Recently Tony Buxton, a lobbyist working in favor of Central Maine Power’s controversial transmission corridor, said that the voices of small-town Mainers shouldn’t be considered during the permitting process.

During a debate, he said that it “would be absurd” for small towns to have a say in what goes through their backyard, picking on Caratunk, the smallest town that has voted, as an example. He made similar statements before the Public Utilities Commission to persuade commissioners to ignore Caratunk’s substantive arguments.

What an infuriating, prejudiced argument! All Maine citizens are relevant – whether they live in a rural or industrialized town/city. Of course, western Maine should have a say in the permitting process for an elective power corridor that won’t supply a single megawatt of power to Maine and yet alter Mainer’s resources, industries and ways of life.

To set the record straight: Caratunk is hardly the only town that has voted to oppose this destructive project. To date, 24 towns have voted to oppose or rescind support, and many of those votes were landslide votes. Wilton voted 121-1 to oppose; Jay, 250-12; New Sharon, 82-4; Durham, 190-8; Chesterville, 105-5; Eustis, 103-4 – the list goes on.

Polls show Mainers believe the proposed CMP corridor is a bad deal, and those directly impacted should absolutely have a say in the permitting process. I look forward to signing the petition to initiate a referendum on this very issue. Small town and rural Mainers will not let CMP and bureaucrats in Augusta disregard our voices.

Elizabeth Caruso

Caratunk

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