Recently five Democratic members of Congress wrote to Google’s CEO concerning the greenwashing of large oil companies and the Competitive Enterprise Institute advertisements placed on the search engine. Unfortunately, both of our elected U.S. House members, Rep. Chellie Pingree and Rep. Jared Golden, were not signatories on that letter.

Why were they not?

This was a straightforward attempt to request answers as to why Google was not following their own policies to put themselves in the public eye as “a green and sustainable company.”

Our state may, in the very near future, have to go to court to battle one of these oil giants when the details of rare earth mining operation proposals on land in northern Maine are made public by the land’s owner, J.D. Irving.

Should it not be expected that Maine’s members of the U.S. House of Representatives show some forethought and concern and begin to raise questions about the propaganda these companies spew out through advertisements about all they do in the name of environmental protection?

Neither Rep. Pingree nor, certainly, Rep. Golden have produced much of any substance with regard to legislation concerning our natural environment and curbing the influence Big Oil has on legislative activities thus far during their terms in office. We can hope, though, that maybe their focus and efforts to protect our planet will change with the new year and Congress.

David McKechnie
Vinalhaven

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