I am writing as a religious person to support the preservation of net-metering, which the Maine Public Utilities Commission will rule on quite soon.

I believe that to end or weaken net-metering in Maine would be harmful for our descendants and for God’s creation. Ending net-metering would set back solar energy in Maine, which in turn would slow progress on stopping climate change. From a religious point of view, this violates our responsibility to be responsible stewards of God’s creation.

Changes in our climate are already harming our food production and our economy. Changes in ocean acidity are expected to cause massive extinctions of all kinds of ocean life within 50 years and half of all bird species in North America, including the loon, will be threatened by climate change within 65 years.

And it’s clear that what we are doing to the web of life, we are doing to ourselves and especially to our children. The damage done by fossil fuels and climate change is unintentional, but it is generational abuse. Any step that delays action to stop climate change is a threat to our children, and it is hard to bear seeing this happen here in Maine.

Protecting our children means taking responsible steps like preserving net metering, the primary policy in Maine that supports solar energy, to replace burning fossil fuels. We have until June 22 to submit input to the Maine Public Utilities Commission. Please call or email them.

Richard Thomas

Waterville