Mailbag: Carbon dividends would be a good first step to address climate change
Re. “Commentary: Some conservatives are concerned with climate change,” (March 19): The news of the Republican-led Climate Leadership Council and the bipartisan Climate Solution Caucus does spark some hope in those of us who at times despair about the inability of our Congress to get their act together and come up with bipartisan legislation, especially about climate change. The speed at which our climate is changing, due to global warming, is unprecedented. Unlike past ages of global warming which took millennia, the current warming is taking decades.
Animals, plants and human civilization will not have enough time to adapt if we continue with business as usual. Over a century ago scientists predicted the effect of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Our reckless disdain for the evidence has brought us to increasing frequency of extreme weather. How bad does it have to get? We citizens need to take responsibility too and pressure Congress for climate action. A carbon dividends policy would be an effective first step.
Virginia Bernal
Santa Ana
It’s time to slow climate change
Thanks to the Pilot for this commentary. It is very important that we adopt a carbon fee and dividend plan.
Andy Martin
Huntington Beach
Concerns about water quality in our bay
We, who are fortunate enough to live on Balboa Island and along the coast take way too much for granted. Our bay is more than a postcard. What is now in the bay, and what has led to this condition, has to be talked about and acted on. The bacteria level is high. Into our bay flows water that is polluted with fertilizers, oil, human and animal waste, plastic and Styrofoam, garbage from the Back Bay, plane emissions, boat discharge, bottles, cans, oil and, in some cases, dead fish. With all this going on, there still is no comprehensive study of the pollutants and poisons.
These elements have directly, or indirectly, led to a rash of our wildlife dying. I have personally picked up multiple dead birds in recent weeks. Add this to the fact that some fishermen don’t eat the fish they catch because they consider them too toxic. There are no longer a hearty fraternity of men and women who swim around the islands.
The city, the county and environmental watchdogs must come up with a coordinated program that will keep our bay safe and clean. It is past time that the Balboa Island Improvement Assn., the City Council and organizations such as Coast Keeper, Surfrider and Harbor Protectors become the new “Baywatch” in Orange County.
Tim C. Leedom
Balboa Island
Walters’ vote neglects women’s health care
Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, voted not only to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but tragically to block more than 2.5 million women nationally, and nearly 850,000 in California — the most vulnerable and needy among us and disproportionately women of color — from accessing Medicaid-covered basic healthcare. This includes birth control, cancer screenings, STD testing, PAP smears, breast exams and the like at Planned Parenthood clinics.
Walters, you see, is opposed to women not of her faith exercising their Constitutionally guaranteed right to choose — for highly personal, economic or medical reasons — to end an early, nonviable pregnancy. Presumably acting in the name of the 721,000 people in her district, Walters is apparently certain her spiritual beliefs, coupled with her judgment of another woman’s life and value, trump those of the very people she was elected to represent. She’d turn a deaf ear to and take away from millions needed health services in order to punish Planned Parenthood, whose spiritual values she does not share. Bear this in mind too: Planned Parenthood receives not one federal dime for the delivery of abortion care services.
Thus I, along with all reasonable, caring and decent folk everywhere, stand with Planned Parenthood. I hope that everyone in Orange County, in California, and across the nation will join us. We’re organized. We’re fighting back. We will not back down. We will not be silenced. And we will fight with every energy we have to ensure that the most vulnerable among will not be placed at further risk because their beliefs are not shared by Walters.
Lynne Riddle
Newport Beach
The writer is a retired federal judge.
Trump’s budget cuts threaten Meals on Wheels
As a former volunteer who, for a year, delivered Meals on Wheels to needy seniors and disabled adults in South Laguna, I was shocked to hear President Trump’s first budget call for drastic cuts in federal funds to support this worthwhile program. Might I suggest that White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney pend a few days on the front lines delivering meals to shut-ins — like the elderly, physically challenged or severely wounded military veterans? I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing he might have a very different perspective about the efficacy of Meals on Wheels afterward. So much so, he reverses himself and fully funds that portion of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.
Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach
A big anniversary for the Chamber
On March 12, the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce celebrated the 110th anniversary of its founding in 1907 as the first business membership organized in the fledgling city of Newport Beach. At the time, the city was incorporated just one year earlier. The founding members were 16 local businessmen, who called themselves the “Harbor Boosters” and each contributed $5 for the initial expenses.
In the early years, the chamber was a driver in the creation of Newport Harbor and its surrounding industry. Although 110 years old, the chamber has remained a vibrant and ever-evolving group of businesses dedicated to its mission of promoting economic opportunity through business and community leadership and to enhance the social and civic environment. Today the chamber has grown to 650 diverse business organizations representing thousands of employees and the whole spectrum of the Newport business community.
The chamber hosts a number of monthly events, including the popular Wake Up! Newport series at the Main Library, featuring prominent speakers in an approachable environment. Our chamber mixers are legendary and occur at the hottest restaurants and venues. We educate members at monthly business luncheons designed to give business people the tools they need to succeed in today’s challenging environment.
Perhaps the thing the chamber is best known for is the high-quality civic events. Preeminent is the Christmas Boat Parade and Ring of Lights. In addition, the Police Appreciation Breakfast (March 29 this year), the Scholarship and Athletic Awards Dinners, Fire & Lifeguard Appreciation Dinner, Corona del Mar Sand Castle Contest, Newport Beach Economic Forecast and the Citizen of the Year Gala have been connecting the business community with residents for decades.
Steve Rosansky
Newport Beach
The writer is president and CEO of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce.
A not-so-circular argument
Re. “Going round and round over roundabouts,” (March 12): Reader Rob Macfarlane takes exception to Tim Gaul’s letter rebutting his silly, anti-roundabout letter. Sorry, Mr. Macfarlane, but I completely agree with Mr. Gaul: roundabouts are excellent traffic control devices used around the world with great success. And I take offense at your inference that European drivers must be smarter and more skillful than American drivers. Your assertion that local drivers will be as unhappy and perplexed as you are when encountering a roundabout is absurd.
Randy Stratton
Costa Mesa
Mariners’ case continues to raise questions
In a letter dated March 28, 2016, the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers advised the Newport-Mesa School District that the recent application for Gold Ribbon Award status by Mariners Elementary School contained 16 incidents of “untruths and inaccuracies” and requested an investigation.
Shortly after the letter was received, the district transferred the Mariners principal, Laura Sacks, and began an investigation. That investigation has been completed and was delivered to the district in January. Since then, Sacks has resigned and is no longer employed by the district. For the superintendent and the trustees, the matter is closed.
Unfortunately, there is another loose end. The Gold Ribbon application was signed by Sacks and Supt. Frederick Navarro. Sacks was demoted and has resigned. But there is still the question of Navarro. By signing his name to the application, he became complicit in what the teachers’ union asserts were inaccuracies in the application [editor’s note: findings from an internal investigation into the matter were not made public]. . The superintendent’s failure to publicly take even an ounce of responsibility is indicative of weak district leadership that has created a string of events that have discredited a once-proud district and promoted low teacher morale.
Steve Smith
Costa Mesa
No daylight saving time like the present
We are a society obsessed with time. At least I am. I’m the person who always arrives early, even when I try to be late. My days are divided into small segments, dictated by time. When to leave? How much time do I have? How much time is left? I never realized how time-oriented I was, until six months ago, when my watch battery went dead.
I meant to replace it ASAP, but didn’t “make the time” to do it right away. A week later, without a working watch, it occurred to me that this could be a blessing in disguise. I decided to go without a watch. At first, it felt odd, but I found I was enjoying my watch-free time. I still managed to get everything done punctually, but without the pressure.
In the “dinosaur age,” as my grandson would call it, a watch was just a watch, and a clock was just a clock. You were lucky if it had a second hand. It didn’t pay my bills, track my steps, play music or store photos. But it did get me to school and work on time.
Terri Goldstein
Newport Coast
Thoughts behind those people you see praying in restaurants
Many years ago my wife and I began taking the time to study and pray at a local restaurant, where we would not be interrupted by our phones ringing, and we’ve continued this practice. For us this time is absolute heaven. Some curious patrons have asked what we are doing. While some say they approve of prayer and wish us well. I don’t think most of these people have any idea that we’re not just petitioning a God who may or may not answer our prayers of gratitude and appreciation, but instead are praying to a God who created us in his image and likeness.
Whoops. I need to stop right there! I just crossed a line of great debate — the divide between materiality and spirituality. There’s a strong belief that substance, including the substance of our bodies, is only material. However, today many scientists argue that the body or materiality is not the solid, objective substance that it seems, but is directly related to thought. We’re on the cusp of a major paradigm shift as to what really makes up matter or substance. This paradigm shift is even more revolutionary than the one that occurred when the earth was found to be round, not flat. And it took centuries for that concept to be accepted and understood.
Some scientists and others say the body is greatly influenced by thoughts coming from outside the brain — from a spiritual source, which I call God. They generally agree that the brain is influenced by something they can’t quite define. So it gets called “consciousness,” both individual and universal. Many others are searching for answers to questions about man’s existence and the reality we live in. A promising aspect of this is that many physicians are also realizing that thought is key to how reality is experienced, and this has positive ramifications for health.
If it’s true that my experience is directly related to my thoughts and beliefs, isn’t it reasonable to conclude that if I pray to understand that God is all and is all good, what is real to me will reflect the power and perfection of that infinite goodness?
Don Ingwerson
Laguna Beach