Reading the news Wednesday morning in Alberta, I was devastated, absolutely devastated, to learn that Quebec has suffered a huge setback in trying to build border-crossing energy infrastructure. Really, these are tears of sorrow and not laughter, I assure you.
Tuesday night, voters in the state of Maine held a referendum on a ballot proposition to prohibit the construction of the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), a joint project to run a heavy transmission line from Hydro-Quebec’s dams to the New England electrical grid through the forests of the state’s western half. At the moment, with close to 90 per cent of Maine’s precincts reporting, the “Yes” vote on the proposition — a vote to stop work on the line, which is already underway — is winning nearly 60-40.
The fight over Ballot Question 1 quickly became a Marvel Universe-like war of campaign money between the beneficiaries of the project and a weird mix of Buy American protectionists, Maine-based power companies that burn oil, and (some) environmentalists, including the Sierra Club. The resulting campaign fight is estimated to have been the second most expensive in the entire history of the state, and the true amount of dark money floating around can only be guessed at.
No comments:
Post a Comment