Call me an idealist, but I believe in the democratic process. I hold the higher values and principles of this state close to my heart and mind. I am sitting in Augusta this very moment awaiting the fate of a specific set of my rights, and, quite frankly, I do not like it one bit.
Because I was not aware of the loss of my rights when it occurred, I want to sound an alarm and educate my fellow Mainers.
The story is simple. In 2008, The Maine Wind Energy Act set a frightening precedent by including a provision for mapping select areas of the Unorganized Territories and designating those UTs as Expedited for Wind Permitting. That designation now gives one industry – and only one industry – special powers to apply for a permit in those Expedited Areas without undergoing the normal rezoning process under LUPC. A developer shall be granted a permit if they meet all the permit requirements, regardless of whether or not local citizens believe the development is suitable in those UTs. This is similar to telling organized towns they no longer can set zoning guidelines.
That LUPC rezoning is the land use guidance that citizens of UTs rely on and respect. We did not give up all rights to zoning input when we chose to live in UTs. We accept this form of guidance, just as organized territories respect their local form of government guidance. Ignoring our accepted and legal forum would be equal to telling organized towns that their local rule does not count.
The LUPC rezoning process the Expedited UTs are now denied was the only forum in which our local zoning thoughts could be voiced and heard. The new law allows for public hearings, but those hearings are only for the permitting process. Remember, we no longer are allowed rezoning hearings; therefore, giving zoning input at a permit hearing is useless. The permit hearing is only a fact finding forum to grant a permit. Unless a citizen has information to prove the applicant is not meeting development criteria, all other information blows on deaf ears.
To add to our injury, many UTs were never designated as Expedited for Wind Development. This means that my neighboring NON-expedited UT still gets to utilize the LUPC rezoning process if a developer wants to submit an application for a permit. (Many of the operating industrial wind facilities in Maine were permitted that way, well before 2008.) Literally, my neighbor across the road could have more rights than I do! In my case, it’s my friends a few miles up the road from me, who, quite understandably, thank their lucky stars that their UT was not a chosen one – not because they decry wind power (they live off the grid) – but because they do not suffer from the knowledge that their rights were systematically and swiftly taken from them, in response to a powerful industry’s wishes.
This is not about good wind vs. bad wind, folks. This is about citizens’ rights. Much research has been done to determine how this UT law change could have happened in the first place. Unfortunately, all the legal “i’s” were dotted and “t’s” were crossed. Barely. Developers and Environmental NGOs had more notice and access to the process than the citizens affected, but that’s another story for another day. The moral to that story is “watch your back at all times”, though.
Six years has passed; a taxpayer funded study recommended developing a process for UTs to be removed from the Expedited Permitting Area; bills to correct this blatant disrespect for average citizens’ rights have been stalled in the Legislature where it has garnered bi-partisan support, all to no avail. The industry’s lobbyists are a powerful force.
Finally, LD 616 is making its way through, one educated and committed legislator at a time. I implore you to empower yourself with real knowledge by searching maine.gov and the internet for LD 616 info. Then, I beg you to let your legislators know you will not stand for the continued stripping of citizens’ rights, because when one citizen’s rights are in peril, all of our rights are in equal peril. Ask them to do the right thing and support LD 616.
Today I am seated in the House Gallery watching the proceedings and waiting. If my rights are not returned soon, I may have to stake a tent on the State House lawn until they are.
Kay Michka
Lexington Township
….no worries Kay, the federal subsidy has dried up and most likely is not coming back. 80% of the wind projects in development last year are now on hold or delayed until some entity steps up to subsidize the negative cash flows from a wind farm. I doubt they build anymore in Maine in the next 10 years.
Kay, well written. You have my support.
There is a wind farm going in on Saddleback Ridge as we speak. I live in Wilton and like many others in neighboring towns, I will feel the impacts with zero benefit (not that I want to be bought off like the people of Carthage). 450′ turbines tower over everything and yet if you do not live in the host town, you have no vote. Wind projects do nothing to help Maine’s environment or reduce our power bills. All they do is line the pockets of out-of-state companies and a few local landowners while supplying a little energy to power-thirsty southern New England. This is yet another slap in the face of Maine citizens.
There is a last straw to the deeds that the Maine Senate and House of Representatives have inflicted upon the citizens of Maine and this zoning right stripped from the UT is an error that needs to be taken care of right now. There are certain things that should always remain untouchable and the right for people to petition against foreseen harmful land uses must be maintained for all citizens of Maine. Senators, Representatives, Do the Right Thing, Re establish this rezoning requirement.
Great letter Kay. The Expedited Wind Law should be declared unlawful and scrapped when it takes away citizens’ rights, if for no other reason.
“James Madison believed that men in society tended to form factions, defined as groups that promoted their own interest at the expense of the rest (think wind developers interests at the expense of the original stakeholder…the residents of Maine). Factions posed a special problem for democratic societies because a faction composed of the majority of the people could easily oppress the minority (and so the wind developers and their useful idiots have indeed oppressed those of us who are outnumbered by their lobbying, money and power!). To combat this, as James Madison argued in Federalist Paper No. 51, power must be set against power, and “ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” Madison therefore favored the separation of powers within the central government and a division of power between the national and state governments.
James Madison believed that safety lay in numbers. The more heterogeneous the society, the less chance there would be for any one group to combine with others to form a faction of the majority. Though ancient philosophers had argued that only small republics could survive for a long period of time, Madison believed the opposite. A large republic could encompass many different groups and different interests—economic, religious, and social—and thereby provide a safeguard against the tyranny of the majority.
The Tyranny we face is the majority who have violated the rights that Kay speaks of…return to her the rights she is entitled to!
I love it, Maine, the “not in my backyard, and not in your backyard either, if I don’t like it state.
On the other hand, whadya mean I can’t ride my snowmobile/ATV/dirtbike/horse, etc,across your land to hunt/fish/drink beer and have fun?
BUT, My land is mine, and I can darn do what I want. Esp. if I was born here, as was my daddy-grandpa etc.
Plunking my house in a pristine wilderness is one thing, letting you use the wind that blows is another.
They’re just windmills. It’s not like someone built a dam and flooded out an entire town (Flagstaff) or have a giant pile of radioactive material (Maine Yankee) or are polluting the air and water with acid rain and other contaminates.
No, just a tower with majestic blades turning in the wind.
Great letter, Kay. Many Maine citizens are unaware of this insidious erosion of citizens’ rights. When our legislators favor the wind industry over their own residents, something is rotten in Denmark…errr, Spain….I mean, Maine. We must contact our legislators and remind them of their responsibilities. And we must remember the names of the legislators who legislated against Maine citizens on election day.
Guess everybody wants to wait until fossil fuels are no longer available before seeking an alternative for power that will provide electricity and keep our little settlements going…
I too always assumed that harvesting the wind would be beneficial for our prolonged use of an alternative energy source. However, after I really dug deeper and read all about how they are funded; the groups who build them. how much energy really stays in Maine; and the true savings to Maine residents, I am vehemently opposed to any and all wind power projects for the State of Maine. The groups who form to build the “wind farms” in Maine are comprised mostly of “the good ole boys” club type. I won’t specifically mention names, but go ahead and do your research and you too will have an eye opener. Secondly, the federal government stoked the fires under these groups because they were going to drop millions into their pockets the minute the first switch was flipped. That would reimburse any upfront money the groups had to expend. Then they just had to sit back and wait until we had high energy demand days and flip the switch and fill their pockets again. This time, at citizen’s expense. And when they flipped the switch, guess where the energy went on those days? Not in Maine… Ask them how many permanent jobs these projects created and how much of the energy actually is used here in Maine. They start to do the evasion dance. I have been out west and seen true wind farms… hundreds of turbines which produce energy on a regular basis. Those wind farms are true farms that produce cheaper and cleaner energy to the residents . And dig deeper into your pockets fellow Mainers, because all these upgrades you have seen on power lines throughout our State are for the benefit of these “good ole boys” wind farms. And guess who will be paying for that? Watch your power bills. You will see…Let’s concentrate on the sources we already have that work. Let’s put money back into harnessing our hydro power. We have enough of that to keep ourselves solvent.
Informed Citizen:
Study the history of resource development and power production and distribution in the USA, and you will see that is has always been an exclusive club who set things in motion and profited. Study the history of the Tennessee valley authority, the Hoover dam, the aqueducts supplying the water to los Angeles. Look at the Dead River Co. here in Maine. Why, do you think the owners of the mills that were built and run in Maine and New England put them here? and how much money was invested in them?
Money makes money. We live in a capitalist country, where the government doesn’t make and supply the energy we all use.
It takes an enormous amount of capital to make the long term investment in power production. Yes, the people who do it have political clout. Yes, it may not benefit those people closest to it.
But, where would our civilization be without those investments?
“Call me an idealist,”………..yep…..give a rest………….these things will fall from there own weight……………
Why did so many voters cast their ballots for Angus King.?? He made a large amount of money with corporate wind cronies before selling off his interests…and selling out the his future constituents….and so many folks voted for him….kinda funny is the bliss of the ignorant voter…
Tired……..same reason so many people voted for our community organizer in chief. They dont know any better.
Tired & dux: You think all the voters are ignorant? Maybe they just wouldn’t vote for the ones who LOST (and were running against Angus King and Obama [2 times].
Informed citizen-great comment
Too bad people are figuring out King a bit too late
Please learn how to use there, their, and they’re