I was shocked and appalled at the literature accompanying my last Central Maine Power statement. Specifically, a brochure stated that “Real Mainers use air conditioning,” and a flier stated how inexpensive an air conditioner is to operate and implied that Mainers deserve to be cool and comfortable.

The brochure urged customers to install an air conditioner by a certain date and be eligible to win (you guessed it) an electric grill, so that we may consume even more electricity. The flier prompted customers to play CMP’s “dot contest” on the Internet and win (how did you guess?) an air conditioner.

Where is CMP’s social conscience? Why do they encourage customers to continue to use more electricity when our resources for producing it are dwindling? I seriously doubt that many Mainers will suffer for lack of an air conditioner.

If the earth (and we) are to survive and thrive, our priorities need to shift from turning a profit at any expense and using unlimited quantities of resources to using renewable resources and learning to consume less.

Patricia Pearson

Waldo