Central Maine Power’s proposed 145-mile corridor for power lines that rip through one of the East Coast’s last true wilderness areas is a lazy idea, and an unfriendly one. And it would just be the beginning, make no mistake about it; if you give a mouse a cookie, they’re gonna want a glass of milk.

Two things can be true at the same time. I think it’s true we need to steer towards clean renewable energy. But I also think it’s true we should not do it at the expense of preserving wild places. After all, why are we trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the first place? Is it not to protect nature? Or have we simplified the environmental crisis of our time down to being just a human problem? Do we feel that rising sea level is more concerning than depleting spawning grounds for native brook trout? Do we feel the increased erosion for shoreline communities is more important than our spiritual connection to nature? I don’t know. These are difficult questions.

So I don’t discount the predicament we’re in. Clean, renewable energy is needed if we want to slow down what we should have begun slowing down 40 years ago, but we should give ourselves more credit. Certainly, with all the brilliant people and institutions in Massachusetts and Maine we can come up with a better solution than to run a powerline through the pristine north woods for a seemingly greedy company.

Scott Bockus

Qunicy, Massachusetts

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