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The Bangor Daily News’ Jan. 12 editorial regarding Sears Island opens with an aerial shot of the island and nearby Mack Point. That image clearly shows why we need to save Sears Island and redevelop Mack Point.
Sears Island is a major natural resource for this area, providing critical wildlife habitat above and below the tideline. Mack Point is an existing industrial site that is also highly suitable for this project, just a stone’s throw across the water.
Having worked in coal-fired power plants and on Maine islands, I agree we need a broader renewable energy portfolio. But why would we choose to bulldoze and backfill at least 100 acres of forest and shoreline when there is an existing, underutilized, industrial port just next door?
It seems short-sighted and half-hearted to focus exclusively on the finances. Cost estimates are notoriously unreliable over the time spans involved and no one has committed to using or paying for the port facility. If you choose to focus on cost alone, then you must also consider the cost of losing a vital piece of the Maine coast.
At either site, the noise, light pollution, and visual impacts of a roughly 800-foot crane and over 800-foot turbines would be massive for neighbors like me. The decision-makers don’t live here and don’t seem to have shown up for any local public meetings on this issue. Perhaps they don’t grasp the level of support for saving Sears Island that, refreshingly, spans across political lines.
Kevin Jerram
Stockton Springs