ECONOMICS: It's the environment Stupid!

How to get it through their stupid heads. The environment IS economics! The battle over LNG in the International Quoddy Region would see the loss of thousands of jobs based on the environment with UNDER 100 jobs being created and the loss of over a quarter of a billion dollars in annual income with virtually no dollars staying in the region. Not to mention that the environment is the foundation of all life including us. Stupid or what!

Art

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Letters to the editor March 12, 2011

By Andrew Catalina, BDN Staff

Posted March 11, 2011, at 8:33 p.m.

Investment delayed

I was shocked and saddened to read of Gov. LePage’s proposal to zone three million acres of Maine’s irreplaceable North Woods for development. My family has vacationed in the state since the 1930s and owned property here for most of this time.  As a result of the governor’s actions, we have unfortunately placed our future plans on hold, including a major new investment in the state.

These are difficult economic times, but this is exactly the wrong approach to solving them. Maine has one defining characteristic that sets it apart from most of the East Coast — its quality of life. This is the Maine “brand” that supports a $10 billion tourism industry and is a major draw for new businesses. How can a proposal that  detracts from the current economic base, hurts our ability to attract progressive growth businesses (and their high paying jobs), and permanently destroys the very definition of Maine be a step forward? Are strip malls and condos the vision we all share for Maine’s future? I think not.

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