Common sense. Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, and Payne all had a strong sense of and concern for those things we share in common. The Founders talked of common truths. John F. Kennedy, after the Cuban Missile Crisis, said that we share the same planet, the same air, and water even with our adversaries.

Sadly some Americans do not have this kind of common sense. Without laws, American televisions would again become smokescreens for the tobacco industry, and restaurants and public buildings would become smoke-filled rooms. Without laws, our roadsides would again be trash dumps. Without laws, anyone who can own a motorcycle, loud truck, microphone or muzak maker could treat our natural soundscape like their acoustic garbage dump.

That is why we need sound environmental laws at the local, state and federal level, with objective, measurable standards. And they need to be enforced.

George Hunt

Gardiner