Has anyone wished for the warm summer sun in this Arctic tundra known as Maine? I know that during these bitterly cold winter months I wish I could be anywhere but here. However, I forget that when summer rolls along, I often find it too hot to go outside during the day.

I remember when I first moved to Maine in 2001, the weather was so beautifully mild compared to the stark heat of Pakistan that I had just come from. I loved running around outside and breathing in the fresh air. Islamabad, though once a clean city, had become polluted after years of dumping carbon into the atmosphere through vehicular emissions and power plants.

I do not want Maine to go the way of Pakistan.

What we have right here in Maine is special. Four distinct seasons, lush forests all around us and pristine water are all things that deserve our protection. Supporting the EPA’s Clean Power Plan would ensure that carbon pollution in the United States would decrease by 30 percent by 2030. It’s especially critical that Mainers and all Americans support this plan, as U.S. power plants are the third-largest carbon polluters in the world.

Additionally, carbon pollution actually increases the acidity of the oceans, which hurts marine life. This change affects us in particular because as oceans become more acidic, the longer it takes for creatures essential for Maine’s seafood industry to develop. For instance, lobsters and crabs are developing slowly, making viable lobster harder to come by.

So if you’re looking forward to the summer as much as I am, support the EPA’s Clean Power Plan if for no other reason but to ensure that we can all enjoy lobster rolls in the warmer months.

Izza Zaidi

Waterville

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