Keep up the pressure on Big Oil

Elmhurst: Your “Fossil fuels, fossil fools” editorial (Jan. 11) misses the mark. The companies named in the city’s lawsuit knew decades ago their products were feeding climate change and kept that information from the public. Just as the tobacco industry made tremendous profits by pushing addictive nicotine, the fossil fuel industry has “addicted” people to their products. Whole national economies are tied up in the structure of fossil fuel energy production, distribution and use, feeding the non-reversible dangers of severe climate change.

It is time to hold those who make billions in profits from fossil fuels accountable. That means making them pay for damages already done. It also means, in New York State, passing a corporate polluter fee. Adding a fee starting at $35 per ton of emissions would make the cost of burning fossil fuels reflect the costs of emissions on our health that companies currently pass on to us. We could reinvest that money in clean energy, supporting fossil fuel workers and climate-impacted communities, and more.

Let’s not think of the lawsuit as an end in itself but as a way to change the conversation and move forward policy initiatives that will take us off of fossil fuels and into a 100% renewable energy future.

Leslie Cagan Coordinator, People’s Climate Movement, N.Y.

A tale of two cities

Hamden, Conn.: For two years, my dear daughter was a student at Columbia School of Social Work, from which she graduated with a Master’s degree. At that time, she lived on W. 125th St. in Harlem. The people were friendly. The shopkeepers were helpful, especially clerks at C-Town. And the restaurants had great food — especially Harlem Shake. This September, she went to London, to the University of London. After just four months of living there, she was mugged and her cellphone was stolen. Harlem: kindness. London: mugging. Thank you, Harlem!

Patricia Mayko-Santacroce

The kindness of New Yorkers

Cowbridge, Wales: After walking the High Line after Christmas with my wife, I was trying to hail a cab but lost my footing in the roadway and hit my head and knee. Immediately, several pedestrians rushed to help me, put me on a bench, got paper towels to mop up the blood and phoned for an ambulance. They kindly stayed with me until it arrived. One young man in particular checked me over and wouldn’t leave until the emergency vehicle turned up. Then the two-man ambulance crew (equally kind and efficient) patched me up and flagged down a taxi to take us back to our hotel. A few days beforehand, when my wife (another senior like me) stumbled over the curb and fell into the street, several passers-by helped her to her feet straight away. So, many and grateful thanks to all you kind citizens of New York. In contrast, why are your airport immigration staff so rude, unhelpful and unwelcoming? This was also true at a federal building in Manhattan. Are these people trained to be obnoxious? Do you really want visitors to your country truly help your tourist economy, or not?

Terry Morgan

Wheely unfair

Brooklyn: Mayor Moron Wilhelm has done it again: shafted car drivers in favor of rude bikers. Not only do they have countless bike lanes that they don’t use, but Wilhelm has now given them Prospect Park. The joggers had better watch out — as bikers don’t care about anyone. I do a breast cancer walk in Prospect Park. Of course, cars are banned, but the bikers should be also. They shoot into the park and go at full-speed, zig-zagging between the thousands of walkers. I have lost track of how many times I have almost been hit. It’s time bikers paid their way, both those who ride regular and electric bikes. Everyone should have a license plate; $200 a year should be a good starting price. This way, if you see them run a red light or blow through a stop sign, you can get their plate number. Rowena Lachant

Stepping on seniors

Freehold, N.J.: To know-it-all Voicer Joe Fusco: Yes, we seniors did get a 2% cost-of-living increase, but most of it was immediately applied to Medicare, which, I might add, was a slap in the face to us seniors, leaving us with only a couple of extra dollars. So, Joe, you owe Voicer Jean Hampsas an apology for your sarcasm. She was right! More importantly, our government should be ashamed for pulling this scam on us. After waiting a long time for what we thought was a decent increase, we got what amounts to nothing!

Rosemarie Cillo

One number, please

Manhattan: When will seniors get a Medicare number that is not the same as their Social Security number? Then they will finally feel comfortable carrying their cards with them and not worry as much about identity fraud.

Marilyn Levin

Shut it down

New Paltz, N.Y.: A NBC executive has announced that if players choose to kneel during the playing of the national anthem before the Super Bowl, they will televise it. For my part, the second I see one player kneeling during the playing, I will turn off the rest of the game. I’ll turn on YouTube and watch Whitney Houston sing the anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl. Roger Goodell and the NFL saying they can’t stop it is nonsense; they fine players for wearing the wrong color shoes. If these protests were in opposition to gay marriage, abortion or any other politically correct position, the NFL would have been all over the protesters. John Habersberger

Mailing it in

Ridgewood: Can anyone tell me why the post office closes at 5 p.m. when most jobs are 9 to 5? It doesn’t give anyone the chance to retrieve or send any packages after a day’s work. It just makes no sense! Francheisko Perez

The Trumpman Show

Howard Beach: Last week, Trump said “welcome to my studio” to his Cabinet members sitting around a conference table. Now we really know what goes on in his delusional mind. He thinks he went from starring in “Celebrity Apprentice” to starring in “The President.” Well, his ratings stink and, hopefully for the American people, his contract will not be renewed. Barbara Berg

Sound the alarm

Yonkers: There are parallel threads here (“Trump’s brain: a national problem,” Op-Ed, Jan. 12). The Goldwater Rule, which bars professionals from diagnosing mental health problems from a distance, is valid and should direct the ethics of every psychotherapist. It is wrong to speculate on the inner life of someone you haven’t treated, even if you’re doing it privately. On the other hand, the psychotherapist has a duty to warn those who are targets of the person’s delusions. There are more than 300,000,000 of us in harm’s way. Karen Silver

From the source

Stuttgart, Germany: I just want to thank Richard Cohen for the column “Trump’s rise is a story of enablers” (Jan. 8), which I really enjoyed. I hope 99% of Americans read it. Charles Yeboah

Through the looking glass

Edison, N.J.: I must confess: 30 years ago, after one of my dramatic and moving Rosh Hashanah sermons, certain members of the sisterhood started throwing their bras and panties at me. Being a young rabbi, I was still naïve and thanked them publicly from the pulpit for their act of kindness. Some even offered me sex in front of a thousand members of the congregation. I did not know what to do. So I decided I would lead a fundraiser offering their services to the president and the board of trustees. I raised over a million dollars. This was all a dream I had last week thanks to all the #MeToo publicity destroying the lives of innocent men. In the dream, I also saw that after the service, women were hanging their husbands from the rafters. While the hanging of guilty husbands and lovers did not bother me, I witnessed innocent men being killed. Thank G-d it was only a dream.

Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg

A school that works

CITY HALL Bronx: As a sixth-grade teacher at MS 80, I have been deeply disheartened to see recent negative news stories in another newspaper that have attacked our students, staff and community. Simply put, what has been written about MS 80 is false — if you take the time to talk to our students and teachers, it is easy to see that there are amazing opportunities and programs at our school. Chronic absenteeism is down and test scores are up, thanks to the hard work of our students, staff and principal Emmanuel Polanco. We will not let misinformation about our school stop us from continuing to thrive. The future at MS 80 is bright.

Rosse Mary Savery