Editor:

In the 1960's and 1970's we had smog: air pollution we could see, smell, and even taste. It came out of unregulated tailpipes and chimneys, and we did something about it. Nowadays you find that toxic fug in Delhi, in Beijing, but not here.

Good for us! Strange to recall that the president who signed the Clean Air Act into law was a Republican; those were different times.

This environmental success story had an unfortunate side-effect. Global warming, basically unknown back then, is driven by carbon dioxide: colorless, odorless, and (at this point) protected by the Supreme Court. Our clear skies enable denial of the fact that we're cooking the planet. Shucks, it sure doesn't look like anything's wrong....

In this regard, I almost welcome the unearthly orange daylight we have seen lately, courtesy out-of-control wildfires in Canada which are, in turn, courtesy global warming.

All is not well with our world; all is profoundly unwell. Why shouldn't things look weird and kind of awful? They are. 

Eric Kuhn, Middletown

A list for Meriden

Editor:

1.  Meriden needs to look towards Wallingford as how to properly seal roads.  Instead of chip sealing take a drive to South Curtis St. in Wallingford to see how a road should be sealed, not what Meriden is doing!!!

2.  Thank you councilors for the tax increase…you really know how to help us, especially senior citizens during economic bad times, especially after revaluation last year. I will remember in November, hope others do as well.

3.  How come we lose out on businesses to other surrounding towns???  Seems something is wrong????  Maybe we need changes to Economic Development personnel, also not concentrate so much on downtown!!  I thought Meriden was the center of the state, so why are we losing out and nobody talks about it?  We need businesses and not more apartments. 

4.  Doesn’t the city have an auditor/auditors who can review costs in each department to cut costs or recommend consolidation to cut cost??? If not may I suggest it… this position will more than pay for itself!!!

We need to get things under control in order NOT to increase taxes in the future.

Ray Bednarz, Meriden