While reading the many opinions from papers and periodicals from throughout the nation; there is one very obvious observation to be noticed. The American people do not care about our planet and refuse to stand up and be counted for their lack of caring about our planet.

The most recent calamity in the Gulf of Mexico is another proof that most, not all, Americans simply believe that the planet is provided to make profit from and nothing more.

Additional Photos

The mobile Development Driller III oil-drilling unit is used to drill a relief well at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico May 12. Readers raise concerns about drilling and the clean-up effort. The Associated Press

We are presently living within the most technologically advanced era of all times, and maybe so, but at what cost? Those who still think that it is all right for our country to use as much as one-quarter of the world’s fossil fuels, to buy most of those fuels from areas that support terrorism and to still complain of the plots that are being made against us, are ignorant.

Articles are written every day speaking of the problems that the rest of the world has. However, when anyone wishes to talk about reform here and now, to fix our issues, a big “no” is spouted by the self-proclaimed conservatives in our mist.

On any subject, great or small, the Republican Party is always on the wrong side of history.

In war or peace, bad or fair weather, right versus wrong, good versus evil, one can clearly see a pattern of thought which suggests something is wrong with conservative views. Subject by subject, year after year — the Republicans get it all wrong.

At what point do caring Americans stop listening to the rhetoric from the right? After everything most dear to our lives is destroyed? Or when? You wish for healthy kids, clean water and air, better education at lower costs, improved transportation methods, the list goes on — well, don’t listen to the status-quo right for any of that to happen.

Peter Hamilton

Gray

The current oil spill crisis, now almost a month old, serves as a dramatic and realistic reminder of the need for emergency backup systems before the fact rather than haphazard Band-Aids that don’t work after a severe problem arises.

The state of Maine and individual communities are being romanced by Nestle/Poland Spring who want to drain our water systems for their commercial benefit.

Now is the time to insist that Nestle/Poland Spring builds desalinization plants in Maine for any water emergency shortages that may take place at any time in our future.

Nature alone, and not spring-water draining, have caused major bodies of water (i.e., Lake Mead, Lake Powell) to have lower water tables and we are reminded of the year not long ago when Georgia are Florida were fighting over water.

We need to protect our precious resource and make certain demands for our safety should we be foolish enough to give our resource away.

Louise Haggett

Freeport

I have lived in coastal Maine all of my life. I value the quality of life provided by the ocean. Some of my favorite meals are the fish and seafood we harvest from the ocean. I have friends and family whose lifestyles rely on the jobs and recreation that the ocean provides.

Without the healthy abundance the ocean supplies, our lives would seriously lack the substance and verve that sustains us here in Maine.

The recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico now extends for thousands of square miles and is growing daily. The pervasive spill is having a devastating and immediate affect on all areas of life that depend on its health and bounty economically, environmentally and socially.

Even if the spill is an accident, it is absolutely irresponsible, and although technology is improving, these spills still happen. We need to use this harmful event as a landmark to turn the corner and begin to shift to a cleaner, greener, healthier existence. We need to protect our coasts from this type of disaster ever happening again. On all levels, economically, environmentally and socially we simply can afford it.

I write because we need to make sure BP is held fully accountable for the environmental and economic damage caused by the spill. The Senate should quickly pass legislation to reduce our dependence on oil, cut global warming pollution and transform our economy with clean energy.

I urge President Obama to ban offshore drilling in new areas and lead the charge for a clean energy economy. If we choose to ignore this issue, we are playing an active role in the continuing deterioration of our quality of life and the collective future of America.

Francis Hanley

Yarmouth

One would think the federal Environmental Protection Agency is seemingly up to its ears dealing with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Still, it is trying to sink its claws into national regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, or GHGs.

Such regulation should not be in the agency’s purview; it’s Congress’s responsibility.

Federal lawmakers want to include GHG regulations in climate change legislation, but first they’ve got to undo what the EPA has already done: declare GHGs like carbon dioxide a danger to public health and invoke a little-known federal statute that permits the agency to set the nation’s GHG emission levels.

The EPA is already off to a sorry start, leaving Congress no choice but to work to pre-empt the EPA from taking further action on GHGs.

Pre-empting EPA regulation of GHGs will serve Maine and the nation well by instead empowering elected lawmakers to develop a national standard for GHGs and thereby prevent an outbreak of lawsuits against corporations and private citizens struggling to comply with numerous EPA and state regulations.

Furthermore, a unified GHG standard enacted by Congress would hold down the cost to taxpayers.

Help clean up the oil in the Gulf, EPA. Leave GHG regulation to the elected policy-makers in Congress.

Will Hamilton

Standish

Chief has great car, but where’s front license plate?

Thank you for sharing the May 4 photograph of Portland Police Chief James Craig and his Z06 Corvette; it is very nice that he is able to enjoy such an amazing car.

It would be nicer still if he had a license plate on the front of it, as required by Maine law.

Mounting brackets are readily available for 2007 ‘Vettes, and I would be happy to provide ordering information if that would be helpful to him.

They even make one that slides out of sight for those rare occasions when looking cool is more important than obeying the law.

Alan Brigham

Windham

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