build 1.4 billion dollars worth of transmission lines for Maine. When Europe has already learned they don't work. France does not allow wind farms on their soil. Or selling carbon credits.
And gov baldaci is proud to be affilated with them. Isn't it just like him to get on board cutting edge technology from forty years ago and has been proven not to work. And DEP, LURC, the AG office , and the Legislature jumped head first along with him . All they corporations had to do was wave a dollar bill in front of them.
longtermthinker...the transmission lines are for wind farms. On any given day ME has more power than they can use. The Mars Hill wind farm exports their power to Canada.
Yesman...you think the BDN s needs to move to the center? From which direction. I have heard it called a liberal rag. If they transcribe for the govt. and corporations, it would tend toward the right. Liberals traditionally stood for the working man and a social net. Are these things bad? Sadly, we have only a few real liberals in politics anymore. None in ME. gov baldaci is more fascist than anything else.
Obama's health care bill is horrible. It mandates US to buy insurance that is not worth two cents. The "socialist " countries give free health care..a much better quality than ours. At least they get something from their taxes. Besides wars for oil.
This is such a farce. The BDN following the wind industry story is nothing more than serving up the industry's and Baldacci's propaganda ad nauseum. The most ubiquitous thing about Friends of Lincoln Lakes and others is the extent to which we have tried to get the media---all of the media, not just BDN---to wake up and follow the obvious issues involved with Big Wind/Big Lie. If they refuse to follow the obvious leads and volumes of information, they are derelict in their reporting. Just the "Gordian Knot" of corrupt, incestuous relationships of Big Wind/Government at all levels could fill page after page of the newspapers, yet not one story of even a paragraph or two has ever been written about this. Lots of glorification for Gov. Baldy & First Wind's execs. gathering at Stetson Mt. Not one sentence about the corruption. Shame on BDN and all Maine media.
I guess we see why Rep. McLeod is trying to divert attention by circulating a petition in his district to restore the failed and cruel coyote snaring as the cure to restore deer after Deer Wintering Areas have been stripped by logging and two severe winters back to back.
They snared for twenty years which didn't do anything to keep deer and deer still declined. Then when snaring stopped for five years, deer didn't crash until winters got bad.
Never mind, blame coyotes, circulate a snaring petition in your district and you can take attention away from bad logging, bad winters, and maybe even some other things like:
"Maine State Representative for District 11 is Everett McLeod Sr. Among the towns he represents are: Burlington, Lee, Winn and Mattawamkeag. According to documents recorded, Rep McLeod is leasing some of his land to First Wind for their Rollins Project. The Rollins Project includes Burlington, Lee, Winn and Mattawamkeag. State Rep McLeod also represents the unorganized territories that are home to First Wind's Stetson Mtn and Jimmey/Owl Mtn Projects. But wait, there's more! He also represents Carroll Plantation where First Wind is planning to put turbines on Bowers Mtn."
More BS from a lost and/or ignorant news staff. The key issue in Bangor for now and the foreseable future is the attraction of business. That can not be done by spending a $100 million dollars on an arena and creating a downtown with struture that generate $00.0 taxes dollars. Bangor needs to figure out how Portland, South Portland and Westrook have attracted/built companies such as Fairchild, National Semi-conductor, UNUM, Wrightexpress, Bottomline Tectnolgies, Aetna to list just a few while we have attracted Hollywood Slots and view our economic treasure as 'ours' a construction company as close to Bangor as it is to Waterville. People we are dying here and the BDN wants tax dollars spent on fluff....WE ARE DOOMED!
We should be careful with those who support wind power in Maine. Aside from the obvious destruction of our pristine mountain environments when we already produce more power than we use, we may find ourselves being bedfellows with the likes of the Sicilian Mafia. Recent arrests in Europe have uncovered connections to US wind companies. The lessons of New York are hard learned. One of the largest wind power companies changed its name and came into Maine after being investigated in both the New York and Europe. Their environmental consultants also changed their name after the NY investigation. Makes you want to take a shower after just writing about it.
PSALM 2009 - 2012
FIRST BOOK OF DEMOCRAT
OBAMA IS A SHEPHERD,
I SHALL NOT WANT.
HE LEADETH ME BESIDE STILL FACTORIES.
HE RESTORETH MY FAITH IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
HE GUIDETH ME IN THE PATH OF UNEMPLOYMENT..
YEA, THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE BREAD LINE,
I SHALL NOT GO HUNGRY.
OBAMA HAS ANOINTED MY INCOME WITH TAXES,
MY EXPENSES RUNNETH OVER MY INCOME,
SURELY, POVERTY AND HARD LIVING WILL FOLLOW ME
ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.
AND I WILL LIVE FOREVER
IN A RENTED HOME.
BUT I AM GLAD I AM AN AMERICAN,
AM GLAD THAT I AM FREE.
BUT I WISH I WAS A DOG
AND OBAMA WAS A TREE.
PSALM 2009 - 2012
FIRST BOOK OF REPUBLICAN
BUSH WAS MY SHEPHERD,
I SHALL NOT WANT.
HE LEADETH ME BESIDE STILL FACTORIES.
HE RESTORETH MY FAITH IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
HE GUIDETH ME IN THE PATH OF UNEMPLOYMENT..
YEA, THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE BREAD LINE,
I SHALL NOT GO HUNGRY.
BUSH HAS ANOINTED MY INCOME WITH LAXES,
MY EXPENSES RUNNETH OVER MY INCOME,
SURELY, POVERTY AND HARD LIVING WILL FOLLOW ME
ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.
AND I WILL LIVE FOREVER
IN A RENTED HOME.
BUT I AM GLAD I AM AN AMERICAN,
AM GLAD THAT I AM FREE.
BUT I WISH I WAS A DOG
AND BUSH/CHENEY WAS A TREE.
I wanted Hilliary, instead we got Obozo the clown. Bush is history, pee on him all you want
It will be great to watch Will Young, i have bought tickets from
http://ticketfront.com/event/Will_Young-tickets looking forward to it.