Stratton, Maine. At about 8 a.m., Tuesday July 6, at least fifty Earth First! activists blockaded Goldbrook Rd, the access point to the Kibby Mountain wind project outside the town of Stratton, halting the construction of 22 industrial wind turbines on the delicate Alpine ecosystems of Maine’s western boundary mountains.
The action comes just before the Land Use Regulation Commission’s (LURC) meeting July 7 to consider a proposal for a similar project on neighboring Sisk Mountain, and on the heels of the
national Earth First! Round River Rendezvous, hosted this year by Maine Earth First!
TransCanada, the transnational corporation responsible for the devastating practice of tar sands oil extraction in Alberta, Canada, has already built 24 mammoth turbines on Kibby Mountain, and has begun construction of an additional 22 turbines, a process that includes significant road building and wide transmission line corridors.
These projects are part of a trend that shifts from forest management to development in Maine,
which threatens to permanently change the face of Maine’s North Woods, the largest undeveloped wilderness east of the Mississippi river. Both Sisk and Kibby Mountain projects will reap huge benefits for TransCanada and the landowner Plum Creek.
“In the face of the Gulf Oil Disaster, and massively destructive coal mining, we recognize the value of developing alternative energy systems,” said Meg Gilmartin of Earth First! “But these projects are a perfect example of how corporations and investors are taking advantage of the climate and energy crises to make profits while avoiding accountability. We don’t view projects on this industrial scale as being the solution to our problems.”
“If we really want to look at how the North Woods can mitigate climate change, we should restore our forest and protect sensitive ecosystems, like those on Sisk and Kibby Mountain,” said Ryan Clark of Earth First! “These unique high altitude areas are breeding grounds for the endangered Bicknell Thrush, nesting sites for the federally protected Golden Eagle and critical habitat for endangered Canadian Lynx.”
The project is also being protested for moving forward without public hearings.
Earth First is a network of activists that focuses on grassroots organizing and direct actions in defense of the earth’s natural systems, and maintains a no-compromise stance.
Maine public radio news at noon said "A standoff at a windpower construction site on Kibby Mtn has ended peacefully with members of an environmental group being escorted away from the north woods site."
ReplyDeleteThe joy of fighting habitat-attacking, bird-whacking, wind turbines in the wild Maine mountains is seen in the eyes of this locked-down Earth First!er from Minnesota, underneath a tractor trailer hauling a birdchipper blade up Kibby Mountain. More photos at the link.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailybulldog.com/db/?p=5193
Knowing little about this particular project before seeing this page, I'm wary of finding out how things turned out 8.5 years later.
ReplyDeleteThe general public is at least wising up to the blight of these fossil-fuel-dependent colossi, but it took a certain infestation level to get enough attention. It's now too late for many regions do stop it.
Large wind turbines are a tragic case of blight for naught. The right way to save the planet is to end economic growthism and debt-based money worship. We don't need a reborn free energy mentality via greenwashed industrial parks.