Rugged individualists or crybabies?
The last time it was the high cost of fuel and bait. Lobster fishermen should know their catch is just another commodity. Instead of docking their boats they should seize the opportunity and flood the market with low-priced “shedders” as an exceptional Maine bargain. Comparing $16-per-pound filet mignon to $5 lobsters, I’ll take the shedder — sweet and delicious. How about a cheaper lobster roll? I’ll take two, please.
Neither fishermen nor consumers benefit from withholding product from the market, driving prices higher. Boat payments and insurances continue to mount. My solution is to catch and sell as many as possible, creating new customers, while breaking even until the shedders are gone. Tourism in Maine is in high gear now, so why not give our visitors a treat they will never forget?
Today, no Keynesian economist mentions either price elasticity of demand or the theory of comparative advantage. Paul Krugman and his ilk pontificate only about lack of demand and needed federal stimulus — our tax dollars. Lobster fishermen have both supply and price to whip the competition. Nobody else can catch these creatures. I encourage them to set an example of free-market capitalism and show the political economists that higher prices, restricted supply and rationing are bogus solutions for the real world. Americans need lower prices and the free market to work properly and morally so we can extricate ourselves from the present economic wilderness.
Dudley G. Gray
Rangeley Plantation
Department praise
This October, I will retire after 30 years of service to the city of Brewer. In our 143-year history, there have been 28 chiefs who have led the department and served the city. Brewer is now poised to create the new position of public safety director, a position that will lead both fire and police. This is a bold step for Brewer, and we believe it will be a very successful opportunity.
An important reason that this position is being created is the anticipated cost savings. This can be achieved without the loss of responding personnel or sacrificing the safety and security of our residents. While cost is a factor, protecting our residents with the best fire and police departments is our first priority. This would not have been proposed for only financial savings.
This will work in Brewer due to the long history of the police and fire departments working together. Not only do we have a decades-old track record of teamwork, we also share the same facility and routinely train side by side. With this unique insight, Chief Perry Antone, who has many years of experience working closely with both departments, knows and understands the people that work here and has great respect for them. Equally important, the members of the fire department respect him and his department.
When I leave in October, I can go with the knowledge that the Brewer Fire Department, my department for 30 years, will be in very capable hands and will continue to be one of the best fire departments in the state.
Gary Parent
Brewer
Open for business
Maine, the way life should be. Now that Gov. Paul LePage has opened it for business, we must double our efforts to preserve that way of life.
Imagine 20 years from now looking out on Passadumkeag Mountain. Instead of a pristine natural environment of incomparable beauty, there are 14 inoperative, rusting turbines, 459 feet high — taller than any building in the state.
I never expected to be opposed to wind power. At Tuesday’s county commissioner hearing on tax increment financing (money accrued by tax dollars from the proposed turbine project), I learned that these turbines are an old, inefficient technology that is not projected to last and that the project will only create 225 temporary construction jobs and 5-7 permanent technical positions.
The energy from these turbines won’t even benefit Mainers. We were told to be happy with the meager 40 percent of the TIF revenue we’d receive and that the project might not be viable if we demanded more. Adding insult to injury, commissioners assumed that funds should be allocated for further development of the Unorganized Territory. I am a UT resident. Am I alone in not wanting to see Maine’s UT further developed? Isn’t it bad enough that big red blinking Xs on the turbines will flash all night every night?
Let’s do our homework about wind power. This is not green energy as we want it to be. It’s a wake-up call about corporate greed, the bullying of disenfranchised residents and exploitation of Maine’s natural resources.
Esu Anahata
West Lake, Township 3 Northern Division
Supporting Dan Levesque
As a business owner in Aroostook County, I have had the pleasure of working with Dan Levesque on several occasions.
While Dan was the owner-operator of Levesque Lumber, K-PEL Industrial Services Inc. completed several mechanical and piping projects. In later years, North Star Tower and Communications and Aroostook Internet worked closely in expanding internet services to Aroostook County businesses and residents.
Dan conducted his business operations in a fair and professional way. His straightforward attitude and his experience in Aroostook County make him the prime candidate to fight for small business in Northern Maine.
Kevin Pelletier
President
K-PEL Industrial Services, Inc.
North Star Tower and Communications
Archie support
I was so excited to hear that Archie Verow is running for the Maine Legislature in Brewer that I am writing my first letter to the editor. I am happy Archie is running because he is the type of person who knows how to bring people together to find common-sense solutions.
Archie has shown this skill in his many years of service to Brewer as mayor, city councilor and town clerk. If Maine government is to move beyond its current state of dysfunction, electing problem-solvers like Archie will be crucial. I hope all Brewer residents will join me in supporting Archie Verow for the Maine Legislature on voting day this coming November.
Marco Orlando
Brewer
Care Act
Gov. Paul LePage and the Maine Legislature cut MaineCare knowing the cuts were illegal under the Affordable Care Act. Now that the health care act has been upheld by the Supreme Court, the governor will ask Kathleen Sebelius at the Department of Health and Human Services for a waiver.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree has recommended the waiver not be given. This does not make her part of the “jet-setting elite.” Instead, the governor and the Legislature have crafted an irresponsible budget based on faulty assumptions and are now trying to cast the blame on someone else.
James Alciere
East Machias
Esu Anahata – You are absolutely right. Wind power is an expensive, taxpayer funded mess disguised in Green. It’s not green. It doesn’t help Mainers. It is not cost efficient in any way. It ruins the landscape and the horizon. And in 20 years or so, these monstrosities will be rusting away in place. It’s time to put a stop to them before they ruin the entire state.
Most energies get taxpayer funding.
But, with wind and solar, there is no return.
The oil companies, for example, do not return their subsidies.
Actually, oil and coal are the only two that do result in a return for the money. All others are just money pits.
I’m for ending all energy subsidies. If an energy source is viable, the private sector will pick it up and run with it. As it is right now, solar and wind companies are picking up billions and running away with the money as they claim bankruptcy and close their doors.
End all energy subsidies now. And end all earned income credits (70 billion a year). And there’s a lot more waste that can be cut.
Guess which party just this year filibustered a vote that would have ended subsidies for profitable oil companies.
They were characterized as subsidies when in fact they were legitimate deductions for depreciation. An expense that ALL businesses take.
And, probably, most of them shouldn’t – including wind power.
And yet Republicans are their fiercest advocate — exactly who EJP votes for.
What is your suggestion for supplying power to the state?
Hydro and nuclear.
How about using what we have for now? Maine DOES NOT HAVE AN ELECTRICITY SHORTAGE. Wind turbines aren’t being built here because Maine needs the electricity. They’re being built mostly to serve southern New England. Here’s a quote from this newspaper in July, 2007:
“Maine is prepared to host thousands of megawatts of generation capacity from wind and biomass” to serve southern New England’s “insatiable appetite for energy.” – Governor John Baldacci.
Dudley,
Be on the lookout for some great deals on lobster boats this fall!
Dudley Gray, maybe you should volunteer to crew one of these lobster boats, that way the owner could at least save the cost of labor.
Rangeley Plantation looks a lot closer to Canada on the map then it does to anyplace on the Maine Coast. But I am sure Dudley is an expert on lobster fishing. LOL
Esu, although Paul LePage certainly has his faults, the wind power debacle cannot be laid at his feet. This gift to Maine was wrapped by our former Governor John Baldacci and the then sitting legislators who passed the “Maine Wind Energy Act” with virtually no debate or due diligence.
Esu Anahata-you are so right. I have been involved for over 2 years, doing research, because of a wind project in my home town. It saddens me to see these projects coming to the towns and outbacks of Maine. The state has met it’s quota of 30% renewable energy, but because other states, Massachusetts being one, has not met it’s quota, our mountains and quality of life is being destroyed. It is as if the wind industry doesn’t want to put wind turbines in their back yard rather choose to put them in our backyard. It also seems that in a way they are stealing our way of life in Maine to meet their quota of “green”. I ask why should another state be allowed to claim green renewable’s and not have it in their backyard?
As these projects go up across the state, tourism and summer-winter rentals go down, who will cover the loss of economic stability with tourism and keep Maine from going under financially?
Keep up the good fight to save your area from these 400+ billboards that are destroying Maine’s tourism and quality of life.
Esu Anahata is correct. With wind power development, Maine is forfeiting much of what makes it unique among other states east of the Mississippi. We’re building the tallest structures in the state on top of some of the most distinctively beautiful parts of the state – and all the additional transmission lines to serve them. All of this, of course, is being done to serve the states to our south. What do we get for it? A few construction jobs in the development phase and a relative handful of permanent jobs. It’s not much of a deal for anyone other than the companies building the projects.
hopper – Maine produces twice as much energy as WE need even on a high load day. It is among the cleanest energy produced in the USA and our grid is adequate to send it out of our state. Projected growth for the next 20 years in Maine is 1 – 2%, so we have enough for a long time. We also sequester the most CO2 in America per capita due to the 90% tree cover. Maine is taking the hit for all the other states that have not planned their energy future, and we are going to be the Wind Turbine Junkyard of America. These monstrosities can’t be hidden and will blight our landscape for decades . . . . and for no reason.
Let’s get real. EVERY beautiful mountain ridge in Maine that is not in a suburban/urban locale is going to be grabbed by out of state investor driven companies for construction of wind turbines that do not benefit us at all. The profits for these investors do not come from the sale of electricity. In the past few months logical discussion of wind energy in the comment areas has been muttled by what appears to be hired guns of the industry who interrupt and redirect the discussion with elementary one liners intended to take the discussion off track. With the DEP taking over the permitting process and offering at best, 2 meetings that only take comments and never allow the public to question and challenge the permittee’s claims, we can pretty much say goodbye to Maine as we know it. Get the artist and photographers in here quick so we’ll be able to remember Maine, The Way Life Use To Be.
Here’s an alternate opinion on Maine scenery and wind turbines; I’m pretty sure it won’t be well received.
First a disclaimer: I like Maine. I appreciate our vast forests, our clean air, our sparkling waters and our occasional parks along the coast. So can the “If you don’t like it, move out”.
But …… Maine is not Alaska or Colorado, or Montana or even North Carolina; our mountains are puny, our hills are dumpy, our valleys are notably unspectacular and our few wind turbines have not obliterated astounding views. In fact putting turbines on some of those little rounded mounds we call mountains have made them just a bit more interesting than adjacent rounded mounds.
An interesting aside is that nobody has ever sent a letter to the editor complaining about the communication towers dotting our landscape. So how come communication towers don’t obliterate our spectacular scenery??????
Your opinion of Maine’s landscape and the obliteration of astounding views is solely your opinion. Mine is quite the opposite. But I’m not here to argue subjective topics.
Have you considered that there is little outcry about the cell towers because they are individual towers and not farms? Have you considered that the wind farms are unnecessary to supply power in this state and that they provide little benefit for their cost? Have you questioned why wind farm advocates always talk glowingly of capacity but never mention output in relation to capacity? Have you considered that this is not discussed because output is generally around 20-25% of capacity which in any enterprise (except wind farms apparently) would be considered an outright failure and thus abandoned?
Nope.
perhaps you should.
Meh !
Wind Scamming. “Sieg, Corporate Greed Uber Alles”, and renewable federal initiated scamming by Mr. “O”.
The scamming, lying, rape and pillage of Maine highlands and mountains moves forward.
It is time for the governor to stop this removal of Maine’s trademarks.
Outrageous hyperbole and a completely nonsensical fulfillment of Poe’s Law. Cute!
I have trouble following the wind power debate because of the fact that those on the anti-wind side are almost always so fanatic – often verging, as in the case of this comment, into wacky conspiracy theory territory – that I really can’t tell whether any of their criticisms of wind power are valid, or whether they’re just spouting off oil industry-sponsored slander of alternative energy.
Esu Anahata – Oil and coal FOREVER.
Wind turbines were supposed to lower our electric rates. The transmission line overhaul was for easier access to our energy and would not raise our electric rates. Wind turbines were scammed into Maine, Iberdola scammed us by lying (the upgrade was in fact for proposed increase of wind energy into the grid) Electric rates in Maine just went up by 4.5% (bangor hydro customers) 7.1% CMP customers) to pay for the upgrade which all the “antis” were warning you about 2 years ago but were called libs, lefties,cry babies, whiners, etc. I for one am sick of being lied to, are you? Let’s do something about it. Turn off all electricity for 2 hours per day or more en masse. An electric strike! Any takers?
http://www.revisionenergy.com/blog/maine-electric-delivery-rates-hiked-7/
Standard offer rate for BHE has gone down every year since 2005.
BHE delivery rate just went up and you can be sure it will be going higher in theyears to come.
I am not crazy about the thought of wind turbines in Maine but I do feel we need to explore alternative energy solutions. Many of the arguments brought up also talk about oil and coal which got me to thinking. Would some of you feel so good about coal if you lived in Montana, Illinois or Wyoming? Or oil if you lived in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma or Texas? Just curious.