Pope’s climate message
Conservatives have been railing against Pope Francis’ new environmental encyclical. While I lean toward agreeing that “extreme weather” cannot so assuredly be tied to anything man is doing, if you remove that, this is mostly a plea for man to exercise proper stewardship of the Earth and its creatures. From that standpoint, it is hardly revolutionary.
Nor should the “climate left” be so excited that Francis has endorsed their views, for in this letter he explicitly rejects overpopulation as a problem. As for those Luddites who say technology is the problem, Francis made it clear that technology is not the problem, nor is it the answer.
In other words, he says the answer is closer than all the noise of the climate debate would have us believe: It is within the heart of every person. The encyclical, Laudato Sii, says a proper attitude towards nature (personal responsibility born of awed gratitude) and a love of neighbor strong enough to make me consider my actions’ effects on others caused no harm to the Earth.
It is hard to imagine a compelling argument against this. Francis continues to confound those who would tag him with their (or their opponents’) label.
Paul Tormey
Orrington
LePage’s irrelevancy
I’ve been following the governor since he secured the Republican nomination in June 2010. During that time, there has been both praise and condemnation of his governance. At first, I was disturbed but, of late, I have become alarmed at his behavior in office.
I think the time has come to address the 800-pound gorilla in the room: We have a chief executive who routinely exhibits megalomania, paranoia, lack of anger management and detachment from reality, which are all recognized forms of mental instability. He demonstrates no realization of his problems. In fact, all his troubles are the result of all those around him who he perceives are against him. He alone knows what is best for the state of Maine and its good people.
Gov. Paul LePage’s recent actions have rendered him nearly politically impotent. Even the Republicans in the Legislature are voting to override most of his silly, senseless vetoes. This situation cannot be sustained if we are to progress as a state.
No one loves this state more than I, and it grieves me to see the deterioration of our governor’s relevancy. It’s time to face reality and make every attempt possible to move our great state forward.
John E. Purington
Southwest Harbor
Not-so-open process
Recently, I attended a public informational meeting at the Finance Authority of Maine office in Augusta, with several others, to comment on Casella’s application for a certificate of approval, from FAME, in which FAME would serve as the “conduit issuer” for capital investments that Casella proposes to undertake.
We do not believe that the certificate should be granted, not only because Casella’s business model of filling the Juniper Ridge landfill with garbage as fast as it can contradicts the state solid waste hierarchy, but because of potential reputational damage to Maine and FAME.
I applaud FAME for having an informational hearing. Unfortunately, the comment period closed immediately after the meeting, which means that citizens were not able to incorporate what they learned at the meeting in feedback to FAME.
I hope future informational meetings at FAME will adopt a more open process.
Sam Hunting
Orono
Accountability in elections
While talking to folks in Bangor last weekend, I discovered there is support for increasing accountability in elections. People agree that we deserve to know where politicians get their money.
If the Maine Accountable Elections Referendum is passed, large amounts of money received by politicians will be identified making it easier for us as citizens to identify possible excessive influence. It’s time for transparency in our electoral process.
Maria Hautala
Levant