"Sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe and to love you!"
Gov. Martin O'Malley, do you hear these words from the citizens of Maryland or are they just lyrics from a The Hollies 1974 hit song that many of us remember? Have you completely disregarded human life in your quest for higher office? These are my questions to you.
After reading the investigation by The Sun's Timothy Wheeler ("O'Malley lobbies EPA on fuel rule," June 16), am I to believe that this is how our governor protects the citizens of Maryland? The article reports that he wants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to waive its requirement for cleaner-burning fuel in our coastal waters and allow Carnival Cruise Lines to continue to burn the dirtiest fuel of all no matter how it affects the lungs of those families who live in Baltimore or along both sides of the entire Chesapeake Bay and our surrounding counties when the wind blows.
I am appalled that he and his cohorts in Annapolis are imposing a "rain tax" to preserve the quality of life in our famous estuary but are willfully engaging in actions to jeopardize the quality of life of humans living around this estuary. Is he not promoting filthy air to be spewed from these vessels as they travel our coastline? Does he accept the direct responsibility of enhancing our vulnerability to a myriad of pulmonary diseases on his rise to power elsewhere? Or will he do the right thing now and care for our families?
How about taxing the cruise lines to preserve our air? Can Carnival not afford to lower their revenue or raise their ticket price just $7 a day? Is it really about losing jobs for Marylanders in the short run (good for politics) or about saving lives of Marylanders in the long run? Governor, I will remember this action and so will God.
Jennifer Bean-Dempsey, Ellicott City