Readers: Pols must fi ght climate change now
Several readers wrote to us this
week, calling for offi cials to act on
measures to slow climate change:
To the Editor,
Climate change is happening here
and now — and as a young person
building a life for myself, it is overwhelming
to see too many of our leaders
failing to act to keep our communities
safe from climate disaster in
the future.
The latest climate report from the
United Nations says we have only 12
years to transform our economy to
preserve the stable climate human
civilization has depended on for millennia.
We need a massive mobilization
of every sector of society on par
with what science and justice demand.
A Green New Deal will keep
Americans safe from climate change
and create millions of green jobs. It
is common sense policy that is overwhelmingly
popular with American
people, regardless of political party
or where they live.
There is a Green New Deal on the
table at every level of government in
New York — at the city level, at the
state level, and at the federal level.
It’s time that our leaders take it up
and act to save lives and the future
now. Dana Affl eck
Clinton Hill
...
To the Editor,
Thank you for reading this! This
letter is me saying, let’s get behind
the Green New Deal. I am 37-yearsold
and have been frightened and
paralyzed about climate change for
so long. Ever since Sunrise Movement
and the Green New Deal resolution,
I’ve been so inspired and ready
to participate in our democratic process.
A Green New Deal will keep
Americans safe from climate change
and create millions of good jobs, too.
I’ve been calling my representatives
every week to thank them for cosponsoring
this amazing resolution
or encourage them to do so.
What a hopeful approach we have
found in this resolution. We can
squelch our climate change fears by
getting behind this bold movement
and getting the Green New Deal into
law. Brooke LaGrand
Kensington
...
To the Editor,
The UN’s latest climate report
states that in order to limit global average
temperature rise to less than
1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial
temperatures, we, as a planet,
need to cut greenhouse gas emissions
in half by 2030. Currently, global average
temperature is 1 degree Celsius
higher than pre-industrial levels,
and we have already seen fi rsthand
the negative effects it has had on our
lives through increased weather intensity
and global sea-level rise.
Humanity has 11 more years to
limit global-average temperature
rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and begin
to reverse the horrible effects of climate
change. The Green New Deal is
the fi rst step to making positive climate
action in the U.S. Any political
candidate, regardless of party affi liation,
will not earn youth support unless
they have the courage and common
sense to back the Green New
Deal. This is not the time to sit idly
by, this is the time for action.
Padriac Nugent
Clinton Hill
...
To the Editor,
Since I was 8-years-old, I was told
that the world was ending around
me. I was told that my grandchildren
would live to see the actual apocolypse
if we didn’t do anything to stop it.
Now I’m 22-years-old and I have
seen no progress. I have seen no responsibility
from politicians. I have
seen no accountability from corporations.
And now I am told that I may
live to see the end of the world. This
global crisis demands drastic action
immediately, which is why I see the
Green New Deal as a glimmer of hope
in a world growing darker by the day.
It is our duty to our planet to make
up for our wrongs, defi ne where we
stand, and create the legislature to
save not only our species but all the
inhabitants on Earth.
Emma Witmer
Bushwick
...
To the Editor,
The truth is there whether we acknowledge
it or not. That’s comforting
in the days of Trumpism, but
also deeply concerning at a time of
increasing calamity from humancaused
climate change. Many (including
even leaders in the Democratic
COURIER L 32 IFE, MARCH 1–7, 2019 M BR B G
Party and strong environmental advocates
such as Michael Bloomberg)
have taken initial steps to paint the
Green New Deal as “pie-in-the-sky”
and unreasonable.
Besides using metaphors, which
were already cliche when my grandparents
were kids, they fail to acknowledge
the exciting truth directly
before us: there has never been a proposal
to halt climate change that has
been more reasonable than the Green
New Deal. Why? Because the Green
New Deal is the only major proposal
we’ve seen to date that actually meets
this colossal challenge with a plan
bold enough to overcome it.
The plans that have been proposed
so far, while well-intentioned
and a good start, have been unreasonable
in that they will not actually
solve the tremendous problems we
face. The latest climate report from
the UN says we have only 12 years
to transform our economy to preserve
the stable climate human civilization
has depended on for millennia.
It is unreasonable to think that
any plan short of a massive mobilization
of every sector of society will
solve this crisis. The good news? The
Green New Deal will unleash prosperity
and justice the likes of which
the country, and this world, have
ever seen.
We have been given an unimaginable
gift to be conscious human
beings on this earth and right now
we’re blowing it. We owe it to ourselves
to acknowledge this truth and
act boldly to our potential before it’s
too late. Will Blomker
Prospect Heights
We need truth
The protection of executive privilege
is a path that allows professional
politicians to legally lie. Withholding
information is not in the public interest;
the truth is what is needed to protect
our democracy.
Release the complete Mueller report
and everything else we have every
right to know, because we are the
people; and you work for us, are paid
by us, and report to us!
The current POTUS is a shame;
has been accused of divulging state
secrets in the past, and lies 24-seven.
This is not how our system of governance
has been before, nor should be
again in the future; assuming there
is a future.
And that is my two-cents.
Barry Brothers
Homecrest
Media apology
To the Editor,
The media is now reporting that
actor Jussie Smollett, who is black
and gay, was arrested after fi nally
coming clean about his staged homophobic,
anti-Trump, and antiblack
noose attack.
After weeks of media hype, the
actor and media have a tremendous
amount of damage control to perform.
In addition, they should approach
the black community, in fact
all of America, and make public apologies
for what was almost done.
Sadly, today, we live in a racially
charged society, much of it brought to
fruition by the media. All it takes to
set off this tinderbox in certain cities
is false reporting, and the bloodshed
begins.
May the Chicago police throw the
book at Jussie, though, watch and see
the liberal slap on the hands he gets.
Robert W. Lobenstein
Sheepshead Bay
Drug addition
To the Editor,
I strongly agree with Nicole Malliotakis
that any facilities where drug
addicts can legally inject themselves
with heroin or other addictive drugs
should be illegal (“She’s sticking it
to him” by Colin Mixson, Bay News,
Feb. 22–28). I think the mayor should
use the money he would allocate to
these clinics to provide addicts with
rehabilitation programs and to get
drug dealers off the streets.
I wonder if the mayor is aware that
providing clinics where addicts can
legally and supposedly safely take illegal
and addictive drugs would encourage
more teenagers and others
to try these drugs. It seems like the
city is sanctioning the use of illegal
drugs while, at the same time, trying
to prevent or save users from overdosing.
Does this make sense?
Is the mayor aware that these
clinics would create two new serious
problems? One would be the drug
dealers waiting outside the clinics to
sell addicts more drugs before or after
they shoot up. The second would
be the addicts who drive to the clinics,
take their drugs, and then attempt
to drive home.
Mr. DeBlasio, please use this
money to rehabilitate drug addicts instead,
and to prevent those not yet addicted
from ever starting on drugs.
Elaine Kirsch
Gravesend
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
Submit letters to:
Anthony Rotunno, Edi tor, Courier Life,
1 MetroTech Center North, Brooklyn,
NY 11201, or e-mail to editorial@
schnepsmedia.com. Please include
your address and tele phone number
so we can con fi rm you sent the
letter. We reserve the right to edit all
correspondence, which becomes the
property of Courier Life.
SOUND OFF TO THE EDITOR
LETTERS AND COMMENTS FROM OUR READERS
/schnepsmedia.com