Repair our moral infrastructure: Letters to the Editor
Repair our moral infrastructure
We’ve heard a number of politicians speak about the need to repair our infrastructure. What we saw on Saturday in Virginia is proof that our moral infrastructure also needs repair.
When roads and bridges are neglected, we leave ourselves vulnerable to tragedy. But if we don’t work on our moral infrastructure, I think the tragedy that will be experienced in America will be far more profound.
Bruno Rescigna
Hockessin
Urge Congress to fight climate change
Kudos to the News Journal editorial board for urging Congressional action to combat the threat of climate change with their Aug. 9 editorial, “U.S. Can’t Ignore Climate Change Science.” As the board points out, low lying Delaware is particularly vulnerable to the threat of sea level rise posed by global warming.
Some 97 percent of climate scientists agree that, based on the evidence, global warming is real and caused by human activity. Delaware’s beaches and coastal communities, so integral to our Delaware way of life, are facing an existential threat. But there is hope.
Citizen’s Climate Lobby advocates a proposal called carbon fee and dividend. Deliberately crafted to be bipartisan, this strategy would place a fee on fossil fuels but also return all money to every U.S. household as monthly dividend payments.
Independent assessments conclude that this approach, in addition to combating global warming, would also grow the economy and create jobs.
Even today, bipartisanship is possible. The Climate Solutions Caucus was formed in 2016 by two Florida congressman, a Republican and Democrat, who recognized the need for climate action. Today the Caucus boasts 52 members, 26 from each party, and continues to grow.
But they need our help. Citizens must urge all of Congress to work together.
Our children and grandchildren can then continue our tradition of summers at the Delaware beaches.
Marty and Pat Hopkins
Newark
What has Superfund program done for us?
The Aug. 13 op-ed by Rep. Debra Heffernan calls for continuing the cleanup of sites deemed hazardous in 1999, but it fails to discuss the accomplishments at those locations over the past 16 years.
Surely the spending of billions of dollars must have produced something to be proud of. After 16 years the task should be largely complete.
Why not tell us what has been accomplished, what money has been spent by what contractors? That information should go a long way toward convincing the public to complete the task.
The most effective argument is not providing jobs, but what little remains. It has been 16 years.
Dave Kujala
Clayton
Government health care works
Following up on the Aug. 6 opinion piece by RE Vanella, every one of us is entitled to fair and decent health care.
Every first world nation provides basic health care for all its people except the US. This does not result from health insurance companies competing with each other, but a commitment from governments based on human empathy.
According to the World Economic Forum, Norway, Switzerland and the U.S. pay $9,715 per person (9.6 percent of GDP), $9,276 per person (11.5 percent of GDP), and $9,146 per person (17.1 percent of GDP), respectively.
Why the cost difference? With universal coverage, all have access to strong primary care, health checkups, timely intervention, less reliance on costly emergency rooms. The Europeans publicly fund health care, no need to pay private insurance companies. Nor do the Europeans have liability systems that require doctors to pay hefty premiums for malpractice insurance.
Our national health care bill is $3.2 trillion. If we just take lessons from Switzerland, we could easily cut a trillion dollars. To get there, we need political leaders willing to take on entrenched special interests, possibly leaders who purport to care about deficits?
Bernard J. Reilly
Chadds Ford
Persuasion is better than force
In our dealings with North Korea, it would be wise to consider Aesop's fable about the wind, the sun and the man with the cloak.
Persuasion is better than force.
Robert Ward
Lewes
(Editor's note: In this fable, the wind and the sun tried to see who could force a man to take off his cloak. The wind blew as hard as it could, but the man held it tight to him; the sun simply shone, and the man took his cloak off because it became hot.)