U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., recently stated he could not vote for the Senate’s climate bills because June inflation rates were so high. He also said he wanted to wait to see what the Supreme Court would do in a recent environmental case.
Senate Democrats already pared down their monetary requests and cut out some tax breaks for electric vehicles, among other concessions. Was he ever going to vote for any measures that would deal with climate change?
Certainly all senators, regardless of party, watch the news. They see the devastating fires in Yosemite and the crushing floods in Virginia. Hurricane season has not really started yet.
How much money does it cost to recover from even one environmental disaster? Heat emergencies in the Plains and in the South will cost even more to deal with if measures are not taken now to stem global warming.
Senators beholden to the fossil fuel industry are not leaders. The voters who care about this planet should vote them out.
Jan Goldberg, Riverside
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Schools in poor neighborhoods most need librarians
I’m dismayed that 82% of CPS schools lack librarians. I was a CPS student in the 1960’s at Dore Elementary School. When there was a space crunch. we lost the library but not the librarian.
Although I missed the opportunity to roam the shelves, Mrs. Walsh brought a library cart to our classroom each week and was happy to find interesting books for us. It instilled a life-long love of reading for me and taught research skills that served me well through graduate school.
My experience as a library assistant during my children’s elementary schooling showed me the librarian is not only a resource for children but for teachers as well.
Students in poor neighborhoods, who may be less likely to have books in the home or parents who speak fluent English, have the greatest need for librarians at school.
If we want to raise literate citizens who can discriminate between facts and fiction, we must put a professionally staffed library in every school.
JoAnn Brown, Logan Square
A senator who doesn’t get it
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, doesn’t get it. That’s nothing new. He says the Supreme Court erred when legalizing gay marriage in 2015 and not leaving it up to the states.
But, Ted, it’s not just about marriage. It brings the First Amendment into play. It’s a human rights issue.
The thing that really gets me is why he cares. I’m not interested in a homosexual relationship. If others are, that’s their business. Get out of the bedrooms of others, Ted, and take your mind out of the gutter.
Laurence Siegel, Manteno
