After reading Sara Sankowich’s piece (Monitor Opinion, Sept. 25) extolling the alleged virtues of using Rodeo to eliminate unwanted grasses and bush along waterways as a means of maintaining Unitil’s towers, I began to feel an uneasiness that the corporation would have such disregard, not only for the environment and wildlife but the workers who are exposed to this known carcinogen when spraying.
It’s the easy way out, not the responsible behavior of a company that values employees, the planet and those who live nearby said towers.
The contemporary ethos of shareholder capitalism, in which corporations exist simply to enrich their investors while ignoring the damage they do, spending the least amount of money in the welfare of their employees, to deliver whatever product or service it offers, is what is ruining the world, socially, economically and environmentally. It perpetuates the growing divide between the haves and have-nots.
I want to be proud of our electric company; I want to think of it as a good neighbor who invests in the community with genuine good will, not shilling in the worship of Mammon.
I’m calling on Unitil to be a good neighbor, to do the right thing and not hide behind their lies. I’m asking Unitil to take the honorable path, even if it means stepping out of its comfort zone. Hiring workers to maintain towers with machines and goats helps lift people out of poverty. Such practices are what make a successful company – not using money as a measuring stick.
HOPE ZANES BUTTERWORTH
Concord