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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Here is another sad story about our government in
Maine.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Skip</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=rchapman.cea@gmail.com href="mailto:rchapman.cea@gmail.com">Ralph
Chapman</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=skipg@midmaine.com
href="mailto:skipg@midmaine.com">skipgreenlaw</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Cc:</B> <A title=rchapman.cea@gmail.com
href="mailto:rchapman.cea@gmail.com">rchapman.cea@gmail.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, October 24, 2009 11:56 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Baldacci's legacy in the making</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Skip,<BR><BR>I've often wondered how our Governor could mess
things up worse. The big three citizen concerns are health care,
education, and energy. He started out with the Dirigo Plan which shut down
the significant drive toward a single payer plan. Then he bungled the
school consolidation. Now he has succeeded in making a serious mess out of
energy conservation services.<BR><BR>I could provide you details of his plan
(enacted by the legislature) to consolidate energy conservation services (home
weatherization, for instance) in a non-governmental entity called Efficiency
Maine Trust. But the news I got today (I still haven't confirmed the
rumors) is that the MaineHousing trained and certified energy auditors are not
being recognized by the ARRA-funded statewide weatherization program being
launched by Efficiency Maine. Hundreds of people who paid to get the
training and who bought the equipment are shut out.<BR><BR>A flavor of the
problem can be seen in the text of an email I got today as part of a list of
MaineHousing trained energy auditors. I have pasted it below.<BR><BR>I
bring this to your attention because sentiment about school consolidation is not
so strong in areas relatively unaffected by it, whereas some may be able to
understand the problem in connection with our Governor's other
missteps.<BR><BR>--Ralph Chapman<BR><A href="mailto:rchapman.cea@gmail.com"
target=_blank>rchapman.cea@gmail.com</A><BR><BR><BR><BR>Today I attended a
series of short talks at the Unitarian Church in Ellsworth. One of those
speaking was Richard Bacon of Efficiency Maine. Efficiency Maine is taking
over the Energy Auditor Certification. He said that they're going to have
a program to encourage energy efficiency improvements for middle income
households. <BR><BR>WE'RE NOT INVITED.<BR><BR>They will only use BPI
Certified Auditors. This will cost additional money to get
certified. You want to play? You have to pay off the new
bosses. The new course is $1500. No grandfathering us in.
<BR><BR>Over 600 people were certified by Maine Housing, because Gov. Baldacchi
said we'd be needed. Now I guess they don't need us any more. 600
Times $550 for the course is a third of a million dollars. Ten percent of
us buying a blower door and a camera each is about another half million.
And we're shut out.<BR><BR>It's official. I'm
angry.<BR><BR><BR><BR></BODY></HTML>