OK, Mainers. On May 12, the Press Herald published a Washington Post article (“Interior Department approves wind farm off Massachusetts,” Page A8) that reported that the Department of Interior approved a wind turbine project off Martha’s Vineyard that will generate electricity for 400,000 homes. It will be owned by the same folks who now own Central Maine Power, so the 400,000 homeowners will be sending their monthly checks for electricity to Iberdrola, which happens to be in Spain; yes, that’s Spain – as in Europe.
Why didn’t Maine build these turbines here? Our political leaders have known for more than 20 years that the Gulf of Maine is better suited for this type of project than Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. It’s like Texas, 100 years ago, saying to Texans, “We’re not going to drill for the oil because we don’t want to make holes in the ground.”
What is it about us that would make us turn our backs on such potential? As far as I can tell, the opponents have not given a single reason why fishing, or anything else, for that matter, is not compatible with turbines to generate our electricity. In Massachusetts, Iberdrola agreed to place the turbines at least one nautical mile apart and reduce the project size. That’s all they had to do to accommodate the naysayers.
Is it possible that loud white males continue to dominate here?
James Tierney
Brownfield
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