Last night, Maine's Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) concluded three days of hearings to evaluate a new, scaled-down proposal for a major wind power facility near Sugarloaf.  Given the tough sledding encountered by the previous proposal, it is worth lending our full support to this one.

 

Proposed by Maine Mountain Power, the scaled-back project would produce 54 MW of clean energy, more than any other wind power installation currently operating in New England.  The developer has committed to permanently protect the more ecologically-sensitive Redington Mountain from wind development as part of the revised project.

 

Although the proposed Black Nubble Wind Farm has earned broad support from more than 20 organizations (Natural Resources Council of Maine, Maine Lung Association, Conservation Law Foundation, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Maine Chamber of Commerce, among others), it still faces strong opposition. 

 

At the hearings, particularly strenuous opposition was heard from a representative of the National Park Service, on the grounds that windmills would spoil the experience of walking the Appalachian Trail.

 

Maine is ripe for wind, and this proposal is a good one.  The U.S. can no longer allow the here-and-now convenience of fossil fuels to remain our default energy policy.

 

I encourage those who wish to support Black Nubble to contact LURC@maine.gov immediately, with a brief statement in support of the installation, as well as a name and address.

 

All the best,

 

Seth