MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 27, 2021
Our electric grid is quickly becoming the most critical infrastructure in our society. As residents and businesses move away from fossil fuels to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, we will depend more and more on the ability to access reliable, clean, affordable electricity. This will require significant investments in our grid, investments that we young Mainers will inherit. We would like to help steer these investments, and we would like to own them. L.D. 1708, An Act to Create the Pine Tree Power Company, would accomplish just that. We cannot afford to continue trying to force Maine’s past investor-owned model to do something it was never meant to do: Put Mainers first. It is time for us to take charge of our electric grid and take control of our energy future. ~ Emily Rochford, Burnham, Maine Youth for Climate Justice