I do agree with Jim Fossel’s March 10 “Rainy day fund for rainy days a smart move for Maine.” Recent extreme weather events have been an undue financial burden to many who can hardly afford to pay the massive bill caused by such unnatural events.

I do have to disagree with his statement that, “Neither the companies nor their customers are responsible for bad weather.”

The recent rash of costly extreme weather is caused directly by climate change, not the other way around. Both companies and we (myself, included) are responsible for climate change. The companies are responsible in the choices they make to operate their business. They are also responsible for pushing the consumerism we are asked to practice in order to boost their sales and use of services.

We are responsible in that we succumb to that pressure, which we are perfectly capable of resisting. We need to change our lifestyles. We don’t repair that which can be repaired, we dress, not for warmth or comfort, but for ‘style’. We use electricity to do many things we can do manually. We always look for the quickest and easiest way out. We accept the excessive use of plastics. We don’t re-use. We replace, even when unnecessary. We tend to waste rather than conserve.

Perhaps we can’t change the behavior of companies; we can change our own: Re-use everything we possibly can. Make fewer or no unnecessary auto trips. Take a bus, if possible. Repair malfunctioning items (within reason) instead of casting them into a landfill. And, take good care of those possessions we have and they will last longer.

You may say, “Well, by not consuming more goods, we will be hurting our economy, based on consumerism”. Think of it this way: By spending a dollar on consumerism, you may end up spending two dollars to repair the damage caused by consumerism.

I try to reuse, repair and maintain as much as I can and always look for more ways to improve. Our future depends on it.

Peter P. Sirois

Madison

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