I would like to thank officials at the Land Use Regulation Commission for taking the first step to deny First Wind’s 27-turbine Bowers Mountain project northwest of Grand Lakes Stream.

Tourism has propped Maine up for more than a century and will continue to do so only as long as state officials remain responsible stewards of this beautiful state. Before the mountains and ridge lines are sacrificed to industrialization, Mainers deserve to see some real, scientific proof that industrial wind will provide cheap, reliable power, reduce CO2 levels and wean residents off foreign oil.

If money is truly the No. 1 concern — not people’s health, not property values, not the killing of wildlife, not climate change, not whether there is any benefit to society — why jeopardize the 170,000 full-time jobs and $10 billion in goods and services that tourism provides?

LURC should stick to its guns, and we’ll stand behind it to protect Maine’s quality of place for future generations, as well as the state’s long-term economic prosperity.

Penny Gray, Carthage