This can’t be good – “Critics and even some one-time supporters say the proponents of the law were swept up in a tidal wave of enthusiasm for a technology that turns out to require significant sacrifice from the state, but has little to offer Maine in return.”  That statement comes from an article written for the “Pine Tree Watchdog,” a publication of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting.

According to critics, the bill constituted one of the most significant changes in the state’s land use laws in a generation:

— It weakened longstanding rules that would have required wind turbines “to fit harmoniously into the landscape.” LURC Director Catherine Carroll said, “That’s a huge change.”

— The bill cut off a layer of appeal for those protesting state permits for wind power.

— It set ambitious goals for the development of wind power that could result in 1,000 to 2,000 turbines being constructed along hundreds of miles of Maine’s landscape, including the highly prized mountaintops where wind blows hard and consistently.

— It opened every acre of the state’s 400 municipalities to fast-track wind development.

Seems a cautionary tale for communities who might be buying into this wind business without a real effort to understand the impact.  I don’t suppose this wind rush issue is a problem where you live, is it?

Well, I’m sure it can’t be happening here!  Definitely, not here!

AT Note:  Thanks to John Bambacus for pointing us to this article.