EPA shouldn’t suspend the pollution rules
Regarding “EPA is sued for suspending pollution rules” (May 14): Bob Egelko aptly highlights the connection between air pollution and infection risk for COVID19. Prevailing medical research has shown that exposure to air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels is damaging to people’s lungs and makes them more likely to get sicker or die from COVID19. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that roughly 7 million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air.
A promising bipartisan bill in Congress, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (HR763), puts a price on carbon that aligns incentives across businesses, individuals and governments to act sustainably by reducing emissions. The bill then distributes the net revenues as a monthly dividend to American families to cope with increasing energy costs. Regional Economic Models Inc. economists estimate that a carbon fee and dividend policy like this would prevent 230,000 premature deaths due to a reduction in air pollutants that often accompany carbon emissions. So why is the Environmental Protection Agency suspending pollution rules?
Todd Osborne, San Francisco
Curbside retail debacle
Regarding “Health or wealth? GOP’s economic focus might win” (Willie Brown, May 17): As the owner of 28 clothing stores throughout California (eight in San Francisco), I want to applaud Willie Brown for pointing out that “curbside retail” is an absurd concept. How is a retail store supposed to function when customers are not allowed in the store? The answer is that they can’t. Politicians and health officials are patting themselves on the back for allowing retail stores to “open,” and it’s incredibly irritating. Clothing stores and other “nonessential” retailers need the same rules as Target, Walmart, Home Depot, grocery stores, takeout restaurants, ice cream stores and doughnut shops. Let the customers come in and abide by social distancing and sanitation rules. Curbside retail does not work. Believe me, we’ve tried.
David Berbey, San Rafael
Saddened by closures
Concerning “Outbreak could close 13% of museums worldwide” (May 20): It’s depressing to read that 1 in 8 museums around the world could face permanent closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. These institutions are valuable repositories of great fine artworks and important historical artifacts. Inside the Louvre Museum in Paris, I imagine that Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is weeping due to this news.
Barbara Sandstrom, San Francisco
A call for acceptance
I’m not surprised to read in “$9.6 billion” (Number of the Day, May 20) that the leading title in this firstquarter video games sales number is “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.” After all, this game allows players to customize the appearance of their characters. It doesn’t limit hairstyles or facial features to specific genders, and it also lets players select their character’s skin color. If only people in real life were less concerned with each other’s physical appearances and more accepting of gender fluidity, the world would be a better place in which to live.
Sasha Englander, San Rafael
Unfair COVID19 testing
Regarding “Tests in nursing homes lagging” (Page 1, May 20): Doesn’t it seem grossly unfair that our state’s nursing homes are still struggling to test all of their vulnerable elderly residents for the coronavirus, while a senior citizen in the Oval Office, the 73yearold President Trump, brags that he’s getting tested every day (while stating that testing for COVID19 could be ... “overrated”)? Again, this president shows himself to be both an elitist and a hypocrite.
Janice DaviesGottehrer, Alameda
Pious pandering
Regarding “Feds: State must open churches” (May 20): Is there no end to Team Trump’s pious pandering to religious conservatives? Probably not, where the president’s reelection hopes hinge on evangelical Christians’ continued pervasive support. So look for President Trump’s Justice Department lackeys to keep criticizing states for prudently protecting churchgoers from COVID19 contagion.
The Justice Department’s letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom took the theocratic cake. It advised him that the state’s plan to gradually reopen public gatherings unlawfully delays churches’ resumption of inperson worship services.
Most incredibly, the letter acknowledged that federal courts already have upheld the legality of Newsom’s plan. I suggest a new title for this report: “Feds: Heed our grandstanding piety, not federal courts’ rulings.”
Edward Alston, Santa Maria
Show the statistics
Thank you for the news story “LGBTQ statistics left out of tracking” (May 20). As a gay man, I’d like to know how the coronavirus is affecting members of the LGBTQ community, and support helping health officials identify pockets of outbreaks among us and tailor specific messages on how to avoid spreading this contagion. LGBTQ people who are HIVpositive already have compromised immune systems and would be more susceptible to contracting COVID19 than the general population. Lonnie Haley, who is also known as drag queen Mercedez Munro and has recovered from the coronavirus, certainly gave us the T (truth) when stating (about the identifying LGBTQ coronavirus cases) that knowledge is power.
Vincent McCullers, San Jose
Magical city
Regarding “Books capture truths about our vibrant city” (May 19): Barbara Lane’s article really hit home. Stationed overseas, I waited for mail containing more chapters of The Chronicle series “Tales of the City” which had just started before I left. “Season of the Witch” has been my goto present for visitors once they tire of my stories about growing up in the city. Like Lane, my wanderings most days take me along Ocean Beach headed toward the ruins of the Sutro Baths and a stop at the Lands End gift shop for a look at books on the neighborhoods of this city. Honestly, this city still has the magic for any writer.
Tim Carmody, San Francisco