Bee readers respond to Newsom’s Florida ads, state worker pay, CARE Court and wildfires

It’s up to us

“Electra Fire slows as new blaze flares in Yosemite National Park,” (sacbee.com, July 8)

Once again, our state is on fire. Wildfires have, of course, been with us forever, but they haven’t always been this bad. We are now seeing more acres burned, lives lost and homes and buildings destroyed than ever before as global warming intensifies, contributing to the worst drought in 1,200 years, drier lands and hotter temperatures.

Scientists have told us what we need to do to stop global warming, and we have the tools right now to make it happen. All that stands between us and a better future is our own inertia. Our government and businesses need to hear from individuals demanding action. We can stick with the status quo and watch our state burn and run out of water, or we can change. The future is up to us.

Lisa Howard

Rocklin

Note from Florida

“Is Florida ad a sign Gavin Newsom will run for president?” (sacbee.com, July 6)

As a proud citizen of the great state of Florida, I want to thank Gov. Gavin Newsom for the comical exploits of late trying to convince Floridians to live in California. We don’t want your one-party system. We don’t want your woke culture. We don’t want your disdain for law enforcement. We don’t care for the free rides you offer your citizens. We prefer to work for a living and make our own way. Your personal attacks on our great governor will not work. We don’t want your state’s “values” anywhere near our freedom-loving state.

Californians should stay where they are. Florida is closed to your un-American ideologies.

John Reinheimer

Fleming Island, Fla.

Act boldly

“California urban water use shrank in May as drought wears on,” (sacbee.com, July 8)

Climate change is already testing the limits human beings can withstand. Because of continuing drought, our major reservoirs are down, and the number of wildfires remains high. Dozens have died from the recent heat wave in India and Pakistan, which also caused birds to fall out of the sky due to dehydration.

To preserve a livable world, emissions must come down to net zero by mid-century. To do so, we must drastically curtail — and, eventually, phase out — the burning of coal, oil and gas. Last fall, the House passed the Build Back Better Act, which contained $555 billion in spending that would have set us on a course to solve the climate crisis. At a minimum, Congress must enact the clean-energy incentives in the House bill.

Kenneth W. Moore

Auburn

Government failure

“Newsom’s CARE Court would not have kept my son from dying,” (sacbee.com, July 3)

The mother who wrote this op-ed spoke from her experience of trying to save another adult with diagnosed mental illness from homelessness and self-destruction. All who have tried valiantly but unsuccessfully know her pain, the platitudes she was offered and how the laws of unintended consequences can doom so many to the purgatory of mental illness.

We don’t need “CARE Court”; we need commonsense solutions and housing for the mentally ill. We also need family members to be conservators and fiduciaries for the mentally ill. I thank the author for sharing her tragic story, and I wish her and those like her peace knowing they tried and they did not fail — our government did.

Kimberly Husted

Gold River

Support scientists

“CA state worker unions push for big raises in contract talks,” (sacbee.com, July 13)

I urge California officials to support the proposal put forth by the California Association of Professional Scientists in salary negotiations with the California Department of Human Resources. The union is negotiating a new contract for state scientists, who have been underpaid for years compared with their counterparts in the federal government and private sector.

Our work is crucial to California’s future — particularly understanding climate change and what we need to do to ensure clean water, air and a healthy ecosystem. State scientists work diligently to protect California’s treasured historical, cultural and Native American resources in addition to our natural resources. Now is the time to ensure that the state can compete and retain the scientists it has.

Brendon Greenaway

Sacramento

Impeach SCOTUS

“Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade; states can ban abortion,” (sacbee.com, June 25)

Reading the Constitution punctures the myth that the Supreme Court is “coequal” with the dominant legislative and executive branches. The Supreme Court is the minor and toothless branch: It depends on Congress for funding and on the executive branch to enforce its decisions. Moreover, the number of its judges is not fixed, and its members can be impeached.

A compelling political reason now exists for Congress to use its impeachment power. The Supreme Court has called into question the legitimacy of the entire government, whose primary purpose is to protect the long-established rights of “we, the people.”

Governments that take away long-established rights do so at their own peril.

Andrew Majeske

Davis

Mandatory vaccine

“CA COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations rise with new variant,” (sacbee.com, July 12)

In 1922, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote: “It is within the police power of a state to provide for compulsory vaccination … for the protection of the public health.” The most fundamental responsibility of our elected government is to protect Americans from existential threats like COVID.

Before another million die, and before more vaccine-resistant variants emerge, our government should legislate mandatory universal vaccines and help the rest of the world vaccinate without delay.

Steven Sorscher

Winston-Salem, N.C.