I’m responding to George Smith’s column of Dec. 28 about offshore power and Monhegan Island. Smith makes an argument that there are places offshore to plant windmills, other than Monhegan. He says there are “lots of places.”

Unfortunately for him, every single one of those places has a constituency. In these internet-driven times, the voice of any group, no matter how small, can speak with the power of multitudes. No matter where the utility companies choose to plant their offshore power, there will be someone to speak up and oppose the plan, for their own selfish reasons — the same as Smith.

If small but vocal constituencies had had similar power a century or more ago, the artist colonies, microbreweries, bed-and-breakfasts and port facilities that Smith lauds would never have been allowed to settle on Monhegan Island in the first place. It would have been reserved for the birds and seals.

Bruce E. Hanson

Augusta