Re: “Parties sweeten the deal for CMP transmission line” (Feb. 7, Page A1):

Great news that Maine will get many additional benefits under the project that would bring Canadian hydropower into New England, via Lewiston. There are still some naysayers out there, but their arguments ring hollow.

According to the Press Herald article, the Natural Resources Council of Maine argues that instead of this New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line project, we should strengthen homegrown energy projects. It’s not either/or. We need both.

The Say NO to NECEC group and project critic Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, argue that the project will harm the environment in Maine’s western mountains. However, this land is already crisscrossed by endless roads from intensive logging operations. See for yourself using Google Earth or in the Delorme Atlas – for example, in the lower part of Hobbstown Township.

The other naysayer cited in the article is the New England Power Generators Association, which has members including natural gas fossil fuel-fired plants in Westbrook and North Weymouth, Massachusetts. Lower-cost clean energy is competition for gas plants.

Let’s build the line to bring that clean energy to New England and provide an avalanche of benefits to Maine, as set forth in your article.

Al Howlett

Yarmouth