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Wind Off the Water
Legal Action. Maine Superior Court was asked Monday to suspend Bureau of Parks & Lands decision approving Monhegan offshore wind energy test center, test area. Click picture of complaint’s first page for 9 pg pdf of legal petition filed January 25th.
Conservation activist & deep ecologist Ron Huber has asked Maine Superior Court to rule on whether Maine Bureau of Parks & Lands Director Willard Harris followed two recently passed state laws, 12 MRSA 1868 “Identification of Offshore Wind test areas and MRSA 35-A, Chapter 34-A: Expedited Permitting of Grid scale Wind Energy Development when on December 14, 2009, he authorized the Monhegan test area, one of three in Midcoast and southern Maine waters. Read Ron’s media briefing explaining why he decided to file the case, his relationship with Monhegan – and media reactions to the case so far.
Background. Maine’s Legislature and Executive Branch have authorized the University of Maine to occupy a roughly 2 square mile deepwater tract 2 miles “south and seaward” of Monhegan Island to test build two deepwater floating wind turbines: a 100 kilowatt wind tower and a ten kilowatt one. Funding sufficient to get the project underway has been secured. As politicians, agency staffers, academics, entrepeneurs, NGOs and even two high powered public relations firms are already hard at work on this, so too should the interested public be! Information is power. Charge yourself up here: Links to documents, reports, charts, maps, photographs, deadlines, contacts, key personnel involved and other information sufficient to equip the viewer for meaningful involvement in this process, and provide a forum for the sharing and vetting of important information as it arises.
Voices of the Wind Rush. Online audio of speakers at Maine Offshore Energy ’09 11/29/09 , at Energy Ocean 2009 June 15-18 , ’09 at the 2009 ME Fishermen’s Forum Ocean Energy Workshop 3/7/09 and on January 20, 2010: speakers & legislators at hearing on wind energy bill LD 1504 before the Joint Standing Committee on Utilities and Energy
Your participation, is of course vital to bringing the essence of Monhegan into the decisionmaking mix. Issues of truth and beauty abound; who better than those who love and/or live on Monhegan to guide and shape the outcome?