Concern over coal dust in Oakland
Amid all the controversy surrounding the Oakland coal shipping proposal, one significant point seems to me to have been overlooked. In approving the shipment of grain, the City Council has already acknowledged and approved the alleged human health hazards it attributes to the shipping of coal. When handling a bulk commodity, be it grain, coal, aggregates, biomass fuel pellets, or any other, the tumbling of the bits and pieces generates dust.
While the dust may not be chemically toxic, when inhaled it can have a physical impact on the function of ones lungs. Grain dust, in particular, also shares with coal the potential for explosion, as documented by many silo explosions over the years. If grain dust can be adequately controlled to mitigate these hazards (and clearly the council believes it can be), then coal dust can be similarly controlled. Thus, the council’s position on this aspect of the proposal has already been conceded, and it is disingenuous for the council to claim human health hazards at this stage of the discussion.
John Nicoles, Oakland
Plant-based meals
Thank you for Jonathan Kauffman’s article “How the Bay Area helped sprout hippie food” (Jan. 21) and “Pam Peirce on 1970s collective” (Jan. 21). I’m reading “Hippie Food” — a good way to move on from the Summer of Love. But in terms of moving on, I want to celebrate how far we’ve come since 1967, when the food concerns were “economics, history, politics and nutrition.” The hippies apparently didn’t connect their food with animal welfare and the environment. In the same Chronicle paper that brought us “hippie food,” Earthweek reported that “the human species is now threatened more by extreme weather ... than by weapons of mass destruction.” Meat, egg and dairy productions are major emitters of greenhouse gas, and I think in the past 50 years, all of us have learned about the systematic abuse of animals in factory farms, and that includes the eggs and dairy products the hippies accepted. As Pam Peirce said in her interview with Jonathan Kaufmann, changing food habits is very important, and there’s never been a tastier array of plant-based possibilities. I’ll be reading “Hippie Food” along with Kristie Middleton’s “MeatLess: Transform the Way You Eat and Live, One Meal at a Time” between delicious plant-based meals!
Tina Martin, San Francisco
Credit card debt
Concerning “Good economy, bad debt” (Daily Briefing, Jan. 23): So nearly 1 percent of Americans are defaulting on their credit card debt? Maybe Visa, MasterCard and other companies should stop soliciting customers when they are still in college without fulltime incomes, and stop extending higher credit lines to “good” customers who simply make consistent minimum monthly payments. According to NerdWallet’s American Household Credit Card Debt Study, the average U.S. household is carrying nearly $16,000 in credit card debt, even though the median household income is only close to $60,000. Here’s some good advice that these moneylenders should (but won’t) print on every monthly credit card bill: Don’t live beyond your means. Felicia Charles, Millbrae
Dangerous lanes
As a daily bike commuter, moving to San Francisco a few years ago was a real thrill. I’d seen the lists putting this city consistently in the top five for most bike-friendly nationwide and, coming from cities like Boston and Washington, D.C., I was eager to experience what a real bike-friendly city could offer. So for the last few years, twice daily I’ve braved Market Street, learning every pothole, memorizing the pattern of lights, surviving the chaos of buses, taxis and bikes coexisting. I expected more. While there are many things left to be desired, especially on treacherous Market Street, one area in particular has produced crash after crash: the tracks turning right onto Eleventh Street from Market Street as you head northeast. These tracks, leading nowhere and never used, are an embarrassment.
This is what passes for great bike infrastructure in this country? I have seen countless cyclists spill and spin out when crossing these tracks, given the steep angle of approach and two lanes of traffic, and on Friday, freshly wet with rain, it was finally my time to pay the piper. Crashing onto the pavement, I thought, “Welcome to San Francisco, your number two bike city.”
Devin Ellsworth, San Francisco
Valued employees
It’s not surprising to read “No lines (or cashiers) at new Amazon store” (Business, Jan. 23). Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has amassed enormous wealth by cutting labor costs and preventing workers from unionizing. This new Amazon brick-and-mortar store in Seattle is further evidence of these practices. While customers might prefer to shop without waiting on lines or using debit cards, I prefer to patronize stores with cashiers and companies that truly value their employees.
Victoria Delvecchio, San Jose
Reasoned compromise
I’m sorry, but the headline, “Dems seen as giving ground to end crisis” (Page One, Jan. 23) is incorrect. Reasoned compromise on important issues is not failure. It demonstrates maturity, rationality and good faith. The Democrats provided a fine example to the Republicans of how to be a grown-up in the room.
Judy Lind, Pacific Grove (Monterey County)