BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 28, 2021
Few visited a remote stretch of woods in western Maine before construction on Central Maine Power’s $1 billion hydropower corridor began there. Then in January it got a visit from a video crew working for Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. Months later, producers interviewed Tom Saviello, a leader of the group No CMP Corridor. The result was an April web segment where the Fox News personality hit the project as a “corrupt green energy scam.” (CMP allies noted factual errors and said corridor supporters were not interviewed.) It highlights the strange divisions the corridor has created in both major parties and Maine’s environmental community while uniting many otherwise at odds. Moneyed energy companies continue to fight over a 145-mile transmission line even as work is underway ahead of a potential November referendum and despite grassroots opposition rooted in mistrust of CMP. The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Council of Maine and Environment Maine are among the environmental nonprofits that oppose the project. The Conservation Law Foundation is among the environmental groups supporting the project.