Open Letter to Maine Legislators: Declare a Moratorium on Wind Farm Development
Dear Maine Legislators,
While Roxanne Quimby’s proposed National Park claims the headlines, few have noticed that forty-story tall wind turbines are marching relentlessly across Maine’s rural landscape. Under the Baldacci administration, wind power development was believed to be Maine’s green salvation from the oil crisis. The legislature at that time hastily declared many rural Maine areas eligible for expedited wind farm permitting, even if the legislature in 1987 had declared some of those areas as outstanding or significant natural resources. After all, wind is free. Or, is it?
Few anticipated the cost to the environment as tops of Maine’s small mountains were bulldozed, transmission lines were cut through wilderness forest (at Maine taxpayer expense), wildlife either collided with blades or wisely vacated the area, and the true cost of sustaining the giant turbines became clear. Wind in interior Maine is fickle at best, and no wind turbines have yet twirled to capacity. In addition, the wind farm developers promise short-term jobs for the local Maine economy but most of the wind power will go to southern New England, and profits will go to out of state developers. Federal grant dollars will inevitably run out, and turbines will need repair or deconstruction—at Maine taxpayer expense.
In addition, few anticipated the animosity wind power would stir up as various constituents chase financial gain. For example, it is pitting poor rural communities against seasonal camp owners and even local homeowners because wind farm developers are required to offer legal bribes to the communities in the form of money and land conservation. What small town officials could afford to look this gift horse in the mouth as they struggle to balance their budgets, but individual home and camp owners do not see any financial benefit from wind farms, including a reduction in electric bills. Likewise, wind farms often pit the rights of large landowners against the rights of small landowners. Owners of forests and mountains are eager to sell or lease their land to wind developers to maximize return on their investment as the forest products industry declines. Meanwhile, small landowners watch the value of their investments decrease as giant turbines whirl within proximity of homes and camps.
Finally, while there has been a focus on the health effects of the noise from twirling wind turbines, only recently has the visual impact of forty-story high wind turbines, clustered by the hundreds, been a consideration. Yet, there is evidence that Mainers are concerned about protecting the visual character of Maine. Maine has outlawed the eyesore of billboards on roadways; in 1987 the Maine Department of Conservation and LURC did a detailed analysis of Maine’s lakes “in order to strengthen the Commission’s (LURC’s) ability to make informed decisions regarding the protection and use of Maine’s precious lake resources” (Maine Wildlands Lake Assessment: Findings June 1, 1987). For years, camp owners on lakes have had strict building regulations in order to reduce visual impact and maintain the illusion of wilderness. Now, paradoxically, forty-story tall wind turbines are allowed to tower over the same Maine lakes classified as significant or outstanding natural resources. As an example of how Maine officials and the public do not have a good understanding of visual impact, a new LURC commissioner recently remarked that we would all get used to looking at wind turbines just as we got used to looking at lighthouses towering over coastal land. It’s a ridiculous comparison. Lighthouses sit individually on points of land, with miles between them. Meanwhile, LURC’s consideration gives preference to clustering wind turbines by the hundreds within a locale to take advantage of transmission lines.
LURC works at the direction of the legislature, and the commissioners and the public appear to feel that the current legislature is still intent on expediting wind power. I believe the previous legislature acted in haste to expedite wind farm permitting at a time when no one really understood the full implication. Please act quickly to declare a moratorium on wind farm development in Maine until the real cost and potential benefit to Maine land, lakes, wildlife, and people can be calculated.
Sincerely,
Donald and Paula Moore