Many government programs are trying to address Maine’s economic challenges. We have an aging population, more jobs than qualified candidates to fill them, and far too many families struggling to put meals on the table. Government assistance helps, but we cannot rely on it alone.

Having served 20 years in the U.S. military (submarines), I find the editorial stance of the BDN on Oct. 10 concerning the “Syria withdrawal” troubling. The BDN’s position seems to be in agreement with most of Maine’s congressional delegation that considers the withdrawal to be an abandonment of the Kurds and a dangerous signal to our allies.

The Maine Legislature recently passed a bill allowing abortions to be labeled a health care issue and covered under taxpayer insurance. I will state right off that I do not believe in abortion, but even if I did, my common sense would tell me that pregnancy should be covered by private or taxpayer insurance.

(In his Oct. 2 letter) Jeffrey Weatherbee has little understanding of American health care or its costs.

If 97 percent of mechanics told you that the plane your family was boarding was unsafe, would you stop them? Ninety seven percent of climate scientists are warning us of the impacts of human-caused climate change. Let’s switch planes.

As hard as it is to look away from impeachment drama, I hope Mainers will consider the latest numbers from the U.S. Census, showing that 13 percent of Americans live below the poverty line. In Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, the statistic is worse: nearly 15 percent of the population lives in poverty.

Letter-writer Alan Boone is correct that the climate has changed before. However, it's the pace of the current change that is most troubling.

Congratulations and thanks to Matthew Gagnon for his column, “Why climate change skeptics still exist.” It’s remarkable that all the apocalyptic predictions of climate doom (Al Gore and many others) over the past 30 years have come to naught. Now they must make predictions for many decades in the future so we naysayers won’t be around to criticize.

The Land Use Planning Commission continues deliberation of New England Clean Energy Connect corridor at the Oct. 9 commission meeting in Greenville. For the exact time, the agenda for the meeting will be posted on the commission’s calendar and meetings page.

Matt Gagnon speaks for climate change skeptics in his Sept. 6 column. His argument points more to the fact that he and his fellow skeptics are basing their knowledge on climate outliers’ articles from nearly a half century ago than the way things are now.

An OpEd was published by Matthew Gagnon where he placed doubt on current climate science by identifying examples of some past climate predictions which never happened. If all of us had a dime for every economic forecast, or political science poll or sports prediction that didn’t happen in the past we would all be rich.

My kudos go to Matthew Gagnon whose column clearly states one reason that I am a staunch denier of the so-called climate scientist predictions. I am 80-years-old and have lived through every one of these dire predictions mentioned in the column.

Matthew Gagnon’s opinion column suggested that past predictions made by various scientists have failed to come true, and this causes skepticism of some current climate predictions. He cited predictions by Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich who thought mass starvation would occur in the 1970s due to overpopulation. Gagnon also referred to predictions made in the 1970s and 1980s regarding air pollution. In part, these predictions didn’t come true because steps were taken toward solving the problems

Climate change skeptics like columnist Matthew Gagnon seem to believe bad things are not already happening because of climate change. They need to get out of their recliners and take a trip along the Maine coast.

Columnist Matthew Gagnon downplays the threat posed by global warming. However, in its report "Catastrophe Modelling and Climate Change," Lloyd's of London states that the 8 inches of sea-level rise off the tip of Manhattan increased Superstorm Sandy’s surge losses by 30 percent, and that "Further increases in sea level in this region may non-linearly increase the loss potential from similar storms.”

On Monday, Sept. 23 I received an email from the Piscataquis Observer which contained “1-Minute Hike” by Aislinn Sarnacki. I am a huge fan of Aislinn’s column and on Wednesday, Sept. 25, I hiked the Shaw Mountain trail which was her subject on the 23rd. I had a wonderful hike and her detailed explanations of the trail, which I had printed and carried in my pack, made navigation easy.

After intently watching the Democratic debate on Sept. 12, I wonder if anyone is really listening to what they are proposing. Free health care for all, but where will the money come from? Do we really think that free health care is not going to come out of our paychecks? No wonder Democratic candidates want to raise the minimum wage.

Just read the article about dropping the Mount from the name Katahdin. Makes perfect sense when you learn what the word means, many words have a meaning derived from early civilizations, cultures and nationalities. As a native of Millinocket, I stopped using the word Mount at an early age when I learned the native meaning from my grandparents, some of the earliest 1900s Millinocket settlers.