If your locked-down status has you with time on your hands, put it to good use. How about helping to resurrect democracy? Democracy thrives when an informed citizenry is actively and publicly engaged in the issues of the day. Why not get more information and raise your voice on the issues that concern you most?
Our struggles with COVID-19 tell us that committed and well-informed leadership is necessary to protect the American people. And we need to hear less “Me” and more “We” in coming together as a country, much as we did after Pearl Harbor and 9/11. We are in this together.
This is a good context in which to discuss climate change. First of all, we have neither an informed leadership nor an informed public on this issue. Both our president and our governor are willfully ignorant. For three decades the fossil fuel industry has actively undermined the peer-reviewed science while offering no science that has survived peer review. Peer review is the process by which scientists keep each other honest.
Meanwhile, Australia has experienced drought, heat waves and forest fires. The permafrost and the ice caps are melting even faster than scientists predicted, setting up feedback loops and the strong possibility of tipping points. No one could have missed the uptick in severe storms, flooding and storm surges.
Here’s a valuable reading list: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report Global Warming of 1.5 ºC (find it online; there’s a “Summary for Policymakers”), which calls for “rapid, far-reaching, and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.” Falter, by Bill McKibben, to learn how we got to this point and why we must immediately act together. America Misled: How the Fossil Fuel Industry Deliberately Misled Americans About Climate Change, a report by the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, among others. And if you want to understand the many things our government could be doing to address climate change, read Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, edited by Paul Hawken.
ALLAN MacDONALD
New London
In the day and age of the new coronavirus, many concerned citizens who fear that the government will collapse are panic buying and working to try to build up massive stockpiles as much as possible. Unfortunately, this has resulted in an increase in hoarding and keeping valuable supplies away from those who need them.
I urge the citizens of the United States of America to not primarily focus on themselves and their interests, but instead on the needs of those who are the most vulnerable to this new threat. Therefore, try to help others every day. Get takeout from a local business. Takeout is the only way that these places are surviving the virus economically. Don’t wipe out a store’s supply of toilet paper. There are others who need it too. Don’t act unconcerned about this virus. Those who are young and healthy may not suffer as much, but they can act as carriers and infect those who are more at risk. Attempt to eliminate partisan divides. They do little and delay the country’s progress in this difficult time.
Finally, stay healthy as much as you can. It is our civic duty to prevent the spread of the virus and help those who need our support the most in this trying time.
OWEN WELCH
Hanover
I want to recognize the herculean efforts of the Valley News during our recent health crisis. From printing the news on how the health care crisis is impacting local towns and cities to providing information, such as the listing of Upper Valley restaurants, the Valley News provides a critical service to us.
We know that this crisis will eventually cease and the Valley News will have provided the glue that has kept the Upper Valley connected.
TOM McGONIS
Lebanon