In response to “Rein in Warming” (BDN 6 Apr 07), Janet Redfield and Kathleen Florance’s claim that it is becoming clear that climate change in Maine is occurring as a result of global warming and “could be” devastating to the states economy. What is clear?

I can directly attribute the dismal state of the economy in Maine to those we elect in Augusta, but I am having difficulty linking the current or future state of the economy to the “could be” rhetoric of global warming. Could it be the fact is, the world is warming. Could it be over the last 100 years the world’s average temperature rose 7/10 of 1 percent Celsius while the world’s gross domestic product rose 1,800 percent; not a shabby trade-off. It could be while the scientific community and media debate whether global warming is man-made, I ponder how the Ice Age ended 20,000 years ago – certainly not man. Could it be those of you who are predicting global devastation also predicted that California would suffer an El Nino after the 2005 hurricane season and that 2006 would be horrific on a major scale because of rising water temperatures, etc., but it didn’t happen. Could it be there were fewer named storms in 2006 than there have been in decades.

As the Camden Snow Bowl festival convenes and participants stand in what is left of the 16-plus inches of snow that fell on us in April, I ask why should I believe there is any merit in their predictions of rising sea levels, northward movement of diseases and disease-carrying insects. Also an increased chance of violent storms with damaging storm surges forcing a higher tide line, drought and no syrup on my pancakes 100 years from now and immediately alter my lifestyle to fight global warming when the weather can’t be predicted five days from now!

Could it be we should be looking toward Augusta and whom we elect to forge Maine’s future on facts, not “could be” rhetoric, but I could be wrong.

Doug Keith

Trenton