On Nov. 2, we will go to the polls to vote on a ballot question that maybe the most expensive ($71.82 million) citizens’ initiative in Maine’s history.

It is all over the proposed construction of a 145-mile-long high-voltage transmission line to bring electricity from hydroelectric power plants in Quebec to Massachusetts and Maine. Fifty miles of the 50-foot wide corridor will go through the North Woods.

It is more than a bit confusing for if you vote “Yes,” you are against the proposed corridor. Vote “No,” if you are in favor of it.

In case you live under a rug, we have been hammered by TV ads suggesting the corridor would probably:

–Help save the Earth by substituting electricity generated by water power for that produced by terrible polluting coal, oil, gas-powered plants;

–Clear cut the pristine North Woods, triggering certain death to forest critters including birds, bunnies and Bambi;

–Play us for suckers, claiming our Maine woods would be flattened to send this hydropower from a foreign country (Quebec?) to (another foreign country from away) Massachusetts.

Are you confused? Sure you are. If you are not, the TV ad campaigns have failed. You see, this citizens’ initiative is a lot more than concerned, well-meaning citizens seeking your approval of their cause. For, in reality, it is the big money boys playing us for suckers as they try to protect and expand their businesses.

And, as we are distracted by the media noise generated by those trying to overturn the 2020 election and regulate Facebook, the big energy boys are playing hardball.

All over the world, we are all grappling with what scientists say is a major change in our climate, as evidenced by terrible storms, raging wildfires, melting glaciers and ice caps, and scientific measurements.

What is going on? Who or what caused it? Is it our fault or just a natural phenomenon, one of the cycles Mother Earth goes through from time to time?

We don’t know the answers to these questions, but executives and workers, lawyers and lobbyists, and their political friends in the energy game are afraid of, or depend upon, this project.

Both sides have opened their wallets to push their position. How much have they kicked in? You can look them up at BallotPedia, a part of the Encyclopedia of American Politics.

Those urging you to vote “Yes” on the ballot are Mainers for Local Power and No CMP Corridor. They have spent $14.4 million so far. Their biggest donor ($13.6 million) is a multifaceted energy outfit named NextEra Energy Resources, LLC.

Those who want you to vote “No” have spent $51 million and change. They include NECEC Transmission LLC ($22.7 million), H.Q. Energy Services (U.S.) Inc. ($13.5 million), Central Maine Power Company ($7.6 million), Avangrid Service Company ($5.7 million), and Avangrid Management Company ($3.1 million).

Yes, folks, they have spent lots of money –serious money – to get you to vote their way. Like all political ads, the ad creators find a fact or two to put a point on their argument.

For instance, one TV ad opposing the corridor has a nice gentleman describing the project proponents’ actions as a “back room deal.”

Well, if it was, it was a pretty big back room because it involved a battalion of lawyers and lobbyists who shepherded it through regulators at the federal and state level. They had to win the approval of the state legislature, the federal and state courts, and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Recently, a Kennebec County judge ruled in open court that the state did not follow the rules by allowing the corridor to cut a 150-foot wide, one-mile-long path across state lands. That decision is on appeal. State legislators are split on the project with members of both parties on both sides. Interestingly enough, 32 house members and 12 senators declined to vote for or against the project.

Central Maine Power’s customer service reputation is another factor many voters will consider when they decide to vote “Yes” or “No.” Lots of folks don’t really like CMP. A couple of years ago, a J.D. Power national survey of the customers of 87 utility companies ranked CMP as last for customer satisfaction.

Like a lot of complex, technical problems, the CMP energy corridor poses complex questions. There are no simple answers.

It is a lot more complicated than a fondness for trees, birds, bunnies and Bambi.