Support bills to end gerrymandering in Pa.
Another election season is upon us and I am asking all of our state senators and representatives to cosponsor and vote for the two proposed bills (Senate Bill 131 and House Bill 31) that address gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. Voters should have the right to decide who they vote for, rather than allowing powerful legislative leaders to use gerrymandering to choose their voters and preserve their power. This is not the way our democracy should work.
These two bills are models of simplicity. Passage would enable the establishment of an independent citizens’ commission including Republicans, Democrats and independents. They would use nonpartisan criteria to stop gerrymandering and mounting hyperpartisanship. Transparency would require open meetings to end closed-door arrangements and prevent political manipulation. Any map approved would require votes from each of the three groups.
To date, 130,000 Pennsylvania residents have signed petitions supporting an independent redistricting commission. Nearly 20,000 more have signed petitions calling for rules reforms. Two-thirds of Pennsylvanians support these reforms.
As of now, 19 senators and 61 representatives have signed on. I am asking both Rep. Milou Mackenzie and Sen. Jarett Coleman to join them. Our representatives should represent us.
— Jill Hirt, Upper Saucon Township
EPA failing to protect the environment
The title Environmental Protection Agency is now a misnomer. Under President Trump’s administration, a more precise title should be the Environmental Destruction Agency. No longer can Americans count on this federal department to protect our health or the health of the planet.
For example, in spite of overwhelming evidence that human activity is adversely affecting earth’s climate, the agency head has dismantled federal regulations that limit the emission of greenhouse gases.
The agency has also eliminated emissions standards for new vehicles and motors; plans to ease limits on emissions of mercury, a human toxin; terminated the Solar for All program intended to bring renewable and affordable energy to low-income communities; is reconsidering the use of fluoride in drinking water, a practice proven to maintain dental health; and maintains its position that the weed killer glyphosate, an ingredient in Roundup, isn’t a human health risk, despite thousands of lawsuits claiming exposure may cause cancer.
It is abundantly clear from just these examples that the Trump administration cares more about business than it does about the health of its constituents and the environment we must all live in.
— Marianne Phillips, Allentown
Trump’s new award nothing to be proud of
President Trump has won yet another award. He was named the “undisputed champion of beautiful clean coal” by mining executives at the White House. The Trump administration also celebrated the revoking of a scientific finding that has long been the basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gases.
Thus Donald Trump and Russell Vought, who is director of the Office of Management and Budget and Trump’s architect on his war on climate policy, are taking me back to my childhood days of the 1950s and early 1960s, when our rivers were so polluted that they caught fire and air pollution killed all of the vegetation on one side of the Blue Mountain.
The Trump-Vought plan will add up to an unhealthier country, according to Zoe Schlanger, writing in The Atlantic. She also notes that burning coal emits brain-damaging mercury and microscopic soot that causes or worsens asthma and COPD and can trigger heart attacks and strokes. Particulates in air pollution have been linked to dementia and prenatal damage to fetuses.
I have watched Trump market everything from booze to Bibles, but I have to wonder if his effort to sell Americans dirty air will be successful.
— Daniel A. Nickischer, Lehigh Township
Young singers shine at family concert
At the Feb. 28 Allentown Symphony Orchestra Family Concert, three local young people shone as featured vocalists. Kudos to Olivia Gondre (Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts), Natalie Iwans (Emmaus High School) and Deven Ruiz (Parkland High School). They, their families and their teachers must be so proud of the singers’ accomplishments and the work these vocalists did to prepare to perform with the orchestra at Miller Symphony Hall.
The Allentown Symphony Orchestra Family Concerts are always fun, but this year’s especially impressed me. Each of the three students sang an emotion-laden song related to our nation’s history. Their performances were much appreciated by the audience — including me. After the public concert on the 28th, I learned that these same three vocalists also previously wowed audiences at special weekday performances for school groups. To Ms. Gondre, Ms. Iwans and Mr. Ruiz: Congratulations and thanks.
— Cheryl A. Cherry, Emmaus
College basketball story deserved coverage
After reading the article on the importance of sports to the local economy, I turned to the sports section hoping to see an account of the Lehigh University men’s basketball team’s latest thrilling victory the day before. I found no mention of it. It is a shame that our community has not been informed about the high quality of Patriot League basketball this year. Every Lehigh home game has been a back-and-forth battle between teams with outstanding players. The highlight of the season was Lehigh’s double overtime loss to Navy, a team that could compete with big-time schools in the NCAA tournament.
— John K. Smith, Bethlehem
The Morning Call offers variety of views
While some may see a drift to the left in the editorial section of The Morning Call, I do not. In my opinion, it is pretty balanced. While I may disagree with some of the syndicated columns that are presented, I like to think that critical thinking skills and self-awareness allow folks to agree or disagree with opinions expressed that they do not share. Just because opinions expressed do not match your own doesn’t mean they are wrong. Yes, I have noticed that there are more individual letters to the editor that do not approve of the current administration. Perhaps, instead of thinking that one’s own cohort is plentiful, it should give you pause. It could mean that the majority of people in the wider community do not support the views that you do.
— Deborah Hunter, Forks Township
The Morning Call publishes letters from readers online and in print several times a week. Submit a letter to the editor at letters@mcall.com. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication.
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