Howie Carr points out in his column that Governor Healey and Lt. Governor like to spend time out of Massachusetts in Ireland, Rhode Island and Vermont. Spending time and money on Cape Cod or the Berkshires would be nice to promote state tourism by our elected officials.

Healey just spent $750,000 out of the state’s tourism budget to run 32 billboards in Texas and Florida to promote Massachusetts’ progressive record on LGBTQ rights as a reason people should move to the Bay State.

As Texas, Florida and other southern states continue to gain population from Massachusetts and other high tax states in the North, Healey should review the Washington-based Tax Foundation tax index and the low ranking the state has compared to those she is targeting with billboards. Massachusetts ranks 34th overall based on individual taxes, corporate taxes, sales tax, property taxes and unemployment insurance taxes.

Perhaps if Governor Healey and our elected officials at the state and federal level were more friendly to business and economic growth with favorable tax rates they could buy billboards for business and individuals to relocate to Massachusetts.

Fran Bogdanowicz
Longmeadow

The pricing on everything in modern sociality depends on energy. Everything.

Saudi Arabia and Russia are cutting oil production and with President Biden’s refusal to address the situation prices are sure to go up.

As long as we keep our head in the sand and refuse to start on a path back to energy independence, world oil suppliers have us “over a barrel.”

No one in Congress seems to give a hoot about this while the people they represent are suffering with inflation which hurts the people who least can afford it.

Their solution is not to address the source but just send out more money to of offset inflation.

Good plan?

Paul Quaglia

Billerica

Your article on Canada’s wildfires (7/8) notes the two major issues with recent air quality alerts;  jeopardizing people’s health, and “leading to flight cancellations and delays at some of the continent’s largest airports.”

But those very flights  are increasing carbon emissions, worsening the climate crisis, and making wildfires more likely.

Maybe the wildfires are trying to tell us something about flying.

Susan Donaldson

Northampton

I applaud those who wish to curtail spending for the windsurfing John Kerry, climate grifter and buffoon, and the efforts he supports as Joe Biden’s climate czar. The planet is warming but the extremely expensive attempts to diminish warming globally have proven inept. Climate is global and while our country may benefit from some of the machinations to reduce this and that in the atmosphere, global temperatures will not diminish unless and until all countries contribute to the effort, and that is not happening.

Paul Bloustein

Cincinnati, Ohio