CMP has chance to make amends

More than 500 days ago, Central Maine Power turned on the lights on the transmission towers crossing the Kennebec River at Chops Point. The severity of the disruption shocked residents and CMP officials. Clearly, something had to be done. The electric company said that they would install a radar system to activate the lights only when air traffic was near. They also stated that they had been unfamiliar with the lighting before activating the lights and were sorry to have caused such distress.

Catherine Hartnett, a CMP spokesperson, acknowledged that earlier mitigation might have made this project less troublesome. Installing the radar system, even if it works, does not end this matter as the damage has already been done. People and wildlife have been hurt. Yet, there is a way Central Maine Power can show goodwill and truly mitigate.

Bracketing the towers are two islands owned by the state of Maine: Lines Island to the south and Swan Island to the north. The transmission towers are visible from both islands. Maine Inland Fish and Wildlife manages both islands and struggles with maintenance due to damage from the 2017 windstorm and abundant invasive species. The state grapples to fund projects to improve the environment while nearby, Central Maine Power has degraded it. Here is an opportunity for the power company to make amends. Will they care to do so?

Jotham Trafton,
Topsham

Barrett’s nomination does not honor RBG

I feel Christine Flowers’ recent column, “Honor women by supporting Trump’s Supreme Court pick” (Sept. 29) makes it very hard to honor anyone so soon after Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s death just a few days ago.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent her life working on behalf of women’s rights. Trump wasted no time in nominating Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court to take her place, someone who is expected to vote to repeal Roe v. Wade. It is well known that conservative religions have promised to vote for Trump’s reelection with his promise to repeal Roe v. Wade and provide public funds for their religious institutions. There is no end to greed for money and power. So much for honoring Ruth Ginsberg’s life-long member of the Supreme Court.

Amy Coney Barrett described herself as a “devout” Catholic, a church that has chosen to ignore the dark side of their religion. Hundreds of their priests throughout the world have been found guilty in sexually assaulting children. Yet these priests have not been penalized and the church carries on its mission to control the lives of women and girls faced with an unplanned pregnancy, no exceptions. In 2019 there were 98,813 rapes reported in the United States. No exceptions?

Hate for abortion has clouded our love and compassion for a person who has an unintended pregnancy.

Women throughout the world want to plan their families. In countries where abortion is illegal, girls as young as nine who are raped and impregnated are forced to give birth. Six years ago the United Nation’s committee to protect children around the world pleaded with the Vatican to allow an abortion for these innocent children. The Vatican refused. Abortion is not mentioned in the Bible. The Bible’s first commandment is to love God and our neighbors.

Gene Proctor,
Topsham

Voters should know if Collins will vote for Trump

After the presidential debate on Tuesday, I once again asked myself: Is our Senator, Susan Collins, voting for Trump? I know where Angus King stands on this. Explaining her vote against impeachment, Senator Collins said she thought Trump had learned a “pretty big lesson.” Did anyone see evidence at the debate that he had? Yet when asked more than once in her own recent debates with Lisa Savage and Sarah Gideon, she has refused to answer. Voters need to know whether Collins thinks it is in Maine’s and the country’s interest to have four more years of Trump, or, based on her vast experience in Washington, that the country and Maine would be better served with Biden as President. If she is unwilling to take a stand now, how can we trust her to stand up to Trump in any way in the coming four (or more) years?

If we do not get a straight answer from her (do I hear an echo here?), I believe we should send Susan Collins packing.

Dan Meyer,
Brunswick

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