As I read of the jobs lost at Fraser Paper, I felt sorry for the people involved, and the impact on the area. This is just the latest event in a long list of job losses in this state.

One recurring part of this picture is the high price of electricity. We are told electric bills are going up 46 percent. We need to take another look at the once proposed hydro project Dickey Lincoln, located in northwestern Maine.

President John F. Kennedy flew over Dickey Lincoln in Air Force One, after speaking at the University of Maine in Orono in October 1963. Sen. Ed Muskie was a champion of this project and Sen. Margaret Chase Smith also endorsed it. Later Sen. Muskie explained Dickey Lincoln to President Lyndon Johnson, and the president said, “It is Maine’s turn at bat.” The Vietnam War heated up, and the environmentalists lined up against the project and it died.

Maine needs more and cheaper electricity. Hydro power can provide some of this. Who will see that we take another look at this project? I wrote the same letter to the governor, and the Maine congressional delegation.

I did not get a reply from Rep. Tom Allen. Rep. Mike Michaud, and Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins all sent form letters outlining the wonderful things they are supporting in the energy field. Not one mentioned Dickey Lincoln, pro or con. The State Planning Office wrote that if Dickey Lincoln was viable, private investors would build it. They are forgetting that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers studied the project extensively, and the U.S government was going to get the necessary permits, and provide the money to build this project.

I hope some organizations will see that this project is studied again. It would help if the governor’s office and the Maine congressional delegation would get on board.

Bob Tweedie

Westfield