The Keystone XL pipeline is a monumentally bad idea on virtually all fronts.
For those who believe it will diminish dependence on foreign oil, they need to do a little research to discover the intent is to sell that refined product (tax-free) to other countries.
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The more onerous effects come from the environmental damage to the land in the process of extraction, the enormous amount of heat and dilution required to make it viscous enough to move through a pipe, and the vast amounts of water in the form of steam required to seperate the bitumen from the sand.
Tar or oil sands may be the dirtiest form of fossilized fuel on the planet, adding to greenhouse gases at a much greater rate than other fuel sources.
Worst of all, the funds expended will not be just a private cost. We’ll all pay for the damage resulting from leaking or fractured pipe or when something fails at either end of the pipe.
Those who believe that private industry will be held liable need only think back to the Exxon Valdez or Deepwater Horizon and ask themseves if they really believe that all the damage has been corrected on the corporate nickel — or at all.
By all independent accounts, fewer than 5,000 jobs will be created, and fewer still will be long-term.
We need to focus on conservation and alternative sources of energy — but mostly conservation — or else we are doomed.
John S. Wood
Hollis Center
GOP hopes Americans will buy fearmongering tactics
The journalist H.L. Mencken once said, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” The Republican Party has not only bought into that notion, it appears to have bet the entire future of the party on it.
Beginning in 2007, the Republican minority in the 110th U.S. Congress used the filibuster as a regular tool of obstructionism.
They ground down the gears of the government as much as they could, forcing the Democrats to invoke cloture an unprecedented number of times just to keep the nation running. This futile waste of taxpayer time and money by the GOP turned entire sessions of Congress into farce.
The Republican strategy was as simple as it was cynical. Cause the U.S. government to not work, then run on the mantra “government doesn’t work” and pray the American people don’t catch on.
Beginning in 2009, this dead-end GOP strategy has been at least partially successful.
Attacking President Obama replaced putting forth ideas.
The manufactured tea party movement appeared and then disappeared just as quickly once its purpose (the 2010 midterms) was served.
Between now and November, we’ll hear “Fast and Furious” and “Solyandra” repeated a million times. Apart from having easily remembered, Hollywood blockbuster-caliber handles, both are conspiratorial molehills that will never become mountains. Sooner or later, the geriatric menaces that are Bill Ayers and the Rev. Wright or the long-dead Saul Alinsky will be trotted out for another run around the tired track.
In lieu of sound policy, a steady stream of culture-war cliches and the numbing opiate of nostalgia will instead emanate nonstop from the GOP smoke machine.
It is up to the American people to prove the Republicans wrong in November and show them they’re incorrect when they bet against our intelligence.
Jeremy Smith
Old Orchard Beach
Gov. LePage puts Maine’s needy, economy in jeopardy
As a social worker, community member and human being, I am reminded daily of the injustices that exist related to health care accessibility and affordability. To say that I am concerned about the governor’s proposal to cut 65,000 from MaineCare would be an understatement.
Encountering someone with visible signs of poor dental health provides further opportunity to extend my understanding of health care inequality. The implications of poor dental health extend to overall health and well-being. For children, poor oral health or lack of access to care can compromise quality of life (affecting growth, social well-being, health and learning).
Tooth decay is the most common, yet preventable, chronic childhood disease that commonly leads to poor adult dental health, sometimes resulting in serious medical conditions including heart disease, gum disease and infection.
Without access to health care, Maine’s neediest children and adults go without proper dental care. Gov. LePage’s proposed cuts would not only leave 65,000 deserving Mainers without health care coverage, but would also eliminate adult dental benefits and funding for the Healthy Maine project that supports school-based oral health as well as community dental clinics for uninsured Mainers.
These monies are essential to help bridge the gap for the uninsured. Access to dentists who accept MaineCare and provide services on a sliding scale is scarce. In our state, there are more than 300 dental practices, yet only 26 accept MaineCare or are willing to work with a sliding scale.
I challenge my fellow Mainers to use their voice and contact their local representative on the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs (http://www.maine.gov/legis/house/jt_com/afa.htm) to say “no” to the governor’s proposed cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Sara Tremblay
Cumberland Foreside
Please remind our governor that he is one branch of government and has no say over the other two, though he obviously tries (“Deal to reduce Maine’s shortfall brings praise, attacks,” Feb. 9). Also, he was elected with much less than a majority of voter support and has lost ground since then.
It’s long past time for him to pack up his Heritage Policy Center, which appears to be his only thought process, and stop being a block to any progress to economic recovery that may be made in this state.
Bob Lyman
Freeport
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