Letters to the Editor | Jan. 4, 2024

The new year brings great hope for Philadelphia. For the first time in history, we elected a Black woman as mayor. Cherelle Parker has already begun building a world-class team, including the fantastic selection of Kevin Bethel as police commissioner, who will help successfully implement her aggressive public safety agenda. There are many reasons for us to look to the future with hope and optimism. We have unprecedented collaboration underway between the public and private sectors, including new partnerships led by the Philadelphia Building Trades to expand diversity, equity, and inclusion in our region’s workforce and business communities. But make no mistake, hope without action is meaningless. We must be responsible and accountable. We must put aside the petty squabbles and territorialism that have held us back. To paraphrase Mayor Parker, we must be one Philadelphia. Let’s get to work.

Ryan N. Boyer, business manager, Philadelphia Business and Construction Trades Council

The Dec. 28 Inquirer featured a column headlined, “Let’s stay together, America,” suggesting a kind of laissez-faire attitude toward the deep divisions in our body politics. That would be fine if we’re talking about the two-party system, but no, we’re not. We have instead a system where one party has succumbed to the lure of Donald Trump, sacrificing integrity and patriotism in the process. Eminent presidential historians Jon Meacham and Doris Kearns Goodwin agree that the real debate today is not about inflation or global warming, important as they are and will become.

It is about the Soul of the Nation.

Gordon Bennett, Coatesville, gordybennett1743@gmail.com

In a Dec. 27 letter, a member of a small business association opposed a plan to make polluters pay for filling our skies with the greenhouse gases that are driving ever-more intense storms and other costly weather catastrophes across our region. Those small businesses worry about paying more for electricity, and understandably so.

But I have to ask: Do those same small businesses pay to have their trash taken away and disposed of properly — or do they hold down costs by just tossing their trash out back and saying, “Hey, if rats show up, it’s not my problem”?

The same principle applies here: If Pennsylvania joins the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), we will make polluters pay for using the skies as a dumping ground for their airborne “trash.” The polluters get a strong message: Clean up your act, or you will lose out to more responsible competitors.

Yes, dirty fuel utilities may pass along some of this new expense to their customers, including small businesses. However, Pennsylvania allows customers to choose their electric power suppliers — and small businesses can switch to a source that has already cleaned up its operations and offers cheaper rates. For small businesses that can’t avoid noticeably higher bills, the Pennsylvania legislature should offer tax credits to help offset the new costs.

That way, Pennsylvania can have both things: healthy small businesses and the progress we need to protect our region against the extreme weather that inflicts so much damage on Pennsylvanians — including our small businesses.

Matt Zencey, West Chester, mzencey@hotmail.com

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