“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” George Santayana, the American philosopher, wrote.

As a Maine citizen, I think we in Maine are forgetting our past, our 19th century industrial development, which polluted our air and rivers. That development was for money and jobs, and was viewed as a positive at the time.

We were ignorant of the pollution danger. We came to understand in the 20th century, and Ed Muskie, a native of a polluted Maine paper mill town, engineered the world’s first clean air and water federal laws. We in Maine created regulation of air and water pollution to clean up the environment as well.

But what is happening in Maine now?

We seek money and jobs. Our state government almost feverishly welcomes business since the demise of industry in the state.

The sprawl of development moves slowly north into the state. Trees are cut for “big boxes” and parking lots, as well as for homes and housing developments. There seems no restraint on this activity even though it negatively impacts the environment.

Advertising campaigns by the Maine state government for tourists with SUVs, RVs and other vehicles, the construction of wider highways to a accommodate more vehicles, with the addition of recreational vehicles, have added to the negative environmental impact.

The Maine drive for money and jobs in this 21st century, as in the 19th century, has forgotten the environment.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are reliving the past.

Tom Fallon, Rumford