We are members of the Maine Western Mountain Chapter of Third Act, a group of senior citizens over 60 years of age concerned about climate change. We have about 60 members from towns across western Maine.

In recent years, Maine experienced extreme weather that cost us millions. Some businesses still have not reopened or resumed full operations due to destruction from the brutal storm in December.

Maine businesses repeatedly suffer revenue losses from disrupted seasonal weather that affects vegetable/fruit crops, maple syrup production, cold weather-related businesses, farmers, forestry, etc. The warming Gulf of Maine has impacted commercial fishing.

From 2019 to 2023, extreme weather-related disasters in the U.S. caused over $603 billion in damages. Considering that, we should be working diligently to get control of climate change to prevent the devastation from happening in the first place.

Our culture, tightly woven around greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels, has proven to be unsustainable and we must shift to other energy sources. Unfortunately, despite the endless climate-related catastrophes and huge losses, many in government continue to block climate action.

We are counting on our Maine senators and representatives to back legislation that promotes green energy use, cuts greenhouse gas emissions, and supports Maine’s Climate Action Plan. We can get climate change under control if we all pull together.

Doug Rawlings, Chesterville

Lindy Moceus, Vienna

Eileen Kreutz, Industry

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