Dear Editor:

I don’t know Cameron Reny. She has not run for office before, so I suspect this is the case for many in Lincoln County. Nevertheless, I will be voting for her as our next state senator. I have two overriding reasons.

The first is healthcare. Despite our aging population, Maine has come through the Covid pandemic better than almost any other U.S. state. This is a remarkable achievement. I am in the most vulnerable age bracket. I am grateful for the courageous leadership of Janet Mills, sometimes under extreme pressure to reverse those measures that have kept us safe. Simultaneously, the Mills administration, with the support of our local representatives, has extended healthcare coverage to tens of thousands of Mainers.

I have seen enough of Cameron Reny to know she will maintain this positive momentum. She believes “healthcare is a human right and medical debt should not devastate a person’s finances.”

And then there’s climate change. This is already impacting Maine’s forests and fisheries. A recent ‘Technical Summary’ from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), presenting the consensus of thousands of climate scientist from around the world, notes: “Beginning at 1.5˚C warming, natural adaptation faces hard limits, driving high risks of biodiversity decline, mortality, species extinction and loss of related livelihoods.” We will hit 1.5˚C by 2030. After this, “many key risks intensify rapidly.” If global warming rises above 2˚C, “the lowest estimates of species extinctions are 1,000 times the natural background rates.”

I have seen enough of Cameron Reny to know she “will act on climate science.”

We face unusually stark electoral choices in November. Political differences are not the usual shades of grey. For the health of ourselves and our environment, let’s elect Cameron Reny as our state senator for Lincoln County.

Nigel Calder

Newcastle