Rising fee on carbon
Regarding “Southern, poor countries forecast to be hit hardest” ( June 30): The study estimating economic damage from climate change in the United States illustrates what many have yet to appreciate — climate change is a human issue. It’s not about polar bears (but I worry for them, too). It’s about resources. It’s about water. It’s about being able to grow enough food. While the Southeast will be hit hardest, California’s Central Valley will suffer too, according to the study. California’s farmers should take note.
Fortunately, there’s another economic study that’s not so depressing. In 2013, Regional Economic Models Inc. found that a steadily rising fee on carbon grows the economy and adds thousands of jobs if revenue raised is returned to Americans as a dividend check. A group called Citizens Climate Lobby works to inform members of Congress about this opportunity, and they like it. CCL’s efforts helped inspire 23 Democrats and 23 Republicans to join the Climate Solutions Caucus in Congress. Congressman Darrell Issa joined this year. I hope other California Republicans follow his lead.
Jody Strait, Berkeley
Protect voter information
Secretary of State Alex Padilla is to be commended for refusing to send California voter information to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. In addition to the request being a thinly veiled attempt to gather data from blue states for possible future voter suppression, it must also be noted that there are members of this federal government who are under investigation for colluding with a foreign power to change the outcome of the last presidential election.
Until the investigations currently under way prove otherwise, this president has zero credibility when it comes to the sharing of sensitive information with Russian officials. Free and fair elections are a sacred tenet of our Constitution. California’s election officials must do all they can to protect voter information from all powers — domestic and foreign — who may seek to affect the outcome of future elections. Alison Moore, Albany
Pay the cost of voter ID cards
Every day, there are more articles about how Republicans try to suppress the ability of poor and minority people to vote. Every day, I get multiple emails from Democrats soliciting money. Why have I never heard of an organization that collects money and uses it to pay for the cost of poor people obtaining government ID cards so they can vote? I would happily contribute to an organization such as this. Heck, I may just start one myself. Matthew Fleck, Pleasant Hill
Beware of eucalyptus trees
Regarding “Trees decrease East Bay fire risk” (Open Forum, June 21): David Maloney rests his opinion on a Forest Service document that he took out of context. In fact, the report suggests using prescribed fire and tree thinning to reduce fire risk. It was not intended to condemn the FEMA plan, as one of its authors told me. When it comes to wildfire hazard, two issues are worth considering:
First, the risk of a fire starting, and second, the risk that, once started, a fire will become uncontrollable. While grass and shrubs are flammable in the first sense, dense trees (especially eucalyptus) pose a significant threat in the second. Once dense eucalyptus is burning, it is difficult for firefighters to stop, as was the case in the tragic 1991 Oakland hills fire.
Eucalyptus is flammable because of its size, its oily leaves and its ribbon-like bark, which can travel far in the wind, igniting whatever it lands upon. Dense eucalyptus groves have no place in our neighborhoods. If you live in an area where fires can burn, check out the Firewise program or the Oakland Fire Safe Council for tips on how to make your home more likely to survive a fire. Carmen Tubbesing, Emeryville
In favor of payroll bill
Regarding “Defeat ‘Payroll Protection Act’ ” (Editorial, June 30): I take exactly the opposite lesson from your analysis. Democrats in Sacramento are trying to create a model of how to resist austerity, arguably one of the most important ways to address inequality. They have crafted a bill that is the exact opposite of special interests. Instead, our legislators are wisely protecting the employment of millions of workers.
This employment is what allows people to buy homes, send their children to college and avoid drug abuse, suicide and homelessness. There could not be a more important project, and I strongly urge you to reconsider your opposition. Lauren Coodley, Napa
Protest GOP’s health plan
If the Senate health care plan passes, 22 million people will lose their insurance, while tax breaks will go to billionaires. Meanwhile, they will be taking or cutting insurance from women and children, communities of color, rural areas, 10 million people with disabilities and the elderly, who will be charged five times what others pay. This insurance package, if passed, slashes Medicaid, which funds almost half of U.S. births and cuts nursing home care by 70 percent. Does this sound like health care to you? Please, the fight is not over. Make your voices heard. Call your senators often. It takes five minutes, if that, and it makes you feel so good.
Ellen Lewis, Santa Rosa
Warning labels needed
California is one of the most abundant areas for food production. Being a huge export and leader in this area, we need improved regulation and labeling systems for foods grown using the herbicide, glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup. Studies by the EPA and other health organizations have directly linked this most widely used pesticide to cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm.
The chemical is sprayed on more than 4 million acres of crops in California alone, so millions of people come in contact without even realizing it. Products exposed to glyphosate need clear warning labels, no matter how many times Monsanto sues. These contaminated foods are on our shelves. Food production companies should have to provide honest warnings to their customers about these risks. California’s health officials have taken a step forward. I hope they will ensure that food with glyphosate residues must also have warning labels.
Zaheeda Gagan, San Francisco