Sen. Olympia Snowe and Gov. Angus King are vigorously defending Washington County from the bad science and bad policy of a federal endangered species listing of Atlantic salmon. In contrast, Rep. John Baldacci has once again let his gubernatorial ambitions interfere with his responsibilities to his district. He issued a very short statement lamenting the “premature” nature of the listing proposal.

When, I wonder, would it be timely and appropriate to cripple Washington County’s economy?

We could use a defender who was a member of the Clinton/Gore/Babbitt political party. Unfortunately, a lot of southern Maine environmentalists think a park in Washington County would be preferable to people, and Rep. Baldacci thinks he’ll need those votes in 2002. Jon Reisman Cooper