Today lawmakers and wind power advocates and opponents spoke out at a hearing on an ambitious piece of offshore wind legislation proposed by Gov. John Baldacci. The emergency measure includes a goal of installing enough offshore wind turbines to power nearly 100,000 homes by 2020.

At the end of last year, the governor's Ocean Energy Task Force issued a report outlining the opportunities and challenges of developing renewable offshore wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine. Legislation calling for the state to implement the task force's recommendations was introduced last week.

"It was kind of a shell shock when this was brought forward. To me it seemed rapid, to some it didn't seem like it was rapid enough," says Gerry Cushman, a lobsterman from Port Clyde, who attended the public hearing before the Utilities and Energy Committee.

Cushman says he is neither for nor against offshore wind development. "I'm here to ask for a resolve so that they take more time to reach out to the fishermen," he says. "I think a lot has not been uncovered yet about how much bottom they're going to want to take. What are they asking from the fishermen? You know, if they're windmills, how close can we fish? There's a lot of things that haven't been answered yet."

Cushman says he has attended some of the meetings held around the state since three test sites for offshore energy projects were designated last year, but he says he and other fishermen still have lots of questions.

But many wind proponents say the state isn't working quickly enough to get offshore wind development projects going. "There are those who need more time, I think, simply to digest it -- I hope you will listen carefully to their concerns and weigh them but not hold off action so long that Maine is left behind," said Republican Sen. Kevin Raye of Perry, a member of the Ocean Energy Task Force and a cosponsor of the bill. "We see the promise and the jobs and the economic boon and the energy self-sufficiency."

The dense legislation sets a target of 300 megawatts of installed offshore wind capacity by the year 2020. That's enough to power nearly 100,000 homes. And the task force wants to produce more than 16 times that by 2030.

It proposes leasing procedures that would allow phased wind farm development and create a Renewable Ocean Energy Trust Fund that would take proceeds from offshore leases and put the money toward research and compensation for environmental impacts.

The legislation also calls for a comprehensive plan to determine how much would have to be invested in the electricity transmission and distribution system to accommodate the new generation goals.

"I'm prepared to spend as long as it takes to get as much consensus as possible and narrow the issues to have a bill come out. This is a high priority not only of the task force but the governor. I think not having a bill would send a very bad signal," says Beth Nagusky, co-chair of the Ocean Energy Task Force.

"Today or tomorrow an offshore wind developer or wave developer could come to the state of Maine and file a permit. That could happen today," Nagusky said. "What this law does is clarify our existing laws to establish a process that addresses the regulatory process that they would need to go through."

Some at the hearing objected to the bill's proposal of credits for consumers who convert to electric heating. Those opponents included oil dealers, including Bob Moore, president of Dead River Company.

"And I can't help but wonder if this is like mandating the cart before you've even created the horse, if you're going to be passing legislation telling a state agency to tell these people to move from oil to electricity that's going to be generated by something that we haven't invented yet," Moore said.

The commissioner of the state department of Marine Resources testified in favor of the bill, saying he thinks it's possible for fisherman and offshore wind developers to coexist in the three miles offshore that is considered state water. If it is not postponed as a resolve into the next legislative session, the Utilities and Energy Committee will enter into a work session on the bill.