Tag Archives: Sears Island
Flying over Sears Island puts the offshore wind debate in context
A bird’s-eye view can show you a lot about a place — its size and shape, its hidden contours, and the water, forests, roads and development around it. I got this landscape-level view of part of Penobscot Bay last week. I flew in a small propeller plane between Belfast, Searsport and Stockton Springs, up to the mouth of the Penobscot River where it flows from Bucksport around Verona Island, and back again. On my Penobscot Bay flight, we flew from Belfast’s tiny airstrip out over Sears Island, which is mostly undeveloped but still accessible by road. We could see the part of the island where the state wants to build the wind port, an area about one tenth the island’s size. Mack Point is where opponents of the Sears Island project say they want the port built. It was considered by the state’s Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group over the past two years. Sprague has since proposed a new approach to using the site for the port, which groups like Friends of Sears Island are pushing for. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:53
The siting of an offshore wind port raises new conflicts in Maine
Ron Huber rifled through a thick folder full of decades of state environmental records outside a community hall in the tiny coastal Maine town of Searsport. For the longtime local conservation activist, the scene inside was a familiar one: Dozens of neighbors, workers, and environmentalists mingled over pizza and coffee, discussing the merits of a proposed industrial project that has potential to transform the local economy, but at the expense of a locally beloved natural area. “We’ve seen these things rise and fall many times,” Huber said outside the event late this past spring. Conservationists have celebrated over the decades as plans for a coal plant and a liquefied natural gas terminal on Sears Island came and went without success. This latest proposal presents a new kind of conflict. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:22
Maine DOT seeks $456 million federal grant to help fund wind port on Sears Island
The Dirigo Atlantic Floating Offshore Wind Port Project. The Maine Department of Transportation said May 17 that it has applied for $456 million in grant funding from the federal government to help construct the East Coast’s first floating offshore wind port on a portion of state-owned Sears Island that is reserved for port development. “Maine has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help transform our economy, protect our environment, create good-paying jobs, and support the generation of clean, affordable, reliable energy for Maine and the region,” said Bruce Van Note, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation, in a news release. “At the direction of Governor Mills, we will work collaboratively across the Administration to bring every federal dollar available to Maine to help us seize this opportunity for our people, our environment, and our future.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:33
