Opinion | Readers critique The Post: Hold climate change culprits accountable - The Washington Post

Opinion | Hold the climate change culprits accountable - The Washington Post

Every week, The Post runs a collection of letters of readers’ grievances — pointing out grammatical mistakes, missing coverage and inconsistencies. These letters tell us what we did wrong and, occasionally, offer praise. Here, we present this week’s Free for All letters.

Risk mitigation for insurance companies means raising rates or abandoning coverage, but what is needed is risk mitigation for the planet by cutting greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible. News outlets have an obligation beyond covering the dire consequences of climate change. Articles on the sources of greenhouse gases — that is, naming names — are critical to the climate policy dialogue.

Though solar panels and electric vehicles are part of the solution, they are not enough when an electric utility such as Dominion Energy proposes to double its greenhouse gas emissions over the next 25 years. In 2021, Dominion reported greenhouse gas emissions of 17 million tons to the Environmental Protection Agency. In its long-range plan, Dominion proposes to increase those emissions to 36 million tons, despite the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which requires Dominion to achieve net zero by 2045.

With the planet literally on fire, these are the kinds of impactful climate stories the public needs to see in print. Informing the public of exactly who is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions can empower us to hold these polluters accountable.

Glen Besa, North Chesterfield, Va.

The writer is a former director of the Sierra Club’s Virginia chapter.

Great photo essay misses key details

The otherwise excellent Sept. 3 photo essay about Glen Echo Park, “ A capital summer: A park reinvented after desegregation,” included some misconceptions. Even though it was called Glen Echo Park, in 1960 it was not a government-owned “park” the way it is now; it was a private recreational facility that excluded Black citizens. In 1960, it was an outlier in that most of Montgomery County had already been racially integrated. The protests in 1960 were led by Howard University students but also included many White citizens from nearby neighborhoods who wanted integration.

The article said the park was “desegregated,” but that is a misstatement; Black citizens had not been segregated but completely excluded. The facility was integrated in 1961; it was acquired by the National Park Service and reorganized in 1971 as a center for the arts.

Edward Tabor, Bethesda

Picture-perfect, but with some pesky questions

Congratulations to the winners and honorable mentions in the Sept. 7 Travel special section “ The Photo Contest.”

The pictures were awesome, intriguing and subject to many additional adjectives. Two questions come to mind: To what extent were the photos edited? And where are the specs: camera, settings, time of day, etc., that technically describe the photos and circumstances so often of interest to budding and seasoned photographers?

Elery Caskey, Rockville

Spectacular human-interest images

Hats off to photographer Linnea Bullion for capturing one of the finest human-interest photographs I’ve seen to accompany her Sept. 3 Travel article, “ The not-so-exclusive skating contest that’s shredding Copenhagen.” I hope she wins a Pulitzer Prize for it. Having worked as a member of Villanova’s photography department for more than three years, I’ve seen my share of good work by others, but never something of this caliber. Nor have I ever been so inspired to write to any news publication in the past.

I could go on with over-the-top praise, but I think Bullion’s shots speak for themselves.

Bob Sturm, Olney

Thanks for the D.C.-area memories, Jimmy

Lost in the news concerning the death of singer Jimmy Buffett was his long history of playing gigs in the D.C. area: the Cellar Door, Constitution Hall, the old Capital Centre(opening for the Eagles), Merriweather Post Pavilion, Jiffy Lube Live and Kings Dominion. I’m guessing he performed at the White House, but I know he played at the Library of Congress in a tribute to author Herman Wouk.

Buffett’s D.C.-area concerts almost always included video footage of the area and a mention of Crisfield’s Restaurant in Silver Spring.

The legendary owner of the Cellar Door, Jack Boyle Sr., once told me that he met Buffett circa 1970 when Buffett opened for some other act. Jimmy was a skinny, unknown country artist at the time, Boyle said. “I’m pretty sure his bar tab that night was higher than what I paid him.”

Thomas Ponton, Columbia

Call Jan. 6 what is was: an insurrection

Why does The Post continue to use the insipid term “riot” to describe the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising? If it were waiting for legal support, it now has this with the jail terms of insurrection leaders Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, Dominic Pezzola and Henry “Enrique” Tarrio [“ 22 years for a top plotter of Jan. 6,” front page, Sept. 6].

“Riot” describes a random and disorderly disturbance. Call it honestly and for its intent: a “coup attempt” or “insurrection.”

Bob Lang, Bethesda

Can’t bear the misinformation

The Sept. 3 “Mark Trail” comic strip included misleading information. It stated that grizzly bears are “not seen outside Alaska and the far north.” Historically, grizzly bears ranged from Alaska to Mexico and from the Pacific to the Mississippi River. Even today, about 3,000 live in Wyoming, Idaho, Washington and Montana.

I miss the old version of “Mark Trail” that included more dependable information on natural history and had more straightforward, believable characters and storylines.

Sally J. Valdes, Alexandria

The writer is a former biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other federal agencies.

Kudos to Kessler, but context matters

Glenn Kessler’s reporting is impeccable and indispensable. I don’t doubt that his Sept. 3 Fact Checker column, “ Biden loves to retell certain stories. Some of them don’t stand up to scrutiny.,” was absolutely correct. But when I compare this with the 30,000-plus documented lies from the previous occupant of the White House, I have to laugh.

I love Kessler's reporting. I would love context even more.

Gerry Hanlon, Takoma Park

Reliving the journey with March of Washington coverage

The Aug. 27 special section on the March on Washington was outstanding. I read every word in it and was able to connect with the 250,000 people there that day almost better than when I was there in person.

I was on the outer fringes of the crowd with no view of the entertainers or speakers and heard more crowd noise than the words of the speakers. I arrived late because I was young and naive, thinking I could get to D.C. from Silver Spring by bus. However, with the lines so long at the station, I thought I could do better by parking at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre and catching a bus there. (Silly me.) All the packed buses went right by me, and I ended up having to walk.

Although I was too late to join the march down Constitution Avenue, I felt my journey there was worth the effort. I wanted to stand for the belief I had in ending racism in the United States and actually having equality for all people in all ways, not just in a few areas. Reading the reflections and views of the organizers and participants provided a fuller picture of what the march was really about. I thought the march was the breakthrough to achieving some changes, but not as much as I expected. And, sadly, even today, there is so much more to be done.

Kathy Appler, Silver Spring

Ballet & boats: On pointe and on point

Peter Marks’s Sept. 3 theater perspective, “ A little peril on pointe: Dancing over the Atlantic” [Arts & Style], reminded me of a more perilous 1939 cross-Atlantic voyage taken by ballet legend Alicia Markova, years before she co-founded the English National Ballet company, the same company featured in Marks’s article.

In the 2005 documentary “ Ballet Russes,” former dancers of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and the Original Ballet Russe recounted the sailing that the two companies took to escape Nazi Europe for the United States. Dancer Frederic Franklin recalled Markova being extremely seasick, and Nini Theilade conveyed how hard it was to rehearse when the boat could send the floor higher or lower than it had been when a dancer took off on a jump.

Amy Z. Hodges, Arlington

An inanimate object isn’t doing the killing

The Sept. 3 Metro article “ At least 5 killed, 6 wounded in spate of D.C. shootings” stated that “guns killed a record 4,572 children” in 2021.

In fact, inanimate objects do not have agency; they can’t cause death or injury on their own. Cars didn’t kill 42,000 people in 2021, but people driving cars did. Guns don’t kill. People using guns (and knives, rocks, poison or anything else) kill.

Timothy Starker, Arlington

The dark legacy of artificial light

The Sept. 3 “Classic Peanuts” comic strip was too depressing for words.

Woodstock’s reaction most likely would be one of horror these days at the explosion of irresponsible light at night, not only in the cities but also across the globe. The unshielded light depicted in the fourth frame causes glare, light trespass and light pollution.

The fall migration of the birds is beginning. Artificial light at night is the cause of death of hundreds of millions of birds each year.

One hardly thinks Woodstock would be happy seeing the pavement below buildings littered with the bodies of his friends. The “ Lights Out: Recovering Our Night Sky” exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History shows what the unabated exponential growth of our artificial lights is doing.

Eileen Kragie, Vienna

The writer is the founder of Dark Sky Friends.

Out of phase with the truth

The Aug. 27 editorial about the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, “ In Wuhan, doctors knew the truth. They were told to keep quiet.,” omitted a critical distinction that would have helped readers appreciate what happened that winter.

Since 1999, the World Health Organization has described six pandemic phases. Phases 3 and 4 involve two different levels of human-to-human transmission. Phase 3 involves “limited human-to-human transmission,” such as between patient and caregiver, which is not at a level of transmissibility necessary to cause a pandemic. Phase 4 involves verified human-to-human transmission able to cause “community-level outbreaks.” A country that has verified such transmission “should urgently consult with WHO.” Without such verification, announcing the onset of a pandemic would have been unsubstantiated and unprofessional.

The editorial described many early reports of “human-to-human” transmission without distinguishing which kind. Chinese national health authorities confirmed and reported Phase 4 transmission on Jan. 20, 2020, and within three days had shut down transportation into and out of the entire Wuhan metropolitan area.

By using only one label for human-to-human transmission, the editorial implied that Wuhan and national authorities had verified Phase 4 transmission but not reported it. Because this was not the case for the many early transmission events reported in the editorial, it exaggerated alleged official malfeasance.

Albert Keidel, Bethesda

Spoiler alert: Not everyone has read the classics

I appreciated the consideration underlying the spoiler warning — “The following article contains spoilers for the novel ‘ The Guest.’ ” — in Chris Bohjalian’s Sept. 6 Book World perspective, “ A closing chapter that opens much discussion,” even though I have indeed read (well, listened to) “The Guest.”

Fortunately, I’ve also read the two classic novels (“ Anna Karenina” and “ The Great Gatsby”) whose endings were, without warning, thoroughly spoiled in the first paragraph of the article.

Just a reminder that not everyone has read every classic novel. Many readers plan to do so (and some actually do). So, perhaps include spoiler warnings for all of the books spoiled in a piece.

Meg Spencer Dixon, Kensington

A nostalgic connection

Philip Kennicott’s elegy to the work of Shelley Niro and the Mohawk River of his youth, “ We are of the Land” [Arts & Style, Sept. 3], was a tribute to the genius of the artist and the empathy of the journalist. The powerful hold of land and water on both of their lives was reflected in every paragraph. It made me recall childhood experiences on the Susquehanna River in Maryland, where I learned to canoe, water-ski and distance-swim in the shadow of the Conowingo Dam.

If two of the goals of good journalism is to engage the reader and encourage personal connection with the subject under discussion, Kennicott succeeded on both levels. I have enjoyed his varied contributions to The Post over the years, but none more than this very personal revelation on an artery of life in Upstate New York. May his words continue to flow like the currents of the river he so eloquently describes.

Gordon Berg, Gaithersburg