At this point there is little to add to the reasons why Perry Gershon is the better choice for the East End in Congress than Lee Zeldin — but Mr. Gershon is better for the country as well. He has proven himself levelheaded and admirably determined. That he has driven almost 40,000 miles during his campaign in his own plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt says a lot about the kind of congressman he would be; Mr. Zeldin’s re-election campaign’s main vehicle is a gas-guzzling Suburban. 

Mr. Gershon is accessible. Mr. Zeldin holds brief public meetings in settings he finds personally comfortable. Mr. Gershon favors improving the nation’s gun laws. Mr. Zeldin wants owners of legal handguns from other states to be able to carry them concealed in New York. Mr. Gershon wants health care for all. Mr. Zeldin would take Medicaid away from millions. Mr. Gershon wants to see the Russia probe play out. Mr. Zeldin sponsored a bill to investigate the investigators. 

Mr. Zeldin has done almost nothing positive for the East End in the past three and a half years in Congress. Mr. Gershon would focus on issues important in the First District, such as Plum Island, environmental protection, and climate change. Mr. Zeldin has wasted his constituents’ time in appearances on Fox News. Mr. Gershon has spent the last two years asking for your vote. 

Mr. Zeldin, through his unconditional embrace of Donald J. Trump’s worst excesses, actively promotes the things that divide us. Mr. Gershon would work to bring us together.

Replacing Mr. Zeldin in the House of Representatives would deprive the president of one of his most eager backers. If only for that, a vote for Perry Gershon is a step toward a better future.

One of the most disheartening aspects of the 2018 election cycle has been a coordinated, deliberate effort to take the vote away from hundreds of thousands of United States citizens. 

Varied schemes have been the work of state and local Republicans bent on victory at all costs. Depending on where, officeholders have eagerly sought to suppress turnout, obfuscate deadlines, and outright disenfranchise fellow Americans along racial divides, mostly because they tend to vote Democratic. 

It is appalling that so many Republicans who believe themselves to be of good conscience are willing to countenance what could create lasting damage to democracy. If there is one issue that should unify the nation, it should be the right to participate in selecting leaders. This failure should be a source of shame.

The effort to suppress votes can be as obvious as limiting the number of polling places or curtailing their hours. The difference between majority white and majority black or Hispanic election districts can make the latter seem like another country. On the South Fork, voters might wait for a few minutes at most to fill out their ballots. However, in 2016, hours-long lines greeted would-be voters in Arizona, North Carolina, and Ohio, among other places, and are expected again this year.

Examples are numerous and horrifying. There have been registered-voter purges, in some cases simply because someone has sat out a couple of elections. Individual registrations in Georgia have been rejected for as little as a missing hyphen in a last name. In one county, officials ordered black senior citizens out of a bus that was to have taken them to an early voting site.

In Alabama, hundreds of thousands of people who remain eligible to vote despite a low felony conviction remain unregistered because of a welter of county-by-county policies and confusing laws. Kansas tried requiring citizenship documents of new registrants, which the American Civil Liberties Union said improperly blocked 35,0000 United States citizens from casting ballots. After a federal judge halted it, the state took another tack: shutting down polling places in minority areas. 

North Carolina has made it all but necessary for hourly workers to skip work in order to take part in early voting. It also eliminated Sunday voting, which traditionally was popular with black voters. North Dakota recently changed its law to require street addresses on the IDs it requires for voting; many Indian reservations in the state do not use street addresses, and under the law post office boxes are not considered adequate. In Tennessee, applications to register have been rejected because an applicant did not check a “Miss,” “Mrs.,” or “Mr.” box. 

No national Republican figure has denounced the strategy to keep black voters in the South or Democratic-leaning college students elsewhere from participating via absentee ballots. At every level, including at the Suffolk Board of Elections, it is shocking that officials and candidates can remain loyal to a party that has so completely collapsed on the most American of American values — the right to vote. The silence of fair-minded Republicans now is the saddest note of all.

The first chilly days of October might seem an odd time to remind readers about a program offered by the region’s electric utility to reduce demand on the hottest days of summer, but stick with us. PSEG Long Island has been giving away programmable thermostats to residential customers with central air-conditioning through its South Fork Peak Savers incentive. When the web-connected devices are installed, they can be adjusted remotely by a few degrees, saving ratepayers money and helping reduce overall electricity consumption during periods of greatest strain on the grid.

From the utility’s perspective, every watt it does not have to buy — or make in temporary, polluting diesel-fueled “peaker” plants — is money saved. And, every watt not produced limits greenhouse gas emissions, helping all of us. And ratepayers save money, but we said that already.

Easy-to-install Nest-brand thermostats are provided to households under a few conditions. First, there must be central air-conditioning. Second, customers have to enroll in something called Rush Hour Rewards, which actually pays them for remotely changing settings by between one and three barely perceptible degrees — often when no one is home to notice the difference. 

“Smart” thermostats like the Nest can sense when a house is empty or when it is very late at night, and make energy-saving adjustments. They also can be monitored remotely and turned up or down on a smartphone app, allowing participants to override the Peak Savers program or adjust personal settings.

In addition to the free thermostat or rebate, participants get $25 a summer for sticking around.  And that’s not all, as they say on TV; smart thermostats can reduce summer cooling and winter heating bills up to 20 percent. Nest says a change of as little as a degree can cut costs by as much as 8 percent. 

Along the same lines, National Grid offers a $75 rebate to residential gas customers who purchase Nest or another brand of remotely controllable thermostats. The bottom line is that winter and summer savings could add up to a great deal of money — and have a positive effect on the environment.

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This has been updated to clarify the program terms.

For more than 40 years, power plants were the largest source of greenhouse gases in the United States. But since the early 2000s, generation of electricity has become less carbon-intensive with the growth of wind and solar and a switch to natural gas. Despite this switch in the sources of emission, the situation is not good. Cars, trucks, aircraft, and shipping emissions jumped in about 2016 and have continued to climb. That will only get worse if climate denier-in-chief President Trump’s promised rollback of fuel-efficiency standards is allowed to go into effect.

A United Nations scientific group released a frightening report this month that the worst consequences of climate change would be felt much sooner than had been anticipated. Among the threats are food shortages, wildfires, massive changes to the natural environment, and the displacement of 50 million people by floods, all within a generation. Even people who work in the field of climate change described the report as a bitter shock. 

For coastal Long Island, the implications are dire. With the anticipated atmospheric temperature increase, sea level rise will inundate the shoreline by 2040 — much sooner than previously thought. Large areas of the East End towns and the South Shore will have to be abandoned. It is not a stretch to say that East Hampton’s lucrative status as a summer resort would be upended unless steps are taken right now. 

Stopping the impending global disaster will require reversing emissions trends. The use of coal as an electricity source will have to go. This brings us back to alternative energy. East Hampton Town has the first solar facility, off Accabonac Road in Amagansett. New York State is cooperating with corporations to install wind turbines offshore. Notably, Deepwater Wind’s turbines would tie into the Long Island electric grid in East Hampton and be the first in the state. 

Those who are framing Deepwater as not beneficial to the East End miss the point. In the context of nearly unimaginable climate disruptions within our lifetimes, knee-jerk opposition would be laughable if the permanent disruption of our community’s economy were not at stake. It is worth noting that the League of Conservation Voters ranks Representative Lee Zeldin in the bottom 10 percent of all members of Congress on climate change.

Offshore wind may have its flaws; few large power sources do not. But Deepwater is a small part of an essential effort to actually save life on Earth as we know it.

A powerful sense of community was evident on Sunday when more than 100 people gathered in the hope of saving the Springs Historical Society from dissolution. As with many organizations run by volunteers, maintaining forward motion as the heavy-lifters age, move away, or become interested in other things can be an existential challenge. So it was with the Springs Historical Society, which ran the library but had dwindled to a handful of active members, not even enough for a board of directors, as required by state regulations concerning nonprofits. This put its charter with the State Board of Regents in jeopardy and would shut down its ability to accept tax-deductible contributions.

The Springs Library is in the small, town-owned Parsons House opposite Ashawagh Hall. It opened in 1980 and since then has provided a close-by source of books and videos to borrow as well as a limited schedule of programs for residents of the town’s most-densely populated hamlet. Springs residents have borrowing privileges at the East Hampton Library, too, but the humble library close to home serves its purpose. Among its charms is an ongoing book sale during most of the year, with selections outdoors round the clock under a canopy available on the honor system. It does not have a website and it is open only about 14 hours a week, remaining closed on Thursdays and Sundays for lack of volunteers, we assume.

Coming up with the money to fund the Springs Library and keep the historical society alive has been a challenge over the years. Unlike publicly funded libraries, Springs is run by a private association. This means staff salaries are nearly out of the question, upkeep can be a stretch, and even buying books and DVDs is a challenge. With new and invigorated leadership, more members, and more public attention, in part thanks to the recent crisis, coming up with the necessary cash now appears a possibility.

The outcome of Sunday’s meeting was more than the election of a new board of directors. For every one of the hundred or so people there, you can assume there are several others who use the library from time to time. Libraries today are far more than places to check out books; they are community centers where patrons can find help preparing tax returns, take classes, attend lectures, or sit quietly and read a magazine. Students can get help with homework, work on college essays, or do crafts. Smaller children can hear a story, play with Legos, and learn to socialize with others. 

Springs residents deserve many of these things, and what better place for them than their own library?

Membership, at $15 a year, is a great bargain and helps support the library and society’s work. Checks made out to the Springs Historical Society can be mailed to P.O. Box 1860, East Hampton 11937. We encourage everyone who loves books, history, or a sense of place to sign up. It will be money well spent.

Montaukers and those who love the easternmost point in New York State are highly skeptical about an idea to allow camping and related concessions in Camp Hero. They are right to be ringing the alarm. Camping should not be permitted there.

In August, the State Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation asked interested parties to submit proposals for a camping concession that might include everything from tent sites to R.V. hookups. In addition, there is a possibility that food and liquor sales could some day be allowed there. For a very long time, Long Island state parks management has kept hands off Montauk. This is good and befits a wild and inspiring place. That would come to a screeching halt if a portion of Camp Hero were turned into a campground.

The response, at least locally, has been vigorously negative. Concerned Citizens of Montauk, the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee, and the Eastern Long Island Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation have cautioned against it. 

Concerns include sewage, campers falling down the ocean bluffs, competition with local motels and rental properties, fire and emergency medical services, and a lack of state parks police to handle an additional load. There have been few problems at the state-run Hither Hills campground in Montauk, but that might not always be the case.

These are valid concerns, but there is something more important. If there is one place that should be a refuge from the rest of the Hamptons, or what might be called modern life, it is Montauk Point. Day-trippers and residents alike go to the Point and the park there to get away from it all, to soak up nature’s majesty in an undeveloped setting. Protecting the sense of peace that nature provides should be the greatest priority.

The Parks Department has said Camp Hero is “underutilized.” To us, that is exactly as it should be.

For whatever reason — maybe just dumb luck — the East Hampton Fire Department has had a relatively quiet couple of years, that is, up to the past few weeks. Most notable was the late September blaze at Ronald Perelman’s Creeks estate on Georgica Pond. 

If ever there was an incident that demonstrated just how sharp East Hampton’s firefighters are, this was it. Trouble was spotted a little before 10 p.m. on Sept. 28. By the time the first personnel arrived, there were flames coming through the roof of the 15,000-square-foot house. With the department’s 95-foot-tall ladder truck above and firefighters inside below, the blaze was under control in about 45 minutes. Other firefighters helped move some of the estate’s massive art collection out of harm’s way. The volunteers had to run an amazing 5,000 feet of hose from Montauk Highway to keep up the attack. Assistance came from all of the departments from Southampton east to Montauk — about 125 firefighters in all.

It would be easy to say “Job well done!” and be done with it, yet coming only a few days before Fire Prevention Week, this and other recent fires should serve as a reminder about safety. According to the National Fire Prevention Association, Americans have a greater chance of dying in a house fire than they did in the past even though the number of fires has remained about constant. This is particularly true for older Americans. The rate of firefighters’ injuries and deaths also has risen. This is explained in part by the prevalence of plastics and artificial, chemical-based products in everything from diapers to computers — all of which when burned produce highly dangerous smoke and gases.

David Browne, the East Hampton Town fire marshal, issued his annual Fire Prevention Week message the other day. He advised residents to check the home and office for places where fire could start, to test fire alarms, and figure out at least two ways to get out of every room. Other advice for the home includes recognizing risky heating sources and cooking safely. Tip sheets are available at nfpa.org. They are well worth a look.

A New York State grant of $9.7 million for water mains in Wainscott is good news indeed for more than 500 households. After potentially harmful chemicals were found in drinking water in the area, town and state officials, as well as the Suffolk County Water Authority, acted quickly. About eight and a half miles of underground pipe is almost half completed. 

The grant is good news, too, for East Hampton taxpayers in general. Tax-rate increases were a distinct possibility without state money. The largess from Albany came after chemicals used in firefighting foam, carpets, furniture fabric, and clothes were identified in the southern part of Wainscott.

Where things may get expensive for some property owners is running a supply line from a new water main to their houses. Between the costs of a hook-up vault and laying new pipe, perhaps by precise but expensive horizontal drilling, many homeowners could be looking at anywhere from several thousand dollars to, in one instance we know of, more than $90,000. For someone investing in a multimillion dollar house, that might seem like pocket change. For many, perhaps most, Wainscott residents that kind of money might be a difficult drink to swallow. 

Given the state grant, East Hampton Town will save what would have been more than $10 million, including interest, on the bonds it did not have to issue. Considering this windfall, the town might want to offer low or interest-free loans for hookups for property owners in the affected area. Water should not be a luxury only the rich can afford.

A movie theater question of another sort has been in the news lately. After the Sag Harbor Cinema was destroyed in a fire almost two years ago, there were doubts that films would ever be shown there again. However, a group of citizens rallied and raised millions to purchase the Main Street site and begin reconstruction. The problem is that the money donated for the new Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center is not enough. Now, the group overseeing the restoration has asked the Town of Southampton for money from the community preservation fund. 

Much as we love the idea of a revitalized art house theater in Sag Harbor, we cannot support the proposed town grant.

When the preservation fund was approved in the East End towns 20 years ago, it was clear that the voters believed the use of the fund would be strictly limited. It was for buying environmentally significant land, recreational sites, farmland, and for historic preservation. Tapping Southampton’s fund because the Sag Harbor Cinema group is having a hard time coming up with sufficient money to meet its goals would not be appropriate.

Early on, politicians tried to push the envelope for money from the community preservation fund. In Southampton, a supervisor seeking re-election made an indirect cash handout to some likely voters, going so far as to pose for photographs holding an oversize mock check made out to the Hampton Bays School District for $1.5 million. East Hampton Supervisor Bill McGintee resigned and his budget manager was arrested over their misdirection of preservation fund money to pay for routine town expenses.

More recently, voters approved an amendment that would allow up to 20 percent of the income in a calendar year to be used for water quality. How this will play out is not yet clear, but there already are troubling signs. For example, the fund may be used for a sewage treatment plant in the commercial downtown of Montauk — an area of negligible environmental value and one that has been targeted for the managed retreat of buildings in the face of continual erosion.

As worthy as the Sag Harbor Cinema restoration is, for preservation fund money to be used to speed the work along would be both improper and a very bad precedent, tempting other groups to come begging when in financial need. Southampton Town might well want to support the old theater’s rebirth and should be encouraged to do so, but this money is the wrong way to go about it.

The Hamptons International Film Festival opens today with late-afternoon and evening movies running at the East Hampton Regal Cinema and Guild Hall. Tomorrow, the festival really gets going, with programs beginning at around 10 a.m. in the theaters and a talk at the nearby restaurant Rowdy Hall. Movie lovers who get to East Hampton by car had better keep a sharp eye on the parking rules, however, as the two-hour and one-hour limits will remain in effect throughout the crowded Columbus Day weekend.

In festival materials, the organizers recommend that patrons park in East Hampton Village’s long-term lot off Gingerbread Lane. They have also arranged with the Hampton Jitney to provide free service to and from Montauk and Manorville for anyone with a valid festival ticket. Would that the East Hampton Village Board were as accommodating. 

Each year a number of patrons emerge from festival screenings to find pricey notices of violation on their car windshields. Parking has become something of a running joke in the village during the festival; a popular animated short screened before the movies features voices griping about the problem. With many films running for two or more hours, plus frequent question-and-answer sessions following screenings, plenty of vehicles in the village’s main lots wind up in excess of the permitted time.

That East Hampton could seem to care less is evident in the fact that a former village official, someone who had been in public life for most of the years since the festival’s founding in 1992, had not set foot in any of its talks or screenings until last year — when specifically invited. The official indifference is misplaced, if only because the long weekend brings considerable cultural infusion, which many residents and visitors eagerly look forward to each fall. And though some in the retail trade might differ, the festival brings a valuable boost to local economic activity in the form of rentals and food, while also providing long-term visibility through commercial sponsorships. Plenty of big companies, including Audi, Netflix, and Delta Airlines, know the value of the festival and are among the important underwriters.

A partial solution to the parking problem is simple. East Hampton Village should temporarily change its two-hour lots to allow vehicles to park for up to three hours. Southampton Village allows three-hour parking in some lots, and the heavens haven’t collapsed. Unfortunately, the long-term lot here is far from the action, and for those not familiar with the area, difficult to locate.

If officials are not interested in the movies, at least they should acknowledge all the festival brings to the South Fork, and lighten up about parking.