PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 27, 2021
Joel Clement and Pete Didisheim (Maine Voices, Dec. 9) offer five reasons for the vote against New England Clean Energy Connect in November, namely: the project’s “inadequate” planning, “cheap” site selection, “weak” public involvement, “insulting” public benefits and “unverified” climate benefits. Each claim fails. Clement and Didisheim now suggest that we create a New England-wide “strategic, long-term transmission and distribution” plan to help address climate change. They would have this perfect plan become the enemy of the good – namely, the NECEC opportunity before us today! ~ Richard Barringer, former Maine conservation commissioner, and Lloyd Irland, former director of the Maine Bureau of Public Lands