There are three state-wide referendum questions on the November 2 ballot.
QUESTION 1
Question 1 reads: “Do you want to ban the construction of high-impact electric transmission lines in the Upper Kennebec Region and to require the Legislature to approve all other such projects anywhere in Maine, both retroactively to 2020, and to require the Legislature, retroactively to 2014, to approve by a two-thirds vote such projects using public land?”
Although the question does not mention the CMP Corridor, a YES vote would stop the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) currently approved and under construction in the upper Kennebec Region and require a 2/3 vote for approval of high-impact transmission line construction on public land anywhere in Maine since 2014.
A NO vote would let construction continue on the project’s 53 miles of new transmission lines and not mandate this legislative approval.
Major funding for campaigns urging voters to vote NO has come from corporations that are involved with the project. Clean Energy Matters, a political action committee (PAC) that includes Hydro-Quebec and CMP, has spent approximately $40 million.
Mainers for Local Power, is funded by Maine natural gas plants and their parent companies in Florida and Texas. This PAC has raised about $9.5 million to convince voters to vote YES.
The complexityof the issue, a barrage of TV ads, and wording of the question — scored at the post- high school level for readability by the Flech-Kindale formula — have contributed to the public’s confusion about this citizens’ initiated referendum.
The Citizen’s Guide to the Referendum Election, published by the Maine Secretary of State’s office, available online, includes public comments both in support and opposed to Question 1.
Those in support of the measure, and a YES vote, believe the CMP Corridor will damage the environment of heavily-wooded western Maine and greatly enrich the project’s two foreign companies with little financial benefit for Maine, since most of the power would go “from Canada to Massachusetts”. They also would like elected lawmakers and Mainers to have more voice in these decisions and therefore support the legislative 2/3 vote requirement.
Many of those who oppose Question 1 believe the CMP Corridor provides clean energy and is a step toward reducing dependence on fossil fuel. They are also concerned that the requirement for legislative approval will remove permitting construction
projects from impartial experts. Energy projects now must undergo strict review by state and federal agencies with strict criteria that protect the environment and the economy, they say, and urge voters to vote NO.
Questions have been raised by the public about some of the benefits Mainers could expect from the Corridor, including the number of permanent jobs it would create. Here, the numbers vary from one legislator’s estimate of 38, to 1,600 cited by a spokesman for NECEC. Others estimate the number to be closer to 600.
Although most electricity will go to the six states on the New England Power Grid, it is estimated that Maine would receive enough power annually for 70,000 homes. A lease negotiated for the use of public land for the project is paying the state $65,000 annually. This lease is in effect, but is under appeal and could be deemed invalid.
QUESTION 2
Question 2 reads: “Do you favor a $100,000,000 bond issue to build or improve roads, bridges, railroads, airports, transit facilities and ports and make other transportation investments, to be used to leverage an estimated $253,000,000 in federal and other funds?”
No public comments were filed in support or opposition to Question 2.
QUESTION 3
Question 3 reads: “Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to declare that all individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to grow, raise, harvest, produce
and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being?
Those in favor of this constitutional amendment emphasize that this is not about securing free food from the government, but about people’s right to produce food without government interference. They say it does not allow poaching and other abuses of private property or public lands.
Citing Maine’s food insecurity rate of 14%, they want the right to grow and raise food and to exchange seeds be protected by law. They call it a tribute to small-scale food producers and all eaters. They urge a YES vote on Question 3.
Those opposed to Question 3 say it is vague and ambiguous and urge a NO vote. Although they too are concerned about corporate influence on the food supply, they believe the amendment could strip away animal welfare standards and take away the power of local governments to provide health, safety, zoning and anti-pollution standards.
The measure is opposed by a number of organizations concerned about animal welfare, including the Maine Veterinary Medical Association and the Maine Farm Bureau.