Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to letters@bangordailynews.com
Let’s do what we can to be safe
Julia Bayly’s Nov. 11 article about stocking up on household supplies certainly brightened my day, evoked many thoughts and feelings. Over the years, I have read her columns with a chuckle and a “feel good” attitude.
I am a senior citizen. When the COVID-19 shutdown occurred last March, this was all new to us and much less stressful than our situation today. After the initial shutdown, most of us came out of hiding and tried to live a semi-normal life.
Today, in the early morning hours, I realize all our lives have dramatically changed. With our present day politics, party affiliation aside, I believe we all feel a sense of fear and loss. We can’t quite put it in a proper file or figure out how to operate in more than a 24-hour cycle.
I can’t remember when or why I stopped doing the daily paper’s crossword puzzle, or when I went from reading several books a week to not a single book a month! A senior moment, I think not!
My friends and I have become pensive of a shutdown, again due to the dire virus situation. Do we continue with our normal lives or do we hunker down for our safety and that of our friends and families?
Let’s do all we can to be safe, mask up, social distance, wash our hands, as if our lives depended on it. Because it does. And, please, more of Julie Bayly’s articles.
Dorcas B. Mahan
Blaine
My business depends on climate action
Developing new technologies to sustainably grow shellfish and enhance our resilience to rapidly changing environmental conditions is crucial to the survival and success of my oyster farm. However, innovation can only buy us time — which, according to climate scientists, is running out. Ultimately, the success and survival of my business depend on a strong response to climate change.
Maine’s coastal waters are ideal for growing seafood. At Mook Sea Farm, we grow oysters on the Damariscotta River. Warming waters likely caused the occurrence of a dreaded oyster pathogen, which nearly wiped out the Damariscotta River oyster industry a decade ago. As our ocean waters grow more acidic, this prevents larval oysters’ shells from growing properly. Climate change is now always a variable in the oyster growing equation.
I’m encouraged by the recent release of the Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act of 2020. The House Natural Resources Committee chair, Rep. Raul Grijalva, sponsored this comprehensive legislation that recognizes that our oceans can provide solutions to the climate crisis. This bill addresses ocean health challenges of acidification and harmful algal blooms, both of which cause significant harm to the U.S. seafood, recreation and tourism industries, as well as marine ecosystems.
I’ve dedicated my life to growing healthy and sustainable Maine-based seafood. Climate change is the single biggest threat to my farm, my family, and the future of Maine’s aquaculture industry. I thank Rep. Chellie Pingree for her continued leadership on environmental initiatives and for co-sponsoring this ambitious climate bill to protect our coastal communities.
Bill Mook
Newcastle
Time to move forward vigilantly
Michael Carpenter’s column in the Nov. 30 BDN hit the spot for me. President Donald Trump’s cry of election fraud is being refuted repeatedly by recounts, by the courts and by local and state officials who have held the line while under fire. The recounts and court decisions allow our nation to witness the strength of America’s voting system instead of its weaknesses.
Let’s be clear about how we experienced voter fraud and “fake news” in 2020 America. Attempts at actual voter fraud and rollouts of fraudulent news seem to have been strategically planned and perpetrated by some Republicans, led by the outgoing president and his inner circle, and echoed by his cowardly minions in congress.
Republicans wielded their power to disenfranchise voters and poison America’s trust of the voting process. Their fear of a democratic outcome led to demonstrably undemocratic, racially unfair and un-American conduct. I believe they are the frauds, not the voters. I hope, instead, we will come to celebrate this electoral outcome. Let us move forward, vigilant and engaged.
Craig Kesselheim
Southwest Harbor