Here we are in an election year, and two major candidates for president are once again not discussing one of this country’s most critical problems.

During two storms in January, Mainers experienced the power of rising seas and the havoc wrought by increasingly intense storms. The World Health Organization estimates that 3.6 billion people in the world already live in areas highly vulnerable to climate change. As many as 1 million plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction, and entire ecosystems are unstable.

Why are candidates avoiding this issue? Follow the money. Candidates do not wish to risk losing campaign contributions by pointing out that corporations have put profits ahead of the well-being of the Earth.

It has been convenient for the biggest polluters to divert attention from themselves by focusing on how private citizens can make carbon-saving changes. However, the strongest carbon mitigation will occur when major polluters change. In her excellent book, “American Breakdown,” Jennifer Lunden writes, “While one individual can save 2.4 tons of carbon dioxide per year by going carless, in 2020 Shell alone emitted the equivalent of 1.38 billion tons of carbon dioxide.”

As election season unfolds, please help keep this issue in the national conversation and ensure that the Earth is a participant in local, state and national contests. The land we farm, the waters that sustain us and the air we breathe need to outweigh campaign dollars. We need to hold major polluters (and candidates) accountable.

Eleanor Morse
Peaks Island

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