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Richmond mayor using
win to bash progressives
The settlement of lawsuits filed over Richmond’s ordinance ending coal and petcoke shipments from Levin-Richmond Terminal spells victory for thousands of residents who signed letters in support and the medical professionals, environmental and justice organizations who joined the two-year effort.
But Richmond Mayor Tom Butt is using this victory to bash the Richmond Progressive Alliance and the Sierra Club, who oppose his penchant for backroom deals. In an email, he claims, “In 2019, I had been urging Levin to voluntarily adopt a commitment to get out of the coal shipping business … and they had agreed.” Why wasn’t this public knowledge?
This settlement is excellent: no further litigation, a firm end date, and interim mitigation measures. We’re proud of the city council members who fought to get us the best deal.
Janet S. Johnson
Richmond
A narrow focus will
sabotage climate fight
Once a leader, California has lost its way on climate (“California is missing the boat on climate change,” Page A6, Nov. 19). Focus on a single climate driver will perpetuate our descent into crisis. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows with its En-Roads model that we can’t stay below 2 degrees Celsius temperature rise unless we do much more than just focus on short-lived climate pollutants, like methane.
MIT’s online model shows that a full-court press, using all possible climate policies, is needed. Of those, pollution pricing is crucial because it makes all other policies more effective.
California lawmakers have fallen for CARB’s claim that cap and trade will solve the crisis. MIT shows that cap and trade prices need to be 10 times higher, but fossil fuel polluters still call the shots in Sacramento. It’s time that grownups take charge, for their grandchildren’s future.
John Schaefer
Arcata
White-collar crime
ignored for ‘mayhem’
Re. “Mayhem on Oakland streets as police resources dwindle,” Page A6, Nov. 24:
It’s irresponsible for newspapers to fixate on burglaries while ignoring white-collar crime.
Though less exciting than a smash-and-grab, wage theft harms the average citizen far more. In 2019 alone, Center for Public Integrity cited about 8,500 employers for taking about $287 million from workers. Even more disturbing is how the wealth in this country is trickling up. Billionaires gained 35% more, up $3.4 trillion, since the start of the pandemic.
Wealth disparity is one driver of crime. If we wish to prevent the need for burglaries, we should increase our social safety nets and invest more in education. A less-effective method would be to throw more money at policing.
No, the police have not been defunded yet in the Bay Area. Suggesting that they were and that’s why we’re seeing more burglaries is giving free press to the prison-industrial complex.
Alan Marling
Livermore
Youth football stories
must mention risks
In 2013, NFL coaching and broadcasting legend John Madden predicted that someday the idea of 8-year-olds playing tackle football would be laughable. “Eventually people are going to look back on it and say we used to put helmets on 8-, 9-, 10-year-old kids and have them play tackle football. I think they’ll laugh at that,” Madden said on his daily radio segment.
Nearly a decade later, the Times’ front page of Nov. 24 showed Madden’s prediction is nowhere near to becoming reality (“Youth team overwhelmed by donations”), despite the clear medical evidence of the dangers that tackle football poses to developing brains. Whatever benefits the Oakland Pop Warner program provides to youths does not justify endangering their long-term health, and can as easily be accomplished playing flag football.
And the Times’ decision to prominently promote the program without informing readers of the medical facts may place more youths at risk of harm.
Craig Lazzeretti
Martinez
Restoring SALT breaks
isn’t a ‘giant tax break’
Re. “Will high-income Californians get a big tax break?” Page A19, Nov. 28:
Years ago, state and local taxes (SALT) were federally deductible. The guiding principle at that time was that dollars spent to pay required taxes were not truly “income” and that taxing those dollars federally amounted to double taxation. A most sensible philosophy now lost to history.
Worse, with the federal SALT deduction capped at $10,000 by the Trump tax increase, along with the current “choice” between deducting state income tax or local sales tax (but not both as in years gone by), we find ourselves paying higher-than-ever double taxes on dollars which are not truly income.
I wish pundits and politicians would refrain from calling the possible SALT deduction restoration a “giant tax break for millionaires” when it merely reinstates the deduction that was in place for years. And we who must pay it are not all “high-income” earners but just Bay Area homeowners. The SALT deduction should be restored, permanently, in its entirety.
Bob Weissman
Alamo
Source: www.mercurynews.com