Maine needs to return to reason

Pick up any statistical analysis of the economic situation in Maine and you arrive at the same general conclusions: 1) Our population is decreasing; 2) Our percentage of younger working people is decreasing; 3) Our average income is decreasing; 4) Our unemployment is increasing; 5) Our taxes are increasing; 6) Our state budget shortfall is increasing, all relative to the rest of the nation. Why is this?

There are several reasons all of which I believe could be corrected over time with a simple “return to reason” in our decision-making in Maine.

There is a very apparent group of people in our state who are not concerned about jobs and can afford the high cost of a slow economy. They are more interested in preserving the status quo than in compromising on environmental and growth issues in order to promote jobs and economic progress. Is it reasonable for a poor state to have the most stringent of environmental and growth restrictions in the country, second only to California in most instances?

Here are a few examples of where we discouraged some important projects in Maine that could have gone a long way in promoting good jobs and important tax base enterprises in our state.

The Sears Island port facility, which was supported by a majority of the state, with the passage of a bond issue more than 20 years ago, was never built because of court injunctions and environmental hearings designed to delay and add cost to the project by a group of “No Growth” advocates, who used all the delaying tactics the law would allow to make the project economically impossible.

We need a return to reason. For this to happen, Mainers have to voice their objection to the tactics of “No Growth” advocates who aren’t interested in reasonable compromises to facilitate some economically attractive activity to promote jobs and an increased tax base.

A few years ago the Great Northern Paper Co. tried to promote the construction of the Big A Dam project on their own land. After several years of hearings, resulting in costly additional conditions, the project had to be abandoned. It would have produced inexpensive energy and would probably have allowed the Great Northern to remain competitive in the world market and be prosperous with jobs and a tax base today.

More than 10 years ago, the widening of the Maine Turnpike was held up for years, costing much more to complete and slowing economic growth for many years. “No Growth” opponents used every legal tactic to delay the project. We need a return to reason.

We have been holding hearings for several years now on Plum Creek’s development proposal for the Moosehead Lake region, one of the most ambitious undertakings to bring some economic activity to our state that we have ever seen. “No Growth” advocates are doing their best to promote delays and added costs to the project with the hope of discouraging the developers so they abandon the project as economically unfeasible. There are some legitimate requirements to make the project environmentally sound, but these should be addressed in a reasonable manner consistent with making the project economically sound. We need a return to reason.

A few years ago this country was bombarded with erroneous unfounded allegations about the dangers of nuclear power. The “No Growth” advocates were successful in delaying new nuclear construction projects and adding to their costs so that this low-cost energy alternative had to be abandoned in our country; no new nuclear plants have been built for many years. We were looking at 1- to 2-cent electric costs compared to 10 to 12 cents per kilowatt hour with oil. Our own Maine Yankee plant, which was producing electricity at about 2 cents per kilowatt hour, was abandoned instead of undergoing a very doable plant upgrade – all because the owners feared to go through the permitting process with the “No Growth” advocates leading the charge to delay the process and add additional costly items based upon unfounded fears and charges. We need a return to reason.

A return to reason requires good people in the state to make their voices heard and their feelings recognized. They need to convince lawmakers that there is another voice in Maine, representing the majority of us, who want energy development and economic progress, which would lower our costs and taxes, promote jobs, and keep our young people here in Maine. We must be willing to make reasonable compromises with economic endeavors and must discourage the acts of “No Growth” advocates who are doing their best to preserve the status quo. We need a return to reason.

Ralph Leonard of Old Town, a long-time businessman, owns Central Equipment Co.