Backers of the “Clean Power Corridor” proposed to cut a swath through western Maine forests – CMP and Hydro Quebec – are buying massive amounts of advertising to lay a guilt trip on Mainers by inferring that there is only one choice – we must approve the corridor allowing hydro power to flow to Massachusetts or else we will be responsible for releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Missing from the public discussion is that there is an apparently fully permitted alternative, Vermont’s “New England Clean Power Link,” which would bury conduits under existing right-of-ways and the bottom of Lake Champlain. Massachusetts would have to pay more to get its hydro power by this route, and of course CMP’s Spanish owners would not be able to cash in.

The owners of fossil-fuel-powered generating plants who are accused of supporting opposition to the corridor would also lose out if the NECPL route was adopted. As the old mantra goes, just follow the money!

William Bunting

Whitefield