I have read in today’s paper that offshore wind power will cost our taxpayers $200 million.

In Hawaii, one can see about 40 disabled and rusted wind turbines that simply are inoperable. Apparently, there is no law that requires someone to dismantle them when they don’t work.

During his campaign, Paul LePage told people about the high cost of wind power and that it was not a good payback on the investment.

Now the energy chief of our governor, according to this article, defends wind power offshore, at a cost of $200 million to Maine taxpayers!

Sounds like a deal one of our previous governors made with the first Maine wind power outfit.

This is outrageous and unreasonable, especially when there are many other energy resources that we could use, such as geothermal heat from the Earth itself, Maine wood pellets, natural gas and hemp.

(Not marijuana, but the fastest-growing biomass fuel in the world, hemp could fuel our fires and save us money since it is less costly and more renewable than trees.)

Wind power is ugly. Turbines have been erected at some of the state’s beautiful mountain landscapes, and the people who live nearby are outraged with the noise and their lower property values.

Wind power also kills birds, some of which, such as eagles, are on the endangered species list.

Wind power is not the solution to our energy problems. It is a way for some people to gain wealth, and it is not the taxpayers.

Peter Redman

Augusta