Climate change is affecting Maine, and not just on the coast where sea levels are rising. Janet Mills appreciates the overwhelming importance of this issue and proposes to wean Maine from its reliance on fossil fuels — the greatest source of greenhouse gases. That is good economic and environmental policy.
In central Maine there are: threats to public health from disease-bearing ticks; threats to the natural resources economy from insects and diseases that have extended their range; threats to infrastructure from extreme rain events; and threats to recreation industries from unpredictable weather. Those are only a few of the consequences.
Reducing the effects of climate change should receive national priority, but the federal government has abandoned efforts to address the problem. It is up to states to lead.
With Janet Mills as governor, Maine could be one of those leading states. That is why I am voting for Mills for governor.
Bonnie Lounsbury, Auburn
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