Maine Governor claims U of M wind turbine is rigged with "a little motor that turns the blades"

[wtmusic]

Republican Paul LePage is absolutely certain of this.

"Maine Governor Paul LePage accused the University of Maine of turning on an electric motor when the wind wasn’t blowing their turbine to fool people into thinking that “wind power works.”

This isn’t a joke. Reported by Mike Tipping with the Bangor Daily News, LePage told the Skowhegan Area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday:"

Now, to add insult to injury, The University of Maine, Presque Isle — anybody here been up there to see that damn windmill in the back yard? Guess what, if it’s not blowing wind outside and they have somebody visiting the campus, they have a little electric motor that turns the blades. I’m serious. They have an electric motor so they can show people that wind power works. Unbelievable. And that’s the government that you have here in the state of Maine.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/04/18/1892111/governor-lepage-maine-wind-turbine-runs-on-a-little-electric-motor-that-turns-the-blades/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. He needs to be relieved of his paycheck, and thrown the fuck out.

I am speechless.

[silverweb]

2. *facepalm*

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Sometimes it's perfectly appropriate to just point and laugh, because there's no other reasonable response.

"Asked about this curious claim, the University spokesperson’s first response was to literally laugh out loud."

[Nihil]

4. Very true ...

> Sometimes it's perfectly appropriate to just point and laugh,
> because there's no other reasonable response.

[Mopar151]

3. I've heard this lately, too, in another context

Maybe spread by Glenn Beck? - The wingnut i heard it from had a whole elaborate explanation about how wind power did'nt really work in cold climates because the gearboxes had to be heated.
Sad to say, there isn't a lot of reasoning here, or knowledge of the sheer hard work involved in building a wind farm.


Does this look like the technology is all a scam? Who would go thru this much work if the tech was'nt real?

[hatrack]

5. With all due respect, Mainers . . what the fuck happened?

Seriously, how did this assclown get into office? I know y'all are smarter than that!

[Jim Lane]

6. There might be some limited truth to it.

At an Earth Day event way back in the 1970s, I saw a demonstration wind turbine. It was equipped with a motor that could turn it on windless days, so that people could get an idea of how it looked and sounded when operating. I know this because a sign next to the turbine disclosed this fact. Giving the despicable LePage the benefit of every doubt, maybe he heard about such a demonstration project elsewhere and got confused.

If the U of Maine installation had a similar motor for similar purposes. I'd consider that legitimate, and of course not a proof that wind power doesn't work. Back in the real world, however, the linked article reports a response from U of Maine stating that there is no motor. There's only an actual operating wind turbine, which in its first year has resulted in "$100,000 off the University of Maine at Preque Isle’s utility bill, and 572 tons of CO2 not burned into the atmosphere."

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. I believe you are too generous in granting him the benefit of the doubt

I think he’s simply making stuff up that suits his politics.

[FBaggins]

9. I'd bet he made a stupid assumption

You can watch the data feed in live...

http://www.umpi.edu/wind/live

and sometimes it shows negative kW. He (or some flunky) probably figured "hey... it's spinning... but it's not producing energy, it's using it... that must be a motor"

Which doesn't follow... but he wouldn't know it.


OTOH, the university's take isn't remarkably less entertaining. They continue to insist that they're getting a good deal and are saving money. The turbine was originally billed as $1.5Million and expected to produce one million KWh/year (saving them just over $100,000/year)

The reality was that it cost $2 million (not so far off for government work)... and has never come close to producing the amount expected. From thier website it's about 435,000 since last July and a comparable amount in the ten-month period between Nov2011 and Sept2012.

They continue to claim the $100k/year in savings (though that would be a pretty high price compared to most of Maine)... but ever were it true - $2million to save $100k per year is not a very smart move. You wouldn't buy an investment that paid out that amount if it depleted your principal over 15/20/25 years.

[OKIsItJustMe]

10. I’d bet he simply lies

http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/5347/ItemId/27477/Default.aspx

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Federal Labor Officials Investigate LePage Administration[/font]

04/17/2013 Reported By: A.J. Higgins

[font size=3]Governor Paul LePage has announced the creation of a blue ribbon task force to examine Maine's unemployment compensation system. The news comes a week after reports surfaced that Gov. Paul LePage may have tried to bully state labor department hearing officers into favoring employers in disputed unemployment-benefit cases. It also coincides with a visit to Maine's capitol by U.S. Department of Labor investigators.

Gov. Paul LePage's announcement of his decision to establish a Blue Ribbon Commission to investigate Maine's entire unemployment compensation system has been eclipsed by news that the State Labor Department is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor. The governor's office would neither confirm nor deny the federal investigation rumors and state labor officials also declined comment. But the visitors log at the state Department of Labor indicated the federal officials were there Tuesday. And State Sen. Troy Jackson, the Democratic assistant Senate Majority leader, said he got his information from the top.

"The commissioner of Labor told us yesterday that U.S. DOL is here investigating...this particular incident," Jackson said.

Allegations that the governor had attempted to bully the federally-funded state hearing officers surfaced last week when the Lewiston Sun Journal published a report citing confidential sources who suggested LePage bullied eight labor hearing officers during a meeting with them last month. According to the report, the governor wanted employers to be favored in an unemployment claims appeal process that's supposed to be impartial. Members of the governor's staff and the labor department staunchly maintain LePage did nothing of the sort. Instead, they said LePage was simply attempting to alert the hearing officers to complaints he had received from employers who had given up on an appeals system they believe is weighted against them.

…[/font][/font]

[FBaggins]

11. Lol... I don't see any reason to argue whether he's dishonest or stupid.

It'when it could just as easily be both.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. LePage Spins Windmill Conspiracy Theory

http://thetippingpoint.bangordailynews.com/2013/04/18/state-politics/lepage-windmill-conspiracy-theory/

[font face=Serif]Posted on April 18, 2013 by Mike Tipping

[font size=5]LePage Spins Windmill Conspiracy Theory[/font]

[font size=3]Governor LePage has a habit of using false anecdotes to back up his policy positions. It started during his campaign and has continued throughout his time in office. He routinely makes up regulations that don’t exist http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/13295/Default.aspx , conversations that never happened http://www.sunjournal.com/news/city/2011/12/16/forbes-lepage-welfare-quotes-inaccurate/1128806 and discriminatory practices that have never occurred http://www.kjonline.com/news/lepages-remark-about-admissions-old-news-is-no-news_2012-08-03.html . LePage has repeated some of these claims even after they have been proven to be false.

What these lies have in common is that they all seem designed to highlight some extreme example of what LePage sees as wrong with the world and justify his policy prescriptions. If any of them were true, they would be very compelling.

LePage added a new false anecdote to his repertoire on Tuesday as he spoke to the Skowhegan Area Chamber of Commerce http://thetippingpoint.bangordailynews.com/2013/04/17/state-politics/lepage-next-walker/ . At the end of long rant against the wind power industry, filled with claims that the renewable resource doesn’t create jobs and leads to higher electricity rates, LePage took aim at one wind turbine in particular.

“Now, to add insult to injury, The University of Maine, Presque Isle – anybody here been up there to see that damn windmill in the back yard? Guess what, if it’s not blowing wind outside and they have somebody visiting the campus, they have a little electric motor that turns the blades. I’m serious. They have an electric motor so that they can show people wind power works. Unbelievable. And that’s the government that you have here in the state of Maine,” said LePage.

…[/font][/font]

http://thetippingpoint.bangordailynews.com/files/2013/04/lepageskowhegan_windpower.mp3

[alp227]

12. This guy is turning Maine into Maineissippi. He shows how dumb America is about science.

Please please PLEASE Maine dump LePage in 2014!!!!!!!