Settlement won’t cover BP disaster
Just last week, more than two years since the spill, BP announced that it had reached an agreement with the U.S. government and will pay $4.5 billion in civil and criminal fines for the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. As someone who is deeply concerned for the environment, I see this as the first step of many to attempt to fix the mess that BP created.
While this is a historic settlement, with the potential for billions in additional fines and civil lawsuits to follow, it will never come close to covering the cost of this catastrophic disaster. The 11 lives lost, as well as the economic and environmental damage caused by this unforgettable disaster, will never fully be compensated.
Offshore drilling remains dirty and dangerous. In the wake of the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history, our country should not be increasing offshore drilling but, rather, stopping the expansion.
Expanding drilling will not significantly lower gas prices or decrease our dependency on foreign oil. Instead of expanding drilling, we should be investing in clean, renewable sources of energy, like offshore wind power, that will create jobs, strengthen our coastal communities and protect the health of our oceans.
Kathryn Lee
Waterville
Comments on pastor challenged
In the BDN on Nov. 20, Adam Flanders expressed his concern for protection under the U.S. Constitution. That is commendable, but he must realize that the Constitution was written for the protection of the rights of the majority as well as for minorities. It is for all.
I am not a member of the Stockton Springs Community Church, but I often attend services there. Flanders’ depiction of the pastor and the church, that they “may have been the most politically active church in the state of Maine,” would be almost laughable if it were not so serious! The pastor has only been at the church for a few weeks and has never, in my hearing, said any of the things Flanders has accused him of in this letter and on the Internet.
I would be interested in knowing where Flanders gets his information. How did he know about the purported emails? Who is he referring to as “those who believe in equality?” Why is he attacking this pastor and church now? Is it for justice or vengeance? And since he is so intent on seeing justice done in church/state issues, will we be seeing a follow-up letter from him concerning churches and pastors who urged support for yes on Question 1? Will he also report them to the IRS?
Robert Merriam
Stockton Springs
US carbon emissions irrelevant
The U.S. contribution of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere is about 6 billion metric tons per year. Our economy is mature; our heavy industry has moved to China and India, while we have shifted largely to natural gas. The result is a future U.S. energy economy without significant annual increases in carbon dioxide emissions. On the other hand, China is building a large coal-burning electric plant every week.
By the year 2020, India and China will contribute 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year. If carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a growing problem, the United States, along with the rest of the developed world, is about to become irrelevant. Who will tell
the Chinese that their poverty, hunger, poor health and limited opportunity are smaller problems than a rise in worldwide temperature? We believe that cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption are social problems, so what do we do? Tax the heck out of them!
Any political leader pushing a tax on carbon would be hooted out of the arena. But we continue to squander public resources on the subsidization of absurd alternatives.
Richard C. Hill
Old Town
Don’t ‘tank’ Maine way of life
I was born in Damariscotta, lived in Kennebunk and West Bowdoin, moved away and returned to Belfast in 2003. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world. The attraction of our Penobscot region continues to bring in lovers of Maine who long to retire here and spend their money here; they support our towns, marketplaces, university. Their ranks are swelled by the now-twice-weekly visits from a small cruise line through the summer and fall seasons.
Why should we consider bringing in a liquid petroleum gas tank of 22.7 million gallons, 14 stories tall, 500 feet from Route 1, stored at minus 44 degrees, with a 75-foot tower, which will flare off gas 365 days a year and a mile-long pipeline? “Security” lights will flood the Searsport area, where a potential explosion could incinerate everything within a one-mile radius.
Fellow citizens, friends, neighbors, I beg you not to be taken in by illusory promises of jobs and not to be taken in by false advertising paid for by rich, out-of-state corporations who know nothing but the bottom line of profit. We can build our beloved state of Maine the way we always have: by community efforts and native Maine ingenuity and resourcefulness and (may I say it?) the love that binds us to each other and to this place.
Helen Hughes
Belfast
We need Medicaid/MaineCare
We all know someone whose family has an elderly relative or neighbor who needs home care or nursing home care. But I wonder how many of us know that Medicaid pays for almost 70 percent of all long-term care. Without Medicaid (MaineCare), many of our friends and neighbors would have to provide 24-hour care to their loved ones and still hold down one or more jobs to support their family.
In spite of all this, Congress is talking about cutting Medicaid drastically and permanently to reduce the country’s deficit.
Without Medicaid, a family must pay for long-term care with expensive and unreliable long-term care insurance or pay cash. In Maine, the average cost of a nursing home is about $96,000 per year. How many families can afford that? Even if they can, their savings are gone in a year or two. Then they qualify for Medicaid/MaineCare. Without it, we are in serious trouble. We need Medicaid, and I hope you will call Sen. Susan Collins at 622-8414 and Sen. Olympia Snowe at 800-432-1599 to tell them to vote no on cuts to Medicaid.
Sherry Langway
Bangor
Ohhh.. because everyone does it then we are okay. Last time I checked we are not China or India. We are the USA, fossel fuels are not a viable energy source, its only and can only ever be a temporary source. Especially when the world is growing as it is. We need renewable energy, and the sooner the better. Eventually we will have to get there. The people that want to put it off are just passing the buck.
Agreed, we should lead and set a good example…though that our efforts will largely be nullified (co2) isn’t inaccurate.
We started running out of oil the day we pumped the first drop out of the ground. It is and has always been a finite resource, period. We never should have gotten hooked on the stuff in the first place. Edison tried to save us from ourselves with a renewable energy source that could be stored. D/C electricity. Can you imagine how much more advanced we would be if we had put the effort into battery research that we have into finding new ways to burn fuel? We would have cars and trucks that would go coast to coast on a charge!
First, these are Thursday’s letters, not Wednesday’s.
Second, good letter S. Langway.
Third, K, Lee: BP did create a disaster,not only in the Gulf, but has managed to destroy three companies; themselves and the two US companies they bought and also destroyed (Standard Oil Ohio and Amoco). However, proper drilling practices, which BP and Halliburton ignored, are being used and enforced in the Gulf and the drilling level has been restored, even expanded.
I expect negative votes on just about anything I post, but these two (9:42 AM Thurs.) puzzle me.
Probably part of the “quit picking on BP, too many regulations!!!” set.
Richard C. Hill, subsadies are a part of our country. We subsidized the RR’s, we subsidize the airline industry, we subsidize all sorts of things. I wonder how many medical breakthroughs have come about because of subsidized research in colleges?
We are in a learning curve when it comes to clean energy. To stifle the research and development of clean energy seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
BP has apologized. They are truly sorry for having to pay the $4.5 billion.
LOL
The part I like best is they are banned indefinitely from bidding on any more government contracts.
I would truly love to see some of you actually get into a conversation with Prof.Hill about the numbers involved with alternative energy.He is a man who not only knows his stuff he’s got the stats to back them up.But I highly doubt he would waste is time explaining to those of you who have already made up your minds.Thank you for the letter Prof. Hill.
Professor Hill won’t be on the earth when the oil runs dry. None of us will. Though it will happen. The nations that have a “mature” alternative energy infrastructure in place will be in good shape, those that don’t, will join the 3rd world. You and the Professor need to think long.
Helen Hughes: Vote for or against an industry for your town, it doesn’t matter to me. But knock it off on denigrating industry as spoilers of Maine scenery. Some of the prettiest sights in Maine are mills, old and new, looking productive and majestic beside a river.
What’s even prettier is the sight of all those employees cashing their pay checks and spending their hard earned money locally.
Agree. There are many beautiful sights. Beauty isn’t limited to trees and water.
Some might be…some are decaying eyesores.
I knew a honey dipper once. His favorite saying was that it may smell like poop to you but it smelled like money to him.
That’s true. I know quite a few lobster guys who come home smelling like bait. I don’t envy it, but it sure does pay well (well some years that is!)
Though abandoned mills ain’t paying much. At least not in my town. They’re just sitting there growing more decrepit and the buyers sure aren’t lining up.
Some might think the Parthenon and Stonehenge are decaying eyesores. I realize that the mills aren’t as old as the castles of Europe (many of which are also decaying), but they are our heritage.
Our mills, old and new, are a reminder that we can be productive. We still need to be producing goods and employing workers.
Sure…so are empty strip malls. Should we preserve them too? ;)
Seriously though, some cities have restored and beautified their old mills and put them back to work, and I am totally for this – though this is generally only done in areas that still are economically active. Investing in revitalizing a mill in a”dead” mill town is seen probably rightfully as a waste of money.
Unlike ancient stone buildings, our buildings are filled with environmental contaminants – and are targets for squatting, graffiti, arson and vandalism in general. Though tearing them down and cleaning up is obviously not a cheap proposition either…so it’s definitely a catch 22.
Your point about abandoned strip malls is a good one. I know I was stretching it by comparing the old mills to Stonehenge. Yet, as you point out, some have be rehabbed beautifully. I agree that it’s a catch 22.
Robert Merriam: excellent letter. I especially appreciated your thoughts concerning the churches who explicitly SUPPORTED the ‘yes on 1’ campaign. Excellent use of measured logic.
It’s upsetting that a church would be vandalized for any reason. Although we don’t know for certain, the Stockton Springs church may have been targeted because their pastor had opposed same-sex marriage.
The Pittsfield, Maine, Universalist church was also vandalized. Their pastor supported same-sex marriage.
Two churches on opposites sides of the debate, both vandalized. In the emotional heat of an election campaign sometimes a few people on both sides behave stupidly and badly.
Note to online editor: These letters are for Thursday, not Wednesday.
Also, there’s only one 27th in November (yesterday’s letters were ‘Wednesday November 27th’)
Every now and then they get the day wrong — and they generally don’t fix it.
And sometimes the letters don’t even show up online.