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We have all seen and heard about the shocking changes being made to our system of government since the inauguration. Many of them concern our environment and our ability to slow the dangerous threats of climate change. I wonder how many of us realize that these changes affect not only our Earth and our country, but also the State of Maine.
Did you know, for example, that our Maine farmers — including small, organic farmers — may lose federal grants needed to build critical farm infrastructure? That a $4.5 million grant to the Maine Sea Grant that funds marine research for our coastal communities was rescinded and then up to “renegotiate”? That funds to upgrade hydroelectric dams are frozen?
President Donald Trump has also frozen funds for clean energy projects. He has declared an “energy emergency” so that he can increase our use of fossil fuels and encourage oil and gas leasing off our coasts. Thousands of employees at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Interior Department, the Department of Energy, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were fired.
Ben Jealous, the executive director of the Sierra Club, said recently “We’re talking about undoing 50 years of environmental regulation and accelerating the extinction crisis and risking the health of the American people.”
If this distresses you as it does me, please contact Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins and Rep. Jared Golden and tell them that our future and our children’s futures are at stake!
Corliss Davis
Belfast
