Letters to the Editor

Extend energy tax credits for a clean, healthy future

To the Editor:
    The cold air on our backs in recent days may make it hard for Mainers to believe that 2014 is on pace to be the hottest year on record for the planet, according a recent U.N. analysis. And while our temperatures may not be unusually high here in Maine, scientists say we are already experiencing the impacts of global warming, such as the shrimp fishery closures and diseased lobsters caused by warming seas.

    None of us wants to leave the next generation a world where extreme weather, rising seas, and collapsed fisheries are the new normal. To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, scientists are clearer and more emphatic than ever before that we must cut our dependence on dirty fossil fuels in favor of clean, renewable energy. A new report called More Wind, Less Warming from Environment Maine Research & Policy Center shows that wind power can be a key player in that clean energy future.
    Wind power is already growing rapidly here in Maine and around the country, and generates enough electricity to power over 15 million homes. A major contributor to this growth has been two important federal tax credits for wind power that despite bipartisan support were allowed to expire last year. We need Congress to show leadership on this issue and extend the tax credits through 2015, rather than the mere three-week extension passed by the House. This will ensure that recent growth keeps up its rapid clip and wind power could provide 30 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2030.
    Wind energy off Maine’s coast and elsewhere across the country is also poised to make a major contribution to America’s energy portfolio, providing enough electricity to power 17 million homes nationwide under a 30 percent wind scenario, including enough offshore wind here in Maine to power one million homes. That’s more than is now created by all wind power projects in operation today.
    Our research shows that speeding wind power development in this way will slow global warming. The pollution reductions achieved would offset emissions here in Maine the equivalent amount as shutting down three coal plants, and 254 nationwide.
    We would go above and beyond the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan, which requires 30 percent cut in carbon pollution from power plants. We’d be well on our way to fulfilling the commitment the U.S. made in its landmark climate agreement with China.
    More wind doesn’t just mean less global warming. It also means less of the air pollution that makes people sick, more of our increasingly precious water resources that can be saved, and more jobs for Mainers.
    To reach a vision of 30 percent wind energy by 2030, however, we need our leaders to act. We need our Senators to ensure that the federal tax credits for wind energy are extended through 2015. We also need support for the Clean Power Plan, particularly from Sen. Susan Collins given the new Republican leadership in the Senate, rather than the obstruction we’re seeing from Congressional leaders.
    These new rules proposed by the EPA in June would be the first ever limits on carbon pollution from power plants. Power plants are the largest contributor to U.S. emissions, and in fact emit more carbon than any entire country except for China. These rules aren’t a cure-all for climate change, but they are the largest step ever proposed in the U.S. to cut global warming pollution, and essential to ensuring a clean and healthy future.
    Together with solar and tidal power, wind power can replace the dirty energy sources of the past, and move us to a future in which we’re setting records for pollution-free energy, not worldwide temperatures. That’s the U.N. report we want to be reading 15 years from now.

Laura Dorle
Environment Maine
Katie Chapman
EDP Renewables
Portland

Former police officer’s opinion on Ferguson case

To the Editor:
    Being a former law enforcement officer, one question “screams” for an answer, in regards to the Ferguson, Mo., shooting.
    Since the 1970s on, “Mace” has been a standard issue for law officers. For those who wonder what Mace is, it is a small aerosol container carried on an officer’s belt. It is a pressurized form of tear gas.
    It has been used for years to “defuse” situations like the Michael Brown incident. Why was it not used?
    According to Police Officer Darren Wilson, he could not use his Taser because of the limited space in the cruiser.
    He had time to get his handgun out of his holster, so he could just as well have pulled his Mace, and if Brown was as close as he stated he could have sprayed him in the face and eyes with the Mace.
    That would have ended the altercation once the subject was handcuffed, and his face flushed with water. It would have ended, and Michael Brown would still be alive.
    The so-called mountain of evidence has nothing to say about alternatives that could have been used.
    If you have become a law officer with an embedded “fear for your life,” you are in the wrong profession.
    In the years I was affiliated with law enforcement in the state of Maine, I never heard of a lawman killing anyone with his weapon or otherwise.
    Now you can kill someone if you are in fear for your life. This law gives a poorly trained officer, who is basically a coward, a license to kill.
    The “mockery” of justice in the return of “no bill” against Darren Wilson makes honest law officers hang their heads in shame.
    God help us all.

Ron Nickerson
Guilford

Holiday raffle a huge success

To the Editor:
    The East Sangerville Union Church (built in 1843) recently held their annual holiday raffle, which raises money to help with ongoing restoration projects. The committee was very pleased with this year’s generous donations and fund-raising success. More than $1,000 was raised toward the next project, roof repair.
    Because of the continued support of neighbors and local businesses, the church is able to move closer to its successful completion of the roof repair. It is hoped that this work will begin in the spring of 2015.
    A giant “thank you” to all who supported the raffle this year!

Peggy Cleaves
Sangerville

Cyber Monday every day

To the Editor:
    This year’s annual meeting of the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council (PCEDC) was held last week on Cyber Monday, the online shopping equivalent of Black Friday. Appropriately, PCEDC focused their attention on the need for ubiquitous broadband access.
    Susan Corbett, CEO of Axiom Technologies, presented an overview of current conditions in our state; technological and political challenges to overcome; importance to social and economic development; educational and business opportunities; and provided real-life examples of how technology benefits business, fishing, farming, families and individuals.
    If there is any doubt about the significance of broadband, this past Cyber Monday dramatically demonstrated the shift of business to the Internet — online sales are skyrocketing, retail sales are plummeting. It is not just shopping, all types of transactions are taking advantage of Internet technology: renewing a license, reading the news, paying taxes, sharing family photos, managing household accounts, doing homework, taking a college course — watching a movie.
    Ms. Corbett’s success in Washington County is a direct result of her personal commitment to improving Internet services and introducing related technologies for her community and customers. We hope her achievements have inspired and motivated our county officials, business and civic leaders, service providers and interested citizens who attended the PCEDC meeting.
    The Three-ring Binder, a high-speed fiber optic cable, runs through southern Piscataquis County. Its potential has hardly been tapped. Active community support and collaboration with service providers, like Ms. Corbett, could take advantage of this underutilized resource to make broadband access a reality throughout Piscataquis County.

William N. Welsh
Sebec