San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
We can’t afford to profit from pollution
Regarding “Green New Deal backers embrace their fantasies” (Insight, Feb. 10): Jonah Goldberg’s opinion piece mocks the Green New Deal as “a fantasy based on a worldview that should be treated seriously because it’s so dangerous.”
In fact, it is Goldberg’s worldview that is dangerous. The economic externalities pointed out by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have given corporations near carte blanche to profit from pollution of all types. The regulations cited by Goldberg are mere fig leaves. They allow business as usual. We can no longer afford that, if we want the planet to be fit for human habitation in the next century.
Edward Syrett, Menlo Park
Leave S.F.’s flag alone
A city flag must be instantly recognizable, such as the current flag. Having a flag that the viewer must interpret accomplishes nothing. The Phoenix and the proud statement San Francisco are all that is necessary. Leave it alone.
Don Cohn, Ahwahnee, Madera County
Suitable symbol for city
Why must we have a flag that has thought and structure of something designed by a sixth-grader? Squares and triangles? Little strips of color signifying little made-up references (blue for the ocean)? Corporate logos carefully crafted to remind us of nothing so it does not offend, right? Why must our flag be so plain? There is nothing plain about San Francisco. Surely someone could come up with a graphic that reflects our wonderful complexity. I would recommend the logo of “Nature in the City” as a reference to something beautiful and well crafted, clearly indicating the organization it represents.
Jean Amos, San Francisco
Dems’ slow response
Interesting to read in the article “Sen. Harris urges Democrat accused of rape to resign” (Front Page, Feb. 9) that other Democrats are not uniting behind this call. The Democrats took very swift action requesting the resignation of Sen. Al Franken in 2017 upon accusations of impropriety that occurred when Franken was working as a comedian.
Those accusations against Franken look tame compared with the current accusations against Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and those made against Brett Kavanaugh during hearings before his appointment to the Supreme Court. It seems the Democrats are taking a page from the GOP playbook in not rushing to judgment when it involves a well-liked member of the party. Sadly for our country, not taking the high road has worked really well for the GOP.
Charlotte Seekamp, San Francisco
Polarization on the left
The left has left so many women behind: women who will not be defined by the Democratic feminist agenda, as well as women who are pro-life, and who are not defined by the narrow definition of life held by the Republican Party. These women want a more equitable society with a humane agenda for all. These women wish to keep the welfare of the human person at the heart of every policy decision whether local or global. These women do not have a viable candidate in either of the main parties. The Republicans think they have the pro-life vote secured, and the Democratic Party refuses to acknowledge the existence of any woman outside its agenda for women.
Data analysis from the last election may indicate who those women were who could not vote for Hillary Clinton, and crosscheck against those women who could not vote for President Trump. For these voters, nothing has changed. The tendency to polarize in the direction of left or right ignores the richness and interwoven nature of life’s tapestry. Defining by opposition in any argument defeats the purpose of the encounter, and in this case leaves the electorate with one-dimensional, intransigent stasis.
Maureen O’Riordan Lundy, San Francisco
Pedestrian safety
Thank you for bringing the issue of elder pedestrian safety to the forefront with the article “Seniors thrive when cities make streets more walkable” (Insight, Feb. 10). As a 77-year-old man living in Oakland, I’ve had my share of close encounters with speeding vehicles when trying to cross certain major thoroughfares.
I’d like to suggest to our city planners these safety measures to help our aging population: have more low-speed zones and speed humps, extend curbs, add more raised pedestrian crossings and build more islands on major twoway streets where slower walkers can pause and assess whether it’s safe to continue crossing. The best-run cities do, indeed, create (as this writer notes) livable communities for all ages.
Vernon Greene, Oakland