Letters to the Editor
We welcome your opinions and letters — with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, P.O. Box 358, Deale, MD 20751 • E-mail them to [email protected]. or submit your letters on line, click here
Demand More Renewable Energy
Dear Bay Weekly:
I had no idea that lawn mowers were so polluting, and I applaud Maureen Miller for making the switch to a reel push mower [“Mowing Down Pollution,” Vol. xiii, No 28: July 14].
Air pollution is a serious problem. Three times more people die from air pollution annually than from automobile accidents. The smog and particulate matter in our air can provoke asthma and heart attacks, which contribute to rising health-care costs. In addition, these pollutants cause serious and very costly damage to our environment in the form of acid rain, water contamination and global warming, and it is vital to protect our vulnerable Bay from such dangerous pollutants.
To curb the harmful health and environmental effects of air pollution we must do two things: We must enforce existing air-pollution controls; and we must reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. The Clean Air Act lays out clear guidelines as to how to regulate air pollution; our government must begin to enforce these rules instead of working to overturn them
Enforcing existing regulations, however, is not enough. Only if we reduce our reliance on fossil fuels will our environment and the health of our citizens really improve. There are many forms of clean and renewable energy available in the U.S. that can provide electricity at a comparable cost to that of fossil fuels. Mrs. Miller gives an excellent example of the benefits that can come with choosing alternatives to traditional fossil-fuel-powered appliances.
That the lawn mower exchange program was not continued this year represents how low a priority switching to alternative fuels is to our government. This must change. We must call upon our government to provide 20 percent of our energy needs with renewable forms of energy by 2020.
—Anne Havemann, Washington, D.C.
Editor’s note: The writer works for Greenpeace.
More on Markleys
Dear Bay Weekly:
Just some information for J.R. Triggs [Letters, Vol. xiii, No. 27, July 7] on the Markley hulls: The hulls, decks, canopy and small parts are molded by Manning Fiberglass LLC outside of Cambridge on the Eastern Shore. The parts are then taken to a builder of your choice and finished off as the boat of your choice. There are quite a few builders on both the Eastern and Western Shore. The molds are owned by the Markleys in Baltimore, and they also finish off the boats.
—Terrell Briggs, Annapolis
Detouring the Gov. on the ICC
Dear Bay Weekly:
As usual, your editorial of July 4 [“On Busy Roads, A Bad Connection,” Vol. xiii, No. 28] is a great read. What, if anything, should constituents do regarding the Paint Branch route chosen by Gov Ehrlich? I voted for him, but so far his environmental record stinks!
—Tim McArdle, Annapolis
Editor’s note: Write, call and e-mail the governor and tell him what you told us — and why.
