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Wind moratorium proposed in state waters January 29, 2021 on News, Waterfront
BAR HARBOR In a Jan. 22 letter to Maine fishermen, Governor Janet Mills said she would submit legislation to create a 10-year moratorium on new wind energy development in state waters.
“While we may not agree on the best response to offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine, please know that I am being fully briefed on the feedback you are providing to the Energy Office and DMR, and I understand your concerns,” Mills wrote. “I want to make clear that my focus is the research array, proposed for federal waters. New, commercial-scale offshore wind projects do not belong in state waters that support the majority of the state’s lobster fishing activity, that provide important habitat for coastal marine and wildlife species and that support a tourist industry based in part on Maine’s iconic coastal views.”
MLA unhappy with wind power initiative
BAR HARBOR A Gulf of Maine offshore wind power initiative Maine Governor Janet Mills rolled out late last year has raised concern in the lobster fishing community, with Maine Lobstermen’s Association Executive Director Patrice McCarron telling The Islander that “the area identified by the state of Maine for a potential offshore wind farm is prime fishing bottom for Maine fishermen.”
Mills first announced plans to explore offshore wind development last June, when she signed a bill requiring the Public Utilities Commission to approve a floating offshore wind demonstration project, the first of its kind in the United States. The program, Aqua Ventus, is run through the University of Maine and is funded through $39.9 million in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Energy.
A Gulf of Maine offshore wind power initiative Maine Governor Janet Mills rolled out late last year has raised concern in the lobster fishing community, with Maine Lobstermen’s Association Executive Director Patrice McCarron telling The American that “the area identified by the state of Maine for a potential offshore wind farm is prime fishing bottom for Maine fishermen.”