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Thanks to the public filings at the Maine Ethics Commission, one of Maine’s worst kept secrets is now out in the open. The fossil fuel industry has funded nearly all of the millions spent in support of Question 1. Apparently they oppose the Clean Energy Corridor because they fear the competition that sustainable, renewable and affordable energy sources bring.
In August, a United Nations report emphasized that we’re in a climate crisis. That makes it abundantly clear the New England Clean Energy Connect is critical to Maine’s future. In both Maine and the northeast, this project reduces fossil fuel emissions which contribute to the climate emergency.
Now is the time for a radical shift toward sustainable and renewable energy in Maine. The Clean Energy Corridor could annually remove more than 3 million tons of carbon dioxide from our air by supplying clean, renewable and affordable hydropower. The resulting carbon emission reduction is the equivalent of removing 700,000 vehicles from the road every year.
In approving the Clean Energy Corridor, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection concluded that the greatest threat to Maine’s natural environment is climate change. As the former Maine State Geologist, I am ever mindful of how climate change is a rapid process in geologic time but, at the human scale, it’s slow to reveal its calamitous impacts. Time is of the essence! There’s no better time than the present to build the Clean Energy Corridor. Vote no on Question 1.
Walter Anderson
North Yarmouth
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