Community Debate
A statewide poll in Spring 2007 by the Pan Atlantic SMS Group showed that 85% of Maine people supported wind power development.
A 2009 poll conducted by Portland-based Critical Insights shows that 90% of Maine people support the development of wind power as a source of electricity. Nearly nine in ten Mainers agree that "wind power can improve energy security and reduce Maine’s dependence on fossil fuels, and eight in ten agree that wind power will produce jobs and other forms of economic benefits".
In a 2010 statewide telephone poll of 500 registered voters, 88 percent supported wind power in Maine. Calls to residents in seven rural "rim" counties, from Aroostook to Oxford, where most wind power projects are built or planned, showed 83 percent support. Survey results show that Maine residents "strongly support wind power development, chiefly because it cuts dependence on fossil fuels and creates jobs". The survey was done by Portland-based Pan Atlantic SMS Group for the Maine Renewable Energy Association.
However, some community opposition has arisen, expressed as litigation against mountain wind farms and an ocean wind turbine proposal, as civic activism, and as development of municipal ordinances.
Read more about this topic: Wind Power In Maine
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