Letters to the Editor | March 31, 2024

I have a question in response to The Inquirer article on the proposed $2.5 billion transformation of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex: Could we get some more fields? Just across Broad Street at FDR Park, the Fairmount Park Conservancy is forcing the public to choose between heritage trees and sports fields for children. This is a false dichotomy, since the synthetic turf fields will not be PFAS-free, as another article recently highlighted, but contain the kind of “forever chemicals” that are detrimental to our children’s health. If Comcast removed a few parking lots at the complex and created some real grass fields, it would be an ecological and civic win for Philadelphia.

Anisa George, Philadelphia

Smart cities incentivize cycling, and Philadelphia has made a good start. Using a bicycle helps reduce pollution and congestion and has virtually no parking footprint. But as someone who cycles a thousand miles a year here, I find that on average, I travel no more than two blocks before I encounter a delivery truck, or a loitering car parked squarely in the bike lane. This pushes me into the auto travel lane — which is now usually a single lane (down from two lanes to make room for cycling in the first place). This is dangerous for me and irritating for drivers. I’m told that the city is taking steps, but it has thus far been fruitless. Philly does a great job enforcing parking rules: I have rarely failed to feed a meter without finding a justifiable ticket on my windshield. It’s time to do the same with bike-lane scofflaws, an issue that is much more pressing in terms of both environmental and safety issues.

Eric Mayer, Philadelphia

Bucks County took the bold step to sue major oil companies for deceiving the public about their industry’s impact on climate change. As The Inquirer reported, ExxonMobil called the lawsuit a distraction from its work “to lower emissions around the world.” This is a provocatively ignorant defense. Just recently, the company made headlines for suing its own shareholders to block a proposal calling for Exxon to step up its efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The company had its Washington ally, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, file an amicus brief to attack the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new climate risk disclosure rule. Exxon should take Bucks County’s lawsuit seriously. It is not dealing with the oil-friendly judges in Texas that it prefers to work with. As a result of backdoor lobbying from Big Oil, Texas has soured its reputation as a business-first state, with bans on responsible investing that may cost taxpayers billions of dollars. We commend Bucks County for taking a stand and ensuring Pennsylvania doesn’t become Texas.

Kyle Herrig, Unlocking America’s Future, Washington, D.C., kyle@unlockingamericasfuture.org

I read Will Bunch’s column, “The war on public schools is the stealth issue of the 2024 campaign,” with great interest and not a little amusement, since the war is not hidden. It is out in the open, fierce, and the winner (or survivor) is unclear. Bunch sees the battle through his ideological, progressive eyes, but the truth is that Donald Trump has little to do with it. Neither do his billionaire donors, his financial problems, his political troubles, or legal challenges. It is a war for the purpose (or soul) of public education itself.

In days gone by, we were taught that the reason for public education was to pass the culture on to the next generation. This involved not only the three Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic), but American history, Western civilization, civics, economics, geography, science, foreign languages, physical education, and employable skills.

In my experience, public education never received the resources necessary to accomplish those goals. However, in recent times, that culture has morphed into critical race theory, gender neutrality, the imminence of climate change, women’s history, Black history, Asian history, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (rather than merit, equal opportunity, and excellence), as well as whatever other woke ideas anyone can imagine. While school vouchers are an issue, they are not the fundamental issue. The real question is: Which culture is public education intended to serve?

Bernard D. Shapiro, retired, high school principal and superintendent, Voorhees

The GOP touts “letting the people decide” — and then works diligently to disallow the people from deciding. Republican senators abdicated their constitutional duty to confirm or deny a nominee for an empty seat on the U.S. Supreme Court after Justice Antonin Scalia’s unexpected death until a new president could be elected by the people to nominate a new justice. This same GOP Senate rule of don’t-vote-until-a-new-president-is-elected was invoked to kill a border bill negotiated by conservative Sen. James Lankford. The GOP has determined that letting critical decisions languish until the voting public gives the Republicans a new president trumps negotiating a compromise to perform their constitutional mandates and jobs. Yet, the recent mantra of letting the people decide by voting is shown to be false by GOP efforts to suppress voting access through fewer voting locations (never mind the long lines), no water or food distribution on (long) voting lines, driver’s license photo ID requirements, gerrymandering, etc. Let the people decide — unless those people are non-GOP voters.

Wayne Williams, Malvern

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