I consider myself an environmentalist and no one wants clean air and water more than I do. Aroostook County and the rest of Maine have a high rate of cancer and lung disease, and many of our problems are caused by being downwind from the industries to the West. At the same time, we are held hostage to the Middle East for a large part of our energy needs, and many of these people hate us.

The best thing we can do is to become energy self-sufficient in the United States. In the early 1960s, electricity at our potato processing plant in Presque Isle cost 150 percent more than at plants in western states. I do not know how we compare today, since the potato plants at Washburn, Presque Isle and Fort Fairfield are all closed, along with the Birds Eye plant in Caribou, together with the shoe plants and the clothing plant in Fort Kent.

Consider how Maine and the rest of New England would look today if we had a large source of clean renewable electricity at a reasonable cost. By spending these petrol dollars at home, we would be more secure and more prosperous. If it was not for our dependence on foreign oil, America’s sons and daughters would not by dying and getting maimed in Iraq today.

The fact that companies, with the state’s assistance, are exploring ways to install generators to harvest tidal power is of great importance. Tidal power in Maine has been studied and discussed since the proposed Quoddy project of the 1930s, with no action taken.

Sen. Ed Muskie, the man who championed the most comprehensive environmental bills in our country’s history, was a strong proponent of the Dickey-Lincoln hydropower project. Sen. Margaret Chase Smith also supported the project, and when it appeared it would become a reality, they rolled out the firetrucks and had a parade in Fort Kent.

At that time, fuel was 50 cents a gallon, and most of the utilities felt threatened by public power. Others said nuclear power was the only way to go, that it might be so cheap they would not need to meter it. Another argument was that by building Dickey-Lincoln, 135 families would have to be moved. Now, years later, the poor economy has caused these families to move away and the school to close, anyway.

The environmentalists got into the debate big time. We never realized we had so many “friends” until the Friends of the St. John was formed by in- and out-of-state environmentalists. At a hearing in Augusta, an out-of-state lady wearing a hat with birds, bird nests, squirrels and rabbits on the top testified against the project. When asked if she had ever been to Aroostook County and the St. John River, she replied, “No, but someday I hope to visit that beautiful virgin paradise.” Anyone who has enjoyed the area knows it is not virgin forest, and probably has not been virgin forest for 200 years.

It is time to re-examine this project. Technology has changed in the past 50 years. The project made sense when oil was 50 cents a gallon, it makes more sense today, and eliminates the need of importing millions of barrels of foreign oil. I am concerned about the Iraq war, our security, the national debt, the disappearance of the middle class and health insurance.

I am afraid unless things change dramatically, our children and grandchildren will have a lot harder time than we have experienced.

Robert D. Tweedie lives in Westfield.