Letters to the Editor | Sept. 19, 2022

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is supercharged to have been chosen by President Biden to take the lead on the installation and maintenance of a national network of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations (“In Detroit, Biden touts electric vehicles,” Sep. 15). This coveted designation is a huge credit to our International President, Lonnie Stephenson, who saw the EV revolution coming and created the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program, the gold standard of the EV industry. The U.S. Department of Transportation agrees, recommending earlier this year that the EVITP be the national certification standard for training the national workforce that will install $5 billion of EV charging stations across 53,000 miles of highways in 35 states, including Pennsylvania. Here in Philadelphia, IBEW Local 98 was among the very first IBEW Locals in the nation to educate our apprentices in EV technology. Not only will the aggressive roll-out of the national EV infrastructure result in years of work for many IBEW members, but it will also afford us significant opportunities to organize nonunion electricians into the brotherhood. President Biden is correct when he calls union workers the “most skilled” in the nation.

Mark Lynch, Jr., business manager, IBEW Local 98, Philadelphia

Jenice Armstrong’s recent column hits the nail on the head, stating clearly why this year’s election is possibly the most important in our history. The senatorial contest is very important, but the gubernatorial contest is supremely important. Doug Mastriano’s views and plans for Pennsylvania are frightening and dangerous. Think of Pennsylvania with no abortion rights, no same-sex marriage, no separation of church and state, and so much less money for public schools. Is this the Pennsylvania you want? No? Then vote! Get up and get out and vote!

Sheryl Kalick, Philadelphia

Democrats have correctly decried Republican governors’ abuse of asylum seekers. People who have come here to escape inhumane treatment in their home countries are now shipped, like human cattle, thousands of miles away with no information and without their informed consent. This is reminiscent of the way the Russians are treating Ukrainians (but without the “filtration camps”). However, at the same time, Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have been playing with the lives of disabled American veterans. The lifeline that was thrown them in the form of a caregiver stipend has, in fact, been a yo-yo string, with benefits given and taken repeatedly and seemingly at random. Republican governors dishonor America by playing with the lives of asylum seekers. But all of Congress disgraces itself and our people by playing with the lives of disabled veterans.

Kenneth Gorelick, Wayne

In her recent op-ed “In Central Bucks schools, it doesn’t ‘get better,’” Lily Freeman, a trans student at Central Bucks High School East, courageously describes identity hate directed at her. It is alarming that our local school system refuses to oppose this vitriol publicly. The silence is an especially ironic rejection of a warning declared nearly seventy-five years ago by two famous Bucks County residents: Oscar Hammerstein II and James A. Michener. Hammerstein almost single-handedly invented the American musical as we know and love it. One of his many hits was the 1949 Broadway play South Pacific, based on Michener’s book, Tales of the South Pacific. A pointed song is “You’ve got to be taught.” A key line makes the entire play’s point: “You’ve got to be carefully taught to hate and fear.” How sad that today’s schools decline to fight this sort of bigotry.

Steven Miller, Doylestown, stevenmiller0470@gmail.com

As we enter the heart of the political season, we of Pa. CURE feel the need to speak out on an issue that keeps coming up in the campaign ads for the United States Senate seat. Mehmet Oz is running commercials criticizing John Fetterman for reducing the penalty for felony murder via pardons from the Board of Pardons. We believe there is a need for perspective and clarification.

Pennsylvania has one of the highest numbers of inmates serving life without parole sentences of any state in the country. The current sentencing scheme gives life without parole to the perpetrator of a homicide and anyone associated with the crime. i.e. felony murder. Thus if an individual is a driver of the getaway car in a robbery gone bad, he or she gets the same sentence as the perpetrator of the murder. Any individual tangentially involved gets the same sentence. Black defendants have a much greater chance than whites to be convicted of felony murder. We believe this to be grossly unfair. John Fetterman is the chairman of the Board of Pardons, which acts as a safety valve for injustices in our criminal justice system. The felony murder cases are frequently reduced by the Board to a set term of years, usually 30 or 40 years. Fetterman has long recognized this injustice and strongly advocated for reduced sentences under these circumstances. He also advocates for changing the sentencing laws. There is proposed legislation (HB 135) to address this issue. We wholeheartedly agree with John and support the legislation.

Angus Love, Esq., Narbeth and Lindy Morelli, Scranton, co-chairs, Pa. CURE

I wish to express gratitude to the Inquirer and Massarah Mikati for your piece on Natalie Abulhawa. I am an American of Jewish descent who lived in the West Bank of Palestine from 2013-2021, where I taught literature at Bethlehem University. The violence I witnessed the Israeli state exact upon the Palestinian population in the name of their ongoing racially segregated settlement program is an egregiously normal part of everyday life there. My students suffered harassment and abuse from soldiers en route to class, and my experiences in struggling to make my classroom a safe escape from their reality have affected my life profoundly. I believe Abulhawa deserves this exposure, as Palestinians in the diaspora should be able to express their identity, and their concerns regarding the brutality their people endure. The article certainly was an invaluable contribution to the ever-rising voices advocating for a just peace on that land.

Mark K. Rausch, Pittsburgh

As one of the top-ranked states in greenhouse gas emissions, Pennsylvania needs to step up, especially since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling West Virginia v. EPA has blocked efforts on the federal level to limit power plant emissions. But 11 states that are part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) are successfully addressing the climate crisis, financed by a market-driven cap and reduction system requiring power plants to pay for the excess emissions they generate. Pennsylvania, as the 12th state to join RGGI, is poised to reduce emissions by 22 million tons, reduce carbon pollution by 26% by 2025, and create 30,000 new jobs.

Unfortunately, through numerous lawsuits in the state courts to halt RGGI, Republican legislators continue to deny their constituents the benefits that 11 other states are experiencing.

As a candidate for governor, I hope Josh Shapiro will strongly support the implementation of RGGI.

Mark Smith, Glenside

President Biden won’t name Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. Congress threatens to do so. But both are silent about another superpower’s crimes. We target civilians in drone strikes. We engage in mass surveillance. We possess illegal nuclear weapons. We prosecute whistleblowers and are extraditing a publisher. We kidnapped the president of Haiti and assassinated Qasem Soleimani. We kidnapped and tortured people. Our police and prosecutors falsely convict Americans. I could go on and on. Condemnation of Vladimir Putin is righteous. But we ask, why isn’t the United States considered a state sponsor of terrorism?

Rob Baker, Ambler

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