Presidential bookstore
As each new situation is added to President Barack Obama’s list of issues, I am more convinced than ever that he will not need a presidential library. He will be able to open a bookstore and sell fiction. Just think how much money the American public can save.
Harriett Real
Eastport
Electric increase
Seniors on Social Security are already getting hit with high oil prices to keep warm in the winter. Another increase will hurt us — do we stay cold or hungry so we can have power?
I have to have air conditioning in the summer, and my electric bill already doubles for the summer months; if it were to double yet again, I will be paying over $120 a month. That seems excessive just to be comfortable.
Rethink what you will be doing to all seniors in Maine.
Zoe Rote
Brunswick
Vote YES on 1
The people of Portland have an opportunity to make their voices heard on June 10 by voting yes to protect the city’s parks. The grass-roots citizens’ initiative is the only item on the city ballot.
A yes vote supports the inclusion of 35 public parks in the city’s Land Bank, for a total of 60, and enhances all of the parks’ protection. If Yes on 1 passes, the sale of a park would require a supermajority vote of the City Council, or, if less than that, a citizens’ referendum on each decision.
If the citizens’ initiative fails, 35 parks can easily be sold by a simple majority of councilors — as shown by the recent 6-3 vote to sell Congress Square Park to a developer. A yes vote will enable all Portlanders to decide, at a later date, if they want this sale to take place.
The city’s website touts Portland as a great place to “live, work and play.” Of course, public parks play an important role in making the city livable and attractive to residents and visitors alike. Thus, they add vitality and boost our economy.
I urge all Portland residents, including the more than 4,000 who signed the petition to bring the citizens’ initiative before voters, to get out and vote yes on June 10.
Our parks should be protected for public use, not sold into private hands. Once sold, a park is gone forever; what a loss for all — now and in the future.
Joan Grant
Portland
EPA action
Despite resistance from Congress and the coal industry, the Supreme Court recently upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s statutory authority under the Clean Air Act. This sets strong public health safeguards against air pollution that drifts over state lines.
According to the American Lung Association’s annual “State of the Air” report, the decision comes at a critical time. The report finds that the nation’s air quality worsened from 2010 to 2012. At present, an alarming 47 percent of the nation lives in areas where pollution levels are often too dangerous to breathe.
Maine may seem like a clean-air state, but wind patterns carry in pollution from outside power plants that are allowed to dump unlimited amounts of carbon dioxide into the air. Cumberland, York and Hancock counties were found to have the poorest air quality in the state with more high ozone days and more particle pollution than any other county in Maine.
The Supreme Court’s decision is good news for Maine and the Northeast. The Obama administration is working on air pollution safeguards to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s power plants.
People must lend their voices to this effort. The cost for polluting our air, making people sick and causing climate change is disaster for everyone.
I urge Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King to support the EPA’s efforts to regulate carbon dioxide from both existing and new power plants. It’s the right thing and the smart thing to do.
Pamela Sweetser
Presque Isle