The Aug. 1 Tribune article “Sticky air and hotter nights” discusses the effects of climate change on the Midwest. A big part of reducing the greenhouse gasses that cause climate change is reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. There is now considerable support for carbon pricing, whereby fees are charged for CO2 emitted by certain sources of carbon pollution, such as power plants, cement factories, and producers and importers of fuels, including crude oil, natural gas and coal.
Carbon pricing is a market-based solution that lets carbon polluters decide whether and how to reduce their pollution and encourages innovation and investment in clean energy. It reduces the patchwork of local and state regulations and is supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Petroleum Institute and the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of major corporations. As U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said, “CO2 emissions generated by man is creating our greenhouse gas effect that traps heat, and the planet is warming. A price on carbon — that’s the way to go.”
I encourage readers to contact their U.S. senators and representative in support of carbon pricing legislation. Joining Citizens’ Climate Lobby or a similar group is another great way to fight climate change.
As the saying goes: “There is no Planet B.” If our grandchildren ask what we did about climate change, let’s have a good answer.
— Gary Jump, Itasca
Rebates for efficient appliances
Thanks for Nara Schoenberg’s article “Climate bill rebates for electric appliances and upgrades on the way” (July 28). When the Inflation Reduction Act passed two years ago, it was designed to incentivize the purchase of select highly efficient household appliances and certain renovations in energy efficiency in an effort to cut carbon pollution. This included generous tax credits for richer folks but significantly larger upfront rebates for low- and moderate-income categories.
While all the money came from the federal government, states were responsible for managing the rebate portion. The tax credits became available almost immediately, but there has been a terribly slow rollout for the rebates. Schoenberg’s article lets us know upfront rebate dollars will finally be coming available in Illinois sometime in 2025, at least for folks making 80% of area median income or less.
To see if your household income qualifies for a $4,000 to $8,000 appliance rebate, you can check out a nifty calculator at Rewiring America. The calculator, with just several inputs, will give a very close approximation of the tax credits or upfront rebates that you are likely eligible for.
— Andrew Panelli, Homer Glen
The scourge of plastic pollution
Plastics are literally everywhere — in the air we breathe, the waters we swim in, the water we drink, the soil we cultivate and the food we eat. We have known about the problem of plastic production, use and disposal for decades (industry kept this nasty truth a secret from us) and have become more and more aware of the environmental consequences from extraction of fossil fuel and the production of plastics, their distribution, their waste and then ultimately their breakdown into small particles. What we didn’t know was the dramatic health consequences. Medical researchers are beginning to connect the dots between our inadvertent consumption of plastics and various serious human illnesses caused by the myriad toxic chemicals that make up plastics. And we can’t recycle our way out of this problem.
Three Chicago nonprofit organizations — Organizing for Plastic Alternatives, League of Women Voters Illinois and the 47th Ward Green Council — hosted an event in Chicago on July 23 at the Sulzer Regional Library; the panel was moderated by Tribune reporter Adriana Perez. The event drew more than 80 concerned local residents and revealed the story of the hidden health hazards of plastics. The documentary “We’re All Plastic People Now” shares emerging findings of what had already been a environmental crisis that is fast becoming a human health crisis. Medical researchers are finding that all of us have plastic chemicals in our blood stream and that microplastics are lodged in our bodies — even in the placentas of women and in newborns.
President Joe Biden has taken an important step by signaling that his administration will take ambitious actions to curb plastic pollution, including ending the procurement by the federal government of single-use plastics. State legislators have an opportunity in Illinois to end single-use plastic bags and Styrofoam during the veto session in November — as have other states across the country. Chicago City Council members also have the opportunity to introduce and pass legislation that further limits single-use plastics. That’s the important work that will go a long ways toward ending the plastic crisis.
— Jon Schmidt, Chicago
National, state abortion rules
There is one large void in the abortion conversation. When we talk about abortion, we leave out the religious upbringing of the woman. Each person’s relationship with religion is different, even among those sitting in the same pew within the same church. For women, the abortion decision is a long, tortuous reflection, guided by themselves, their doctors, family, friends, partners and their moral compass, which is often defined by their religious upbringing.
The Bible states in 1 Peter 3:15-16 that one should not force the followings of Jesus upon others. Yet people want to force their religious viewpoints upon others in the governing of abortions.
As the political parties go, the divide is wide. The Republican Party wants to severally restrict or outlaw abortions. The Democratic Party wants to let women have the opportunity to decide on an abortion.
So against this backdrop, I propose that there be both national and state guiding principles. National guidelines would be required since medication-induced abortions are the norm and the mail crosses state lines. State guidelines are required because the U.S. Supreme Court has decreed that states should be allowed to determine their own guidelines.
Per the Supreme Court, each state needs to come up with its own rules. We are ending up with a confusing patchwork of rules. Instead of trying to completely restrict abortions and carve out the endless exceptions, states should allow lenient rules and allow the woman’s moral compass guide the restrictions.
On the national level, an abortion limit should be placed at about 13 to 15 weeks, excluding rape, incest and health of the parent. Any restriction prior to this means that a decision has to be made on the pregnancy, the viability and the potential maternal health complications prior to having all the information. At six weeks, the woman will probably not even recognize that she is pregnant. At 10 to 13 weeks, viability testing is done through genetic testing and ultrasound.
For those states that want to be more restrictive, they should be forced into providing Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act. Life doesn’t begin at conception and end at birth. It goes much further than that, and if a state is going to force a woman to conceive, then the state should provide the resources to make sure the mother and child have a reasonable expectation of a healthy and happy life.
— Doug Holmes, Chicago
Let’s be happy for hostages
With the release of the hostages comes the barrage of finger-pointing turning it into a political competition. Who did what? Who gets the credit? What’s behind the timing? What was the cost?
Why can’t people just look at the human side of this and be glad that the families finally got to see their loved ones come home? I for one am thrilled to see them back on American soil.
— Joy Orlowsky, Northbrook
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