Letter to the editor: Let’s keep Dave Miramant in the Senate

Fri, 09/30/2016 - 5:45pm

I urge you to vote for Senator Dave Miramant for Senate District 12 on November 8. This is a critical time for our environmental and societal values in Maine, which have been the targets of negative actions by certain other Maine politicians during the last legislative session. 

And why are these values important for Knox County and our Midcoast? It bears repeating that we are all directly dependent on the land, air, and water where we live and work. Here in Maine, these natural resources provide the very underpinning for our traditional economic bases: fishing, tourism, and food production. Yet the Gulf of Maine and subsequently all of our most vital industries, are demonstrably threatened by things like climate change and ocean acidification. 

Senator Dave Miramant understands this and has been working both to address the effects of decreased fish populations and lobster migration due to warming waters, and to reduce the pollution that causes these impacts. He's also working to secure a more sustainable job market by leading the way for Maine to invest in renewable energy, which will help us protect the environment while attracting new business and creating good-paying, longterm jobs for Mainers. 

Recently, Dave and his colleagues in the House and Senate unveiled their vision for "A Better State of Maine," which (among other things) directs public investment to improve transportation infrastructure, expands access to reliable high-speed broadband internet, and diversifies our energy portfolio with clean job-creating renewable energy sources, such as solar power. Working for renewable energy helps safeguard the ocean and all of Maine's natural resources, and therefore also protects the livelihoods that depend upon those resources to thrive. 

Let us keep Dave Miramant in the Senate so the goals outlined in A Better State of Maine can serve as guideposts for us all. 

Vivian Newman lives in South Thomaston