Thank you for your March 28 editorial, “Senators must vote for clean air for Maine people.” I could not agree more.
As a health care professional, I look to science to determine what is best for my patients. I know that poisonous air from the Midwest is carried into Maine by the jet stream and forces my patients to stay inside on bad air days.
I know soot and smog increase asthma attacks and are linked to cancers, reproductive and developmental problems.
But what stood out to me in your editorial was the cost-benefit analysis you cited. The nation’s economy is having a tough time right now. Anything that can be done to reduce unnecessary costs should be fast-tracked, not held up by some political maneuver.
If Sen. James Inhofe’s roll-back resolution is defeated, the country can save on the order of $37 billion to $90 billion annually.
While the coal and oil-fired power plants do have to make investments to clean up their act, they have actually had decades to make these changes. None of these polluters are in Maine. We see no benefit from their pollution, only harm.
It should be a very easy choice for our senators.
The clock is ticking — the vote could be any day now. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins need to indicate how they plan to vote.
I hope they allow the standards for mercury and air toxins to take effect as planned so we can all sit back and enjoy the fresh air and the growing economy.
Rhonda Vosmus, RRT-NPS, AE-C, Durham
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