Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to letters@bangordailynews.com
Reasons to oppose CMP corridor
There are a number of reasons that I am opposed to the Central Maine Power corridor and the destruction it will cause. When I first visited the greater Jackman area in 1973, it was love at first sight. I was instantly taken by the beauty of the area, which has remained much the same since my very first visit nearly 50 years ago. For the life of me, I can’t understand why any company would be allowed to destroy some of the most pristine habitat in the state. If CMP is allowed to continue with this project, I believe the area will never be the same. The damage to ponds and streams and brooks and the wildlife within will not be able to be repaired.
The recreation industry that is key to the area economy will also be harmed. I have always marveled at folks from as far away as New Jersey who spend their weekends enjoying hundreds of miles of groomed trails for snowmobiling in the winter and ATV riding in the summer. CMP’s corridor will have a negative effect on all of that, and once gone, the tourism will never be brought back.
CMP claims there will be 1,600 (temporary) jobs available to Maine people, but last week when I was in the area, I saw a large number of work trucks with out-of-state license plates on them, so I find it difficult to believe them. Join me in voting yes to reject the CMP corridor.
Dennis Crosen
Vassalboro
Support independent abortion providers
March 10 is nationally denoted as Abortion Provider Appreciation Day, as it marks a day of remembrance for the 1993 murder of Dr. David Gunn by an anti-abortion extremist. We should take extra care on this day to appreciate as well as educate about the essential work abortion providers do in our community.
Abortion clinic care ensures people’s autonomy and protects their bodily safety — and violent anti-abortion attacks and sentiment doesn’t only put providers in danger, but our community as a whole.
Independent abortion providers, our local clinics being Mabel Wadsworth Center and Maine Family Planning, provide the majority of abortion access across the country, and sadly, many independent clinics across the country have been forced to shut down due to funding access restrictions and anti-abortion extremism.
It is essential to support these local clinics for the health and safety of our entire community; these clinics are always in need of volunteers for advocacy, outreach and office work, and are also in need of donations, as well as new patients for the continuance of their work.
The ongoing health and wellbeing of our community rides on access to this comprehensive care. I not only support these local clinics but I stress the absolute necessity of support for their work towards the continued affordable access to abortion clinic care for our community members.
Emma Smith
Bangor
D.C. deserves statehood
We have a chance to make history this year by getting Maine’s federal delegation to support admitting Washington, D.C. as our 51st state. I see no moral grounds on which anyone can say that 700,000-plus taxpaying D.C. residents should not have the same rights as every Maine voter. We have two senators and two representatives. Based on population, they should have two senators and one representative.
Congress can admit new states to the Union. To maintain conformity with the Constitution, a federal district needs to be set aside including the White House, the Capitol Building, and the federal buildings that surround it. Washington, D.C. has a larger population than both Wyoming and Vermont. In a time when some of us are seriously concerned about voter fraud, what could be a bigger fraud than disenfranchising 700,000 taxpaying U.S. citizens by not allowing them equal representation in Congress?
Last year the House passed H.R. 51 to admit Washington, D.C. with both Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden supporting the bill. The House will probably pass the same bill this year. The Senate should do the same. We need every possible Republican, independent and Democrat to vote in favor of this. So, please contact Maine’s delegation and ask them to support H.R. 51 and S. 51 — An Act to Admit Washington, D. C. as the 51st State. Let’s not let partisan politics get in the way of the basic rights we have as citizens of the United States.
Emanuel Pariser
Waterville