TIMES RECORD • April 15, 2021
In a stunning development last week, the Department of Marine Resources announced it was abandoning its effort to amend dam licenses on the Kennebec River that could have prompted federal orders to remove four main-stream hydroelectric dams. The move came after Brookfield Renewable Partners, the energy giant based in Canada, which owns the dams and many other hydro facilities in Maine, filed suit to block the rulemaking. Some environmental groups, which once supported hydro as “renewable energy,” turned against it in the 1990s, for reasons that still seem murky. Nor have they reconsidered their stance despite looming climate disaster. The administration has produced ambitious and detailed plans for “decarbonizing” transportation and energy sectors. Yet it must quickly resolve the apparent contradictions in its approach for actually getting there. ~ Douglas Rooks