We must do the best we can to make the world a healthy place to live — for now and for the future. Using fossil fuels as we do now interferes with this objective in several ways. Other sources of energy — hydroelectric, solar, and wind — are now available at reasonable cost. This is much more important than protecting investments that have been made to obtain, process, and sell coal, petroleum, and natural gas. No more such investments should be allowed.

The free enterprise system, capitalism, must be regulated for the long-term benefit of all human beings, and other forms of life as well.

We must ask our governor and other political leaders to do this as well as they can. We must work cooperatively with people of other nations to do this as well.

Decision makers of the world should do what is best for the great majority, not simply what is best for the few who are the most wealthy. We should respect the wealthy because much of what they invest in benefits all of us, but some regulations are needed to stop some of them from doing things that result in extreme danger to all of us.

The so-called “free enterprise system” is not designed to do this. It is based on doing what is best short-term thinking and what will work.

Decision makers should consider the long-term effects of the decisions made at this time, not just short-term profits.

I now ask all Maine legislators to vote to approve L.D. 1373, which will provide incentives for people to use solar panels to generate clean electricity instead of import electricity made from fossil fuels.

Elery Keene

Winslow