Caucus day is here again. People have the option to do more of the same or they can do something different going forward.

In addition to recommending choices for positions such as the next president of this country, people can also start a process to vastly improve the Maine economy.

Together, we can establish a goal to make Maine carbon free. There is enough wind blowing near Maine’s shore to generate all the electricity residents would ever need and then some. The people of Maine own the access to that wind, a free gift to us from the Sun which has already been paid for. 

“Earth receives in about one hour as much energy from the Sun as the human race currently uses in a full year,” according to Eric Chaisson, an astrophysicist at Harvard. In his paper, “Practical Applications of Cosmology to Human Society,” he shows that Maine currently has access to terawatts of that energy that the sun stores in the wind, water and waves near Maine’s shore. It is Mother Nature’s gift to us. It can revolutionize the state’s economy.

On Caucus day, Maine has the potential to step forward into the 21st century with more resources than residents ever dreamed possible.

There is a lot of money involved in how electricity is generated, so lots of powerful people want to maintain the status quo.

James Tierney, Auburn