BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 28, 2021
Central Maine Power and its allies claim that its transmission corridor will deliver green energy from Hydro-Quebec to Massachusetts. The utility has a history of lobbying against green energy bills, including a bill to study greenhouse gas emissions from its proposed transmission corridor. CMP should have welcomed this study. Lost in the debate are: One, Hydro-Quebec’s 27 largest reservoirs have flooded thousands of acres of greenhouse gas-absorbing boreal forests. Two, decomposing roots, limbs, and trees at the bottom of Hydro-Quebec’s reservoirs release methane, a greenhouse gas that’s 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat. Three, scientists are discovering that methylmercury, a dangerous neurotoxin, has increased since Hydro-Quebec impounded rivers, impacting the Innu Nation’s fisheries. I don’t buy what CMP is saying about its so-called green energy and I can’t support their plans to construct 53 miles of new transmission corridor through the Maine woods. I’m voting yes on Question 1. ~ Ronald Joseph, Sidney