JFK’s Dream of Breakthrough Energy Technology: It Was Real; It Was Passamaquoddy

“Discussion of reviving the Passamaquoddy Tidal Power Project has surfaced every few years, with studies undertaken and debates renewed. Each time, most people agree that the engineering plan is sound: the project could be built and it would work. Other considerations, however, have kept the project from being resumed.”

by Jon Rappoport, No More Fake News
March 12, 2021

The article describes John F Kennedy’s dream of a new energy project of awesome dimensions: the Passamaquoddy Tidal venture, which would have used huge water turbines to produce electricity for both America and Canada.

It would also have provided a model for the rest of the world.

I publish this account in the context of the Biden administration’s plan to convert huge tracts of privately owned US land to federally controlled property. On that land, relatively feeble “clean energy” technologies would replace, oil, coal, and natural gas—an unmitigated disaster.

It’s intentional. It’s part and parcel of the technocratic program to LOWER THE PRODUCTION AND USE OF ENERGY ALL OVER THE WORLD…

Thus, “saving the planet” from global warming.

Actually, not saving anything, but instead, further destroying the lives of people from one end of the world to the other, by condemning them to far less available energy.

Meanwhile, actual alternative energy innovations are suppressed.

This article is about the use of giant turbines submerged in water tides, and the resultant production of energy. JFK was vitally interested in the breakthrough Passamaquoddy Tidal Project, from the 1950s until his assassination in 1963. His public remarks, which I include in this piece, prove that fact.

As you read the brief history of Passamaquoddy, keep in mind that federal funding for the Project would be miniscule compared with the federal subsidizing of the oil and nuclear industries in America.

From mainememory.net: “Tide mills – submerged water wheels that run machinery – have been used in Maine at least since the 18th century.”

“But tide mills are small-scale projects. For nearly 90 years, the idea of harnessing ocean tides on a larger scale, to generate electricity, has been debated in Maine. The most prominent – and often controversial – plan has been the Passamaquoddy Tidal Power Project.”

“One appeal of using ocean tides, rather than river tides, is that they occur so regularly, unaffected by droughts or other such disturbances.”

“Passamaquoddy Bay was an obvious choice for the project because more than 70 billion cubic feet of water in tides flowed in and out of the bay twice each day.”

“In 1920, Dexter P. Cooper, a young engineer who had worked with hydroelectric power, came up with a tidal power plan for Washington County.”

“His initial plan was international, damming both Cobscook and Passamaquoddy bays to create the pools necessary to feed turbines. He had a powerful supporter, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who owned a home on nearby Campobello Island.”

“Roosevelt endorsed the idea in a speech he gave in 1920 in Eastport while he was a candidate for vice president.”

“Through the 1920s, Cooper worked on the project, will help from Roosevelt.”

“They went to big power companies like General Electric, Westinghouse, and Alcoa, looking for money for initial work on the project. They hoped to have $1 million in private funds for construction.”

“New Brunswick [Maine] had agreed to plans for the huge project, passing an act to stipulate that the work had to be completed by 1932. The Federal Power Commission in the U.S. also had authorized development work.”

“The stock market crash of 1929 scuttled private investment and public support. In addition, Canadian fishermen worried about hurting fish stocks and railroads about damage to the tourist industry in New Brunswick.”

“When FDR became president and initiated the New Deal, he and Cooper and others pushed for federal investment in the project, arguing that it would provide much needed economic recovery to Washington County.”

“Critics said there was no market for power generated in Eastport, a fact that would make the project too expensive. A Federal Power Commission report determined that tidal power would be more expensive than steam-generated power.”

“Maine appointed a five-person Quoddy Hydro-Electric Commission in 1934 to further study the idea. The group reported in January 1935 that the project could proceed only if federal funds were available and that it would be appropriate for Maine to get relief funds to be used for tidal power.”

“Other study groups also stressed the benefits of Quoddy Tidal Power.”

“In 1935, the Passamaquoddy Bay Tidal Power Project received $7 million from the Public Works Administration, funds Roosevelt could allocate without Congressional approval. The money was spent on two dams across Cobscook Bay, a two-way navigation lock, a gate structure, a main generating station, and permanent and temporary housing at a nearby site named Quoddy Village.”

“The project faced a variety of political challenges and opposition from various sources in Maine and in Washington.’

“Among the opponents were Central Maine Power Co., Bangor Hydro-Electric and other power generating firms in Maine that feared the federally funded project would generate electricity at a lower cost than they could, thereby hurting their businesses.”

“Republican Governor Ralph Owen Brewster agreed to support the project if he was guaranteed some Democratic support and credit, something Roosevelt-loyal Democrats did not want to do.”

“In Congress, Southern opposition defeated funded for the project.”

“Quoddy Tidal Power was not refunded. Work was stopped in August 1936.”

“…Cancellation of the project left Eastport in a difficult situation because the town had invested in efforts to attract industry to the area. Eastport declared bankruptcy in 1937.”

“Discussion of reviving the Passamaquoddy Tidal Power Project has surfaced every few years, with studies undertaken and debates renewed. Each time, most people agree that the engineering plan is sound: the project could be built and it would work. Other considerations, however, have kept the project from being resumed.”

Next, here are “Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy, Maine Democratic Party Conference Banquet, Augusta, Maine, November 15, 1959.”

THE DREAM OF PASSAMAQUODDY

Kennedy: “Let us examine the impact of this coming revolutionary decade on the State of Maine, selecting only one vital area: the demand for electrical energy. By 1970, this state alone, according to official estimates, will need 405,000 more kilowatts of capacity than all existing and planned private power sources can possibly supply. Without this added power, your industrial development, your competitive status, your business costs and home conveniences, will all lag behind other parts of the country. But there is an answer – an answer now based on a solid, factual study – and that answer is a dream 40 years old that must now become a reality: Passamaquoddy.”

“The recent report of the International Passamaquoddy Engineering Board fully justifies all the years of urging, planning and hoping. Soon after I took my oath of office as Senator, nearly 7 years ago, I urged an immediate study of the economic feasibility of harnessing these huge tides which surge and recede every day through Passamaquoddy and Cobscook Bays. I said then that such a study was urgently needed if we were to plan and prepare for the pressing power needs of Maine and all New England. And it is clear from this recent report that to tap this fantastic flow of 70 billion cubic feet of water each day would be a tremendous spur to the economic growth of Maine, and New England, and the entire United States.”

“I do not say that it is a simple undertaking. It will require vision and effort and leadership – more than we have been accustomed to in recent years. It will take money – more than many would like to spend. But if we have leaders who are willing to look ahead – who are willing to spend money now in order to reap vast returns in the future – then we can look forward to a new supply of 550,000 kilowatts – to some one million tourists a year coming to view one of the most spectacular products of modern technology – to the attraction of innumerable new industries with growing power needs – and to the regeneration of the whole economy of Maine and Washington County in particular.”

“I know something of Maine’s economic problems – for we see them in Massachusetts as well: the problems of the hard-hit textile and fish industries, the problems of chronically depressed areas, the problems of transportation, unfair competition and so-called “economic old age”. But I also know the advantages which Maine possesses: a highly skilled and well-educated labor force, easy access to overseas raw materials, and abundant supplies of fresh water. Combine these assets with a tremendous new supply of power at Passamaquoddy and Rankin Rapids – and new industries will flock to Maine.”

“This is not a relief measure, born of the Great Depression that we are talking about. It is not a visionary dream – or an expensive pork-barrel project. We are talking about a great national asset, like TVA, the Grand Coulee Dam or the St. Lawrence Seaway. It is, moreover, a great undertaking in peaceful international cooperation. For New Brunswick and all of Canada also need power to expand their economies. As in the case of the Seaway, their needs and their problems will also be considered along with our own in determining the precise form this project will take.”

“But even if the United States must go it alone, the combined Passamaquoddy and Rankin Rapids Projects will not meet all of Maine’s power needs by the year 1980. And if the power is to be shared with Canada, it will not even fulfill your additional needs in 1970. In short, there is no time to be wasted. The money, the labor, the plans and the contracts and the equipment – on all of these a start must be made in the near future.”

“It will be a breathless undertaking – one of the most impressive wonders of the modern world. It need not – it should not – be a partisan undertaking. Both parties have played a role. There is work enough for all – the benefits from this project will be withheld from none. But this bold undertaking will require progressive leadership, unlimited vision and tireless determination – and these are the qualities which this Maine Democratic Conference is talking about tonight.”

Speech source: Papers of John F. Kennedy. Pre-Presidential Papers. Senate Files. Series 12. Speeches and the Press. Box 905, Folder: “Maine Democratic Party Banquet, Augusta, Maine, 15 November, 1959.

On July 16, 1963, JFK, then president—and four months before his assassination—delivered further remarks on the Passamaquoddy Project, just after receiving a comprehensive report on it.

President Kennedy: “I AM pleased to meet today with Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives from New England to discuss the report on the International Passamaquoddy Tidal Project submitted by Secretary Udall. Two years ago, I asked Secretary Udall, in cooperation with the Corps of Engineers, to restudy the proposed project, and the hydroelectric potential of the St. John River in Maine to determine whether recent developments in electric power technology had enhanced the economic feasibility of these projects.”

“This report has been presented to me this morning, and its major conclusions are most encouraging. The report reveals that this unique international power complex can provide American and Canadian markets with over a million kilowatts for the daily peak period in addition to 250,000 kilowatts of firm power. Electric power rates in the New England region are among the highest in the United States, and the survey indicates that a massive block of power can be produced and delivered at a cost of about 4 mills, approximately 25 percent below the current wholesale cost of power in the region.”

“I am pleased to note also that the development plan proposed would preserve the superb recreational areas of the Allagash River from flooding, and that an area suitable for a new national park would be preserved in this scenic part of Maine.”

“Any proposed resource development project must, of course, meet the national interest test. It must strengthen the economy of the whole country and enable America to compete better in the market places of the world. I understand that, measured by the customary feasibility standards, the Passamaquoddy-St. John project now meets the national interest test.”

“During the last three decades American taxpayers, through their Federal Government, have invested vast sums of money in developing the water resources of the great rivers of this country—the Columbia, the Missouri, the Colorado, the Tennessee, and others. These investments are producing daily dividends for our country, and it is reasonable to assume that a similar investment [Passamaquoddy] in conserving the resources of New England will also benefit the Nation. It is also reasonable to assume that a New England development will stimulate more diversified industry, increase commerce, and provide more jobs.”

“Our experience in other regions and river valleys shows that private utility customers as well as public agency power users benefit from lowering the basic cost of electric energy.”

“Harnessing the energy of the tides is an exciting technological undertaking. France and the Soviet Union are already doing pioneering work in this field. Each day, over a million kilowatts of power surge in and out of the Passamaquoddy Bay. Man needs only to exercise his engineering ingenuity to convert the ocean’s surge into a great national asset. It is clear, however, that any development of this magnitude and new approach must also be considered in the context of the National Energy Study currently being undertaken by an interdepartmental committee under the chairmanship of the Director of the Office of Science and Technology, Dr. Wiesner.”

“These projects involve international waters, and equitable agreements must therefore be reached with the Canadian Government. Therefore, I am requesting the Secretary of State to initiate negotiations immediately with the Government of Canada looking toward a satisfactory arrangement for the sharing of the benefits of these two projects. Also, to insure full consideration of these proposals, I am directing that the Interior Department and the Corps of Engineers accelerate their work on the remaining studies of details.”

“The power-producing utilities of the United States are second to none in the world. The combined effort of science, private industry, and Government will surely keep this Nation in the forefront of technological progress in energy and electric power.”

“I think that this can be one of the most astonishing and beneficial joint enterprises that the people of the United States have ever undertaken and, therefore, I want to commend the Department of the Interior for its initiative in working on this matter the past 2 years, the congressional delegation from Maine which has been interested in this for many years, and the Members of Congress from New England who have supported this great effort. I think it will mean a good deal to New England and a good deal to the country.”

Apparently, the vision of Passamaquoddy died with President Kennedy, on November 22, 1963.

It should be understood that water turbines—whether they utilize the oceans or rivers—can supply enormous amounts of energy to the world. Clean energy, at affordable prices.

Passamaquoddy would have served as a stirring illustration.

We the people are engaged in an Energy War with globalist technocrats, who want to reduce overall energy production and usage on Earth, as a further means of controlling and weakening human life.

These technocrats lurk behind false science, propaganda, various government offices and agencies.

GREATER ENERGY is not a crime. It is a desired victory for all human beings.