With drilling-site OK, Biden will break clean-energy promise | Letters - NJ.com
With drilling-site OK, Biden will break clean-energy promise | Letters - nj.com
President Joe Biden has made addressing climate change a key part of his administration, but his indications of support so far for ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project, an energy drilling plan on Alaska’s North Slope, set back his climate plans. He is slated to make a final decision soon on whether or not to proceed.
Sadly, this is not unique. To start to actually be the climate president he claims to be, Biden needs to keep his promises to our communities and the planet.
The Willow Project would go many steps in absolutely the wrong direction. Temperatures are already rising; climate impacts such as wildfires, hurricanes, drought and flooding are accelerating. In this situation, drilling for more oil and gas is shortsighted at best. Even ConocoPhillips’ own projections show no oil would be produced until six years after project approval.
Instead of this, we must invest in real climate solutions such as wind and solar power. We cannot continue the same disastrous energy plans that have led us further into climate crisis.
It’s time for the president to do the right thing: declare a climate emergency, halt the Willow Project, hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for deception and lies, and support climate solutions that can create millions of family-sustaining jobs.
The world can’t wait. Yes, the planet will survive, but human life will become more difficult, with more and more areas becoming inhospitable to people and native species of plants and animals.
Sally Gellert, Woodcliff Lake
Jan. 6 victims should sue Tucker Carlson
I became very disheartened while watching Tucker Carlson’s airing of edited security camera video tapes of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol Building. The narrative from the TV host was that the incident was “mostly peaceful chaos” with “very little” violence or coordination among pro-Donald Trump demonstrators.
Why don’t the police officers and all the other people who received injuries at the event start a class-action lawsuit against Carlson? This is what the parents of the Sandy Hook school shooting victims did, successfully, after conspiracy theorist Alex Jones told viewers that the shooting was fake.
What Carlson did was the same shameful thing that Jones did. Carlson knew he was spreading false information. Emails from Carlson obtained for another court case prove he knew what he was saying on air was false, but he said it anyway.
Paul Fernandez, Union
Murphy unlikely to end farmland grift
This concerns the recent column by Tom Moran that demonstrated how the rich in New Jersey dodge their property taxes by pretending they are farmers, claiming farmland assessment exemptions on land that produces little in agricultural value.
The column recounted how retired public school principal Jack Curtis did an outstanding job researching for three years to get the facts on this elite rip-off in Mendam, Morris County. Curtis believes that middle-class people in the town are paying an extra $600 yearly to cover the tax breaks given to the elites.
Curtis said he spoke about this to Gov. Phil Murphy a few weeks ago during a radio call-in show, and Murphy promised to look at his evidence. A Murphy aide phoned Curtis the next day, but he’s heard nothing since.
Good government is supposed to bring equality for all. Our system doesn’t seem to operate that way. Why is that? Could plutocracy and capitalism have something to do with it?
Michael J. Meketen, Old Bridge
New strip left them in the weeds
While I commend the Star-Ledger for removing the cartoon strip “Dilbert” from the paper because of creator Scott Adams’ discriminatory views, I cannot believe that a more appropriate, interesting and funny strip than “Crabgrass” could not be found.
Please reconsider this choice and give another up-and-coming artist/writer an extraordinary opportunity.
Trudy Doyle, Bridgewater
Let the readers decide
I’d hate to think how hard the comics editor must have looked for a “Dilbert” replacement if “Crabgrass” was the best they could come up with. Of all the possible replacements, I find Crabgrass to be juvenile, and not the least bit amusing. Why not poll readers for suggestions? I have several.
Nat Silber, Verona
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