Letter to the Editor: Between Copenhagen and Augusta

5 mins read

The Copenhagen climate conference ended in disarray but succeeded in pointing out the enormity of the challenges and international discord around climate change. More importantly and of greater concern to me, it showed how monetized this particular scientific notion has become, and this does not auger well for the reasoned discussion we will really need.

Lost in the clamor are the nuances of opinion that are vital to understand what is really going on. Close reading of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change, for example, reveals a great deal of controversy about the role of carbon dioxide and other anthropogenic gases in the drivers of climate. There is even disagreement as to what the world climate past really has been, depending whether you read ice cores, pollen samples, ocean sediments or thermometers.

Unfortunately, when money talks, it’s hard to walk. Right now the Land Use Regulation Commission is considering the rules for expanding the territory in Maine which will be fast tracked for wind development. They are supposed to be independent stewards of our natural resource assets but they are getting strong pressure to bend their mission around the faulty economic goals hatched elsewhere in Augusta. At the very least they should be encouraged to keep in mind their core values to prevent sprawl and protect Maine’s resources for all Mainers.

It is unclear where this enthusiasm for wind power will take us. The Wind Power Task Force has set have a minimum of 2,000 megawatts of wind power by 2015 as a state goal, and this means wind turbines on hundreds of miles of Maine’s ridgelines. The Task Force guidelines were hastily pushed through the Legislature in emergency legislation last year to help prevent global warming. But has anyone examined this plan?

Germany has taken wind power as far as any country but a recent analysis there fails to show any carbon savings from wind. Germany’s success in shrinking their carbon emissions has come from their cap and trade system and the fact that wind and solar subsidies have driven their utility prices to be the highest in Europe.

In Germany, as here, because of the need for backup power, no wind project has ever taken a fossil fuel power plant off line. And running natural gas power plants behind wind in back up mode actually increases fuel use and carbon emissions to an extent that negates the carbon savings.

Of course this is not we hear in Maine where wind is somehow our next big industry. Except it hasn’t been. The Kibby project was supposed to be a cash cow for Franklin County but after the deal TransCanada had to hit up the Franklin County commissioners for tax breaks to continue. And now TransCanada is anxious to expand their operation to the north near Sisk if they can capture the stimulus package money you and I are paying for. As for the promised economic boost – after the initial installation very few jobs remain at any of these sites and very few of them go to local people once the trees are cut down and the last of the gravel is poured.

I am not smart enough to know the climate future but I would not bet Maine’s future – the future of our forests, landscapes, and economy – on the headlined forecasts of doom. All of us who live here know that our way of life and our jobs are inextricably tied to the way Maine looks and feels. Lest this seem only a sentimentalist’s notion recall that the Brookings Institute report on Maine’s economy said essentially the same thing. Maine has an aging population and it is our reputation for a way of life and the availability of a certain kind of recreation that draws young workers and their families here.

We should certainly exercise common sense in decreasing our energy use and increasing our energy efficiency wherever possible. But we should not hastily industrialize our landscape.
 

Steve Bien
Jay

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

5 Comments

  1. Nice to hear a voice of reason. Global warming is a farce, but the fact that we’re using up non-renewable energy is not. Geothermal is the one alternative energy that can replace a lot of commodity-consuming energy at this time. Look for it to be a much bigger player in the future.

  2. The Copenhagen climate conference was clearly not about the climate, it was about how much money 3rd world countries could get out of the United States and Hillary and Obama went over and pledged 100 billion of our tax dollars to these countries, many of them as corrupt as former Dem. Congressman William J. Jefferson.
    And worst of all China was to receive some of this money, not how much do we owe China?

    The deficit for fiscal year 2009, which ended Sept. 30, came in at a record $1.42 trillion, more than triple the record set just last year.

    We have no money for ourselves let alone give away!

  3. Interesting conversation
    I would point out a few additional things that are not spoken of as much as I think might be prudent
    1.The landscape is already hideous Because we are conditioned to not see the powerlines we don’t.They are hideous. So while I am more than well aware of the delicacies of environmental impact, both biological and simply visually, lets be a tad careful w ith the comments about the landscape.
    2 I live in a small town north of FArmingotn where the same people who do n ot want wind power will not shut their ar engines off when they go to the PO, the grocery story, etc
    We cannot have it both ways .I think that compact fluorescent bulbs in every socket everywheer will not cancel out Americans’; hunger for power .
    3 Which leads me to the fact that everyone criticizes- and with often good reason, but few offer suggestions.
    I happen to have solar panels on my house So I feel that I can speak abit .I too however have no brilliant solutions
    Far more than technology we need a culture change in the country.

  4. Re:Windmills
    If windmills are good for the Kibby mountain area, why not for Baxter State Park?
    Mainers should pay a visit to the Kibby site to view the devastation caused by the wind project. There are 20 completed and another 20 are in the works. These monstrosities are 100′ tall and require a two lane road to be run along the ridges for maintenance purposes. The once beautiful mountain views of that wilderness area are now being destroyed by a project whose benefit to Maine’s power problems is neligible, at best.
    What will be the impact on tourism for the Western Mountain region when the wilderness experience is destroyed by the presence of windmills along the mountain tops?
    Before LURC deigns to approve more of these windmills, they should study Spain’s windmill experience, which costs the Spanish government billions and it is estimated that two private sector jobs were lost for every green job achieved on the project.
    Lets see if LURC will have Mt.Katahdin or Mt. Desert Island on their “fast track” list for their next wind project.

  5. The Rheinisch-Westfaelische Institut fuer Wirtschaftsforschung concluded that there is only one way to turn a profit on Germany’s solar power technologies—sell it to the Americans. Otherwise it concluded that the huge subsidies may have the effect of diverting resources from more effective ways of attaining relief from the economic and environmental consequences of reliance on hydrocarbons.

    For my own part, I’ve not only failed to notice that power lines have made Maine’s landscape hideous, I actually find them rather charming. More, I doubt we are gong to attract a lot of people here with the prospect of living their lives in the light of kerosene lamps. And, of course, the biggest investment in wind power development will be network of power lines they entail.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.