Climate truth
To the editor:
As someone who follows local and national news reports, I must tell you I am worried about the recent extreme heat and wildfires raging across the country. I feel for people who lose their lives and livelihoods to extreme weather, and I’m scared that it’s only a matter of time until it directly hits me and my community.
Most of the news stories show no connection to their main cause: fossil fuels. This is dangerous because many people will continue to refuse to see that longer, hotter and deadlier summers are caused and perpetuated by fossil fuels.
The science is clear — the longer we allow coal, oil, and gas companies to dig and burn, the worse the impacts of the climate crisis will be. With every fraction of a degree of warming, we’ll suffer more extreme heat, droughts, floods, wildfires and hurricanes. But the fossil fuel industry continues to ignore those alerts and undermine our chances for a safer future, and CO2 emissions keep rising.
Climate impacts disproportionately affect people who are already disadvantaged. People who did the least to cause the climate crisis suffer the most — they lose livelihoods, hope and worse: their lives — while oil companies continue to hit record profits.
Media has a moral obligation to tell the truth. Media has an important job to do to turn the tide of public opinion, and help the world avoid the worst of the climate impacts. Please tell the real story about the climate crisis.
Holly Brewer
Police activity
To the editor:
(Recently) our neighborhood had a rare visit from one of Bainbridge Island’s finest. I spoke with this fine officer about the reason for his visit, and he shared with me that the BIPD had been contacted by one of my neighbors about a break-in of her car. Continuing the conversation I learned of another property incident in the area.
The Bainbridge Island Review once upon a time had a regular column, the “Police Blotter,” with reports of police activity of interest on the Island. The officer told me that the column ended when the reporter who wrote it retired.
It seems to me our community is better off aware of malicious activity and knowing, generally, the neighborhoods affected and to nature of alleged offenses. I don’t want names: I don’t want addresses. But knowing what’s going on and where would be a service the Review could provide it’s subscribers and the community at large.
Gene Seligmann
Prayer ruling
To the editor:
In your article about Joe Kennedy, assistant football coach at Bremerton High, you called his case a “religious freedom legal battle.”
Was it really about religious freedom or was the Supreme Court justice’s decision based not on constitutional grounds but for personal religious reasons? What exactly was the majority opinion? How was “religious freedom” defined? Can math, or history teachers now pray with their students on the 50-yard line of the school’s football field or on any other school property?
According to the recent Supreme Court decision, such group prayers would appear to be legal, unless, of course, the prayer had to be football related. That’s maybe why my prayers prior to a math test were never answered.
The six Supreme Court justices may not know this, but, in my experience, the coach is the most powerful person at the high schools. His word carries the force of the Ten Commandments and then some.
The former football coach at my former school had a policy: you do your job as a student you can play ball. You neglect your job, you do not play ball.
Now, Kennedy probably never told his players to pray if they wanted to play ball, however, his students knew of Kennedy’s strong faith and may have joined just to please him.
Does the Kennedy decision mean all teachers in U.S. public schools can now pray together, every day, once in a while, or just before a test?
Jim Behrend
Who let in float?
To the editor:
The offensive float in the July 4th parade is one thing but who approved it for participation in the first place?
Like with a lot of things these days it’s the people who approve or support such displays or messages that are as much responsible for the damage they do.
Volker Sachse
Rolling Bay
