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No free lunch
Carlos Solorzano-Cuadra complains about inflation, and the price of food (“The sting of government favoritism,” Nov. 29). But he needs to remember that there is no such thing as a free lunch. If we are going to avert catastrophic climate change, we will need to make other trade-offs.
Never mind his questionable assertions (trucks mostly run on biofuel?) or his ignoring the role of corporate greed in the increased costs we are seeing. Wait until he notices the effect that climate change is already having on the global food supply, and where that will send prices.
While the specific choice to encourage sustainable airline fuel can be questioned, we all need to think about what we are willing to give up to avert climate chaos. Food prices need to be protected, indeed; protecting our climate is one step towards doing that.
Susan Donaldson
Northampton
Oil from Venezuela
The media and President Biden’s other critics on the right can’t seem to give him credit for anything.
If gas prices go up “-it’s President Biden’s fault.”
If Biden taps our oil reserves to help lower the cost of heating fuel-”he’s jeopardizing our security.”
If prices go down-”crickets”
If he drills for oil in the US “breaking his campaign promise to get off fossil fuels.”
If Biden asks Big Oil to lower prices at the pump using their $100 billion profits from the last quarter-”crickets.”
If Biden starts to refill our oil reserves and supply from foreign sources -”he’s unAmerican.”
Opinion pieces about oil supplies from anywhere should be written in the context of the climate crisis and the trajectory of extreme weather events. We have a pressing need to accelerate the transition from coal, gas and oil.
Are we so doggedly divided or such political opportunists that it’s impossible for us to work together for a livable planet?
Jan Kubiac
Hyannis
Drug kits
BPHC Executive Director Dr. Bisola Ojikutu claims there’s “documented data” supportive of her policy to hand out drug kits to addicts living in makeshift clusters of tents on city streets. Maybe so, but it seems to me that the idea of giving drugs to drug users in an effort to get them off of drugs isn’t grounded in reality.
It doesn’t take a budget of $162 million to recognize that drug users aren’t rational. They will generally accept anything offered to them if they can get high from it. And the more often they get high, the less rational they become. There’s no end to the cycle if your stated policy is to keep them addicted.
It’s time to stop coddling these people. A civilized society should not tolerate this behavior year after year. Drug use fosters crime. Neighborhoods are being affected by it. Get out the heavy equipment and take down the tents. Put the drug users in a facility and force them into treatment. Arrest those who refuse. They’ll get off drugs one way or another.
Sean F. Flaherty
Charlestown
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