The first thing I do when I exit the airport in Maine is take several deep breaths. The air tastes clean and crisp, and completely different from the air around my apartment in New York City. After I collect my bags and begin driving to Brunswick, I keep the windows down, and let the intoxicatingly clean air swirl around the car interior. I have always considered clean air to be an essential quality of Maine, and one that should not be taken for granted.

In June 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency released a plan to protect the Maine air that I love. The Clean Power Plan proposes cutting carbon pollution from power plants across the country. Carbon pollution is the biggest cause of climate change. Climate change has already caused incredible changes in our environment, evidenced by rising sea levels and mass extinctions of plants and animals.

We must all join together in supporting the Clean Power Plan, which will keep Maine air clean for everyone to enjoy.

Sarah Frost
New York, N.Y.

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