In all the reporting about the Central Maine Power corridor project, New England Clean Energy Connect, there’s been little mention of the ecological destruction in Quebec caused by the necessary flooding of millions of acres to create dams.
The vast amounts of methane released as the submerged materials decompose is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. Calling this a “clean energy connect” is really misleading. Or, as the environmental community might say, it’s “greenwashing” another dirty source of power for electricity.
Also, glaringly absent from all the conversation is the mention of conservation. How much CO2 and methane emissions could be avoided by making sure all homes in Maine are adequately weatherized? CMP is happy to sell electricity to Mainers who switch to heat pumps for homes that leak like sieves.
This is about corporate profits. CMP/Avangrid doesn’t care about climate change. If they did, they wouldn’t have fought so hard to defeat solar bills before the Legislature over the last few years.
CMP/Avangrid doesn’t care what this does to Maine’s recreational-leisure economy or how it will permanently scar our landscape and pollute adjacent waters with herbicides used to keep growth in check.
Profit is king. Damn the future.
Mary Ann Larson
Portland
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