I have written a column about wind turbines in the past because I feel that they are a failure promoted by the political left and are heavily subsidized by tax dollars in order to increase their construction.

One particular note about those turbines that is often overlooked by those who try to sell us the benefits of wind turbines is the fact that they seldom produce the amounts of electricity as promised, especially turbines of a smaller scale. Thank God this fact is not lost on the Governor of Maine, Paul LePage.

The subject of the governor’s radio address on Jan. 7 was about lowering energy prices to create a path of economic growth in order to create more jobs for the residents of Maine. Gov. LePage stated: “Mainers currently pay 42 percent above the national average for electricity. High energy costs are putting job-killing demands on Maine’s private sector job creators.”

That does not come as a surprise to my wife and me. In the past couple of years we have spent thousands of dollars on improvements to our house and some of those improvements were to greatly reduce our huge electricity bill. I am happy that at least one politician in Augusta has a clue as to why Maine is such an expensive place to live.

The governor goes on to promise he will work hard to reduce energy costs for the citizens of Maine. I am glad that he knows that there is a proposal that could cause Mainers to pay even higher costs for electricity. He states: “The Maine Citizen’s for Clean Energy Coalition is collecting signatures for a November ballot initiative that would tremendously increase costs on Maine’s ratepayers, while padding the pockets of a select few special interest groups in Augusta. The question would ask voters if they want to require that at least 20 percent of Maine’s electricity come from new renewable energy sources by 2020. The proposal would force ratepayers to use and pay for higher priced electricity. This will place an enormous burden on Maine people – adding approximately $50 million annually to people’s electricity costs.”

I fully agree with LePage on this issue, especially since my wife and I went into temporary debt in order to lower our costs for hot water by installing an on-demand hot water heater and the purchase of energy-efficient appliances which luckily for us were on sale at Sears (and yes, we purchased them locally in North Windham). We are very happy to report that our electricity bill was reduced by close to 50 percent. We also installed a better roofing system and insulated storm-doors which has reduced our heating costs.

I will mention briefly two programs that the government calls improvements in our lives. One is the addition of ethanol in gasoline and the other is the use of multiple chlorides to improve the driving conditions on our roads. I consider them both related because both of them harm us while supposing to improve our daily lives. It’s not that I find that surprising because our government at all levels has become fixated on itself instead of us. Ethanol is nothing more than grain alcohol and was heavy subsidizing by tax dollars. I believe those subsidies have run out so now one will pay more at the pump for gasoline for a product that reduces gasoline mileage and probably damages the engines in older vehicles.

Although many citizens are happy that our roads have improved during harsh winter storms because of the use of calcium, magnesium and sodium chlorides, the fact that many states and localities use a combination of at least two of these corrosives has resulted in the destruction of parts of our vehicles. There is no doubt that the vehicle life of our vehicles has been greatly reduced. It was something I complained about years ago and now Windham Public Works finally acknowledged that fact by switching from calcium to magnesium chloride. However, don’t bet on one being worse than the other.

Lane Hiltunen of Windham knows why government intelligence is an oxymoron.