Evangelicals have duty to promote clean environment to save lives
I call attention to a recent petition delivered to Ohio lawmakers and to Gov. Mike Dewine by the Evangelical Environmental Network. This petition, which obtained 53,000 signatures from registered Ohio voters, asked that the state commit to sourcing 100% of its electricity from clean sources by 2030.
Cincinnati, Cleveland and Lakewood are all committed to 100% renewable energy by 2050, while Columbus is pursuing a strategy to enable a switch to 100% clean energy by as early as 2022.
As an evangelical, I believe strongly that we have a responsibility to care both for the earth and for each other. I am distressed by the gap in national politics that routinely places pro-life and pro-environment causes on opposing sides, as if they were somehow incompatible.
I pray that people of all religious and political persuasions join in common cause for a statewide transition to clean energy.
David Wituszynski, Columbus
Ethiopian dam on the Nile would be boon to nation, people
I am urging my representatives to work with the Trump administration on the issue of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a dispute involving Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan.
The multibillion-dollar dam is currently under construction over the Nile River. The project, funded solely by Ethiopians, will lift millions out of abject poverty and reliance on foreign aid.
Government leaders should advise the Trump administration to:
• Respect Ethiopia's sovereign right to use the Nile River equitably, as a contributor of 86% of the water.
• Maintain an impartial role in negotiations led by the African Union.
• Refrain from threatening to withhold any assistance — direct aid or loans — as a tool to pressure the Ethiopian government to agree to a deal that's neither fair nor equitable.
• Refrain from encouraging the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to withhold loans.
Kifle Churenet, Columbus
Post office would run smoother without all that junk mail
Here’s an idea for freeing up post office capacity for the coming election: a brief moratorium on junk mail. Almost daily, my mailbox is brimming, but the vast majority of the contents are destined for a short journey to the recycle bin.
I unscientifically estimate the ratio of advertising to useful mail at about 99 to 1.
People might enjoy the respite from this instant trash so much that sentiment would arise to extend the moratorium indefinitely, thereby alleviating an everyday annoyance to lots of people and saving thousands of trees.
Kevin F. Duffy, Columbus
Bipartisan bill would improve coverage of lymphedema
Especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, lymphedema patients must have the medical supplies they need to safely manage their condition at home. The Lymphedema Treatment Act (S.518/H.R.1948) is a bipartisan bill that will improve insurance coverage for medically necessary prescription compression supplies.
Without this central component of treatment, lymphedema patients are at significantly increased risk of infection and hospitalization. With more than 450 co-sponsors, the Lymphedema Treatment Act is the most supported health care bill in Congress and should be passed into law this year.
Mary Sen, Powell
President sees nothing wrong with extreme group of followers
I appreciated the New York Times article “What is Qanon” in Sunday’s Dispatch. It’s good to know what kind of new, improved clown cars are out there, especially when the president of the United States appears to be willing to take a joy ride.
These Qanon folks believe President Trump was recruited by top generals to get rid of deep state cabals and a worldwide conspiracy of famous people (all of whom are cannibalistic pedophiles). It’s both hilarious and horrifying.
No sane person could give this kind of nonsense credence — but Donald Trump accepts anybody who loves Donald Trump: from white supremacists to anti-vaxxers to COVID deniers. He’s all about diversity.
I only wish Monty Python would return and do for Qanon what it did for the Spanish Inquisition.
Candy Canzoneri, Westerville