California forum letters: Bee readers take on climate progress, Sac Zoo, UC Davis nurses
CA’s climate progress
“California’s Democratic legislators are redefining climate denialism with their inaction,” (sacbee.com, Sept. 23)
Now is the time for the Legislature to adopt policies that address the urgency of climate change. While there have been many advances since we empowered the California Air Resources Board, we must now take more direct action uninhibited by cumbersome bureaucracy. Our forests are burning today. Our wells are running dry today. Our kids are suffering from extreme heat today. We need action now. Thanks to the leadership of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Senate pro Tempore Toni Atkins, our budget directed the largest investment in climate resiliency in our state’s history to immediately help Californians — combating extreme heat, drought, sea level rise and wildfires while reducing emissions through historic investments in zero-emission vehicles and infrastructure. We’re taking action that will save lives and make a difference in our neighborhoods today.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg
Sacramento
Nurses will keep fighting
“UC Davis nurses demand improved staffing, but management says it’s part of union’s playbook,” (sacbee.com, Sept. 23)
Nurses work through a pandemic and this is the thanks they get. Running on minimum staffing is unacceptable. Experienced staff are leaving, looking for jobs with a manageable, sustainable workload. Management lives in an alternate reality, away from patients and the pressures and stressors of patient care. Nurses will never stop fighting for their patients or lower the standards of what they demand of themselves and their employer.
Shirley Toy, retired RN
Sacramento
Proud of CA leaders
“‘These are dark days.’ Gavin Newsom signs laws protecting California abortion rights,” (sacbee.com, Sept. 22)
As a lifelong Californian, I am proud of Gov. Newsom and the Legislature for enacting laws that ensure access to reproductive and sexual health care and that protect our right to privacy. By enacting AB 1184, AB 1356 and SB 374, our state leaders demonstrated California’s leadership on reproductive freedom while the U.S. Supreme Court and states like Texas gut our rights. These new laws make it safer for everyone to receive reproductive and sexual health care without harassment. I’m old enough to remember when women could not get safe, effective birth control or other reproductive health care and how that impacted women’s participation in the workforce and diminished their financial security. We cannot go back to those dismal days.
Deborah Franklin
Sacramento
Move the zoo
“Sacramento Zoo could be leaving the city of Sacramento. See where it could go.” (sacbee.com, Sept. 23)
I’ve only been to the Sacramento Zoo once, over 12 years ago, and I was disgusted. The giraffes at the zoo barely had room to trot even a few steps. The penguins had a tiny “bathtub” of water, no room to actually swim. The idea that kids can learn anything about “wild” animals at this zoo is a joke. Move the zoo now.
Shari Baelfyr
Rio Linda
Federal action needed
“Highway 50 open to Tahoe travelers after Caldor Fire forced monthlong closure,” (sacbee.com, Sept. 21)
Reading about Highway 50’s reopening conjured up vivid memories from late August when the Caldor Fire was raging over Echo Summit. My family watched the news coverage in horror as firefighters battled erratic, wind-driven flames that edged closer and closer to Echo Summit Lodge, a historic landmark at the top of the summit overlooking the Tahoe Basin. The rustic lodge has been a wonderful gathering place for my large extended family for decades. Thanks to the heroic efforts of firefighters working throughout the night, the lodge still stands today. Sadly, many with property in the path of the devastating wildfire were not so fortunate and lost everything to the flames. Megafires such as this are exacerbated by climate change. They will only worsen without federal action on climate.
Paula M. Danz
Los Altos
Misleading claim
“See rammed-earth, fireproof, eco-friendly home selling for $4.2 million in Sonoma,” (sacbee.com, Sept. 27)
Everything is combustible. When we bought our Glen Ellen rammed earth home in 1993, we were told it wouldn’t burn. In fact, the insurance company told us that they couldn’t provide fire insurance because it would not burn. But the Nuns Fire in October 2017 burned our home to the ground. The rammed earth walls became so seriously compromised by the intense heat of the firestorm that drove us from the house at 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 9 that you could pick chunks of the earth and concrete mixture from what was left standing by the fistful when it all cooled. Headlines and sales pitches like this are very misleading. Rammed earth building protocols are only burn proof if you’re lucky enough not to have a fire on your property.
Bernie Krause
Sonoma
PG&E money grab
“PG&E charged in California wildfire last year that killed 4,” (sacbee.com, Sept. 25)
Our widely successful experiment to generate electricity on homeowners’ rooftops is cutting into PG&E’s profits. Facing escalating costs associated with climate change and lawsuits, PG&E went to the California Public Utility Commission to bail them out. California homeowners who have spent thousands of dollars to reduce their carbon footprint by investing in rooftop solar panels will have fees to connect to the power grid increased by up to $78 more per month. Join me in signing a petition (savecaliforniasolar.org) to stop this PG&E money grab.
Rene Wise
Fremont