Tourism, not wind energy, is Maine’s legitimate economic engine

To the editor:
    As a member of the tourism industry, I feel strongly the Oakfield Wind Project expansion should be denied, and for that matter, every other industrial wind project that comes down the pike. We must protect Maine’s quality of place if we are to ensure our long term economic prosperity. This state is truly a natural and international treasure.
    In spite of abundant corporate and political propaganda and brain washing, there’s nothing “green” about industrial wind, and the process by which it is being shoved down rural Mainer’s throats is downright unconstitutional. Wind developers have never been required to provide any proof whatsoever that their projects will lower electric rates, wean us off of foreign heating oil and gasoline, or lower CO2 in the environment. They haven’t had to prove that their projects will shut down any existing power plants. They haven’t had to prove that their turbines even generate any electricity at all. Why are we accepting these grandiose statements without any scientific proof?
    Wind developers spout the nameplate capacity of their turbines but neglect to divulge that these capacities are not only over rated by the manufacturer, but wind turbines only produce any meaningful amounts of energy when the wind is blowing a steady 28 mph, which is about 12 percent of the time here in Maine. And if that energy can’t be stored, which it can’t, the capacity factor of wind hovers right around the 10 percent mark, which makes it basically useless to the power grid. I’ve lived off grid for over 25 years, so I understand probably better than most the drawbacks of renewable energy. Solar panels don’t work well at night or on cloudy days, and wind turbines produce negligible energy unless the wind is blowing stiff enough to keep the wet laundry right out straight on the clothes line.
    Take a long hard look at what’s happening in Europe, because they’ve had a 20-year head start on us, and those industrial turbines have done nothing but drive up energy costs, drive out jobs, and bankrupt countries. If we continue down the same path, we’ll soon be facing the same grim future.
    Tourism, on the other hand, has enjoyed an illustrious track record here in Maine. It has proven itself as Maine’s biggest and longest lived environmental engine. Tourism has propped up this state for well over a century but will continue to do so only as long as we remain responsible stewards.
    Maine is pretty far off the beaten (read “industrialized”) path, which is one of the reasons why we still have something very, very special to market to the rest of the world. Before we sacrifice our treasured quality of place to sprawling industrialization, Mainers deserve to see some real scientific proof that this as yet unproved industry will provide cheap reliable power, employ many local residents year round, reduce CO2 levels and wean us off foreign oil. We deserve to know how many Maine homes are currently being powered by the industrial wind projects now on line here in the state, and what they are paying per kilowatt hour.
    If money and temporary jobs are truly the number one concern — not people’s health, not property values, not the killing of wildlife, not climate change, not whether there is any benefit to us as a society, why would we even consider jeopardizing the 170,000 full-time jobs, $535 million in tax revenues and $10 billion in goods and services that tourism currently provides annually, even in this bad economy?
Penelope Reed Gray
Registered Maine master guide
Freeport