The Aug. 1 letter by Tom Rumpf (“Ask the right questions about the Clean Energy Corridor”) provided the wrong answers regarding the referendum to stop New England Clean Energy Connect.
The review process that approved NECEC is not objective and methodological. The commissioners of the Public Utilities Commission and the Land Use Planning Commission, and the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, are all appointed by the governor and, therefore, serve to further the policy agenda of the governor. It is a political process.
The proposal to require two-thirds legislative approval for the use of public reserved land by outside entities should have already been the legal standard. The referendum corrects that oversight.
The prohibition from further development of the Upper Kennebec River Valley (western Maine mountains) recognizes that Central Maine Power, its parent company, Avangrid, and Avangrid’s owner, Iberdrola, intend to develop the entire 300-foot right of way of their transmission line corridor, which would forever change the character of the western Maine mountains as an example of conservation stewardship and protection of the fragile environment for future generations. Maine would risk becoming known as the New Jersey of northern New England.
John Nicholas
Winthrop
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