I am a climate voter and with 62% of registered voters expressing concern about our warming atmosphere, I was disappointed that it was rarely mentioned by the presidential candidates.
The elections are over, and I understand that the economy played a large part in the outcome. So, I would like to highlight the fact that Darren Woods, the CEO of Exxon Mobil, is urging President-elect Donald Trump to keep the country in the Paris climate agreement. I am hoping a majority of citizens will agree and some of you will urge your senators and representatives to consider this for economic reasons.
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We can agree that climate change is happening. We don’t have to agree as to whether it’s natural or human-caused. Climate emergencies cost the United States $93 billion in 2023, and we’re headed for another expensive year. Money can be better spent on mitigation. Heat extremes also impact the economy by reducing the productivity of construction and agricultural workers.
By remaining a leader in international climate negotiations like those happening now at the annual United Nations climate discussion known this year as COP29, we can secure U.S. economic benefits by producing and manufacturing products and materials that are in high demand for the energy transition that is happening worldwide. Remaining a member of the Paris agreement also gives us a voice at the table. Let’s join Woods and pound the drum.
Dorelle Ackermann, Mokena
Get your hands dirty and earn a good living
Regarding the recent opinion essay on manufacturing (“Parents, let your kids go into manufacturing. It’s vital to our nation’s future”): Kids don’t want to get their hands dirty. I can say this started back 70 years ago. I graduated from Caldwell grammar school in 1956 and went to CVS, Chicago Vocational High School. The rest of the class went to Bowen High School, a regular liberal arts school. I took up machine shop and worked all my life in job shops (not production). Every piece I worked on was different. You had to think from start to finish what you had to machine. I truly loved doing this. Doing this kind of work, in which things have to be square and level and correct, opened up the gift doing other things, such as finishing up the basement (framing, electrical, plumbing, complete bathroom, flooring, etc.), and heating and air conditioning work.
So many times I read about all of these people with a college degree who can’t find good-paying employment and are saddled with a school loan even before just living their life, with marriage and family. We have a generation of people mad at this situation. They don’t have to be.
Kenneth G. Berger, Olympia Fields
Trump’s terrible cabinet picks
I hope those voters who put Donald Trump in office now realize how unqualified he is to lead our country, based on his cabinet choices. Anti-vaccine delusionist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who could not garner any support from his very large extended family, would make medical decisions that will endanger the lives of you, your parents, your spouses, your children and future generations. Then there’s the appointment of Matt Gaetz, a man being investigated for sexual trafficking who resigned his political office two days before the investigation was scheduled to be made public. Let’s not forget the appointment of Tulsi Gabbard, who publicly supports Vladimir Putin and his ilk. The list goes on.
This election shows the rest of the world that their faith in the American people was misplaced. Unfortunately those who voted for this criminal will also affect the lives of those of us who believe in democracy and constitutional rights.
Tony Prevolos, Bonita Springs
About those ‘steady, consistent’ Republicans
I’m writing in response to a letter the Sun-Times published earlier this month following Election Day. Reader Dan Franch wrote that America just isn’t ready for a woman president or progressive policies. He claims Democrats “move too fast,” and Republicans are just “status quo” people who are “solid, steady, consistent kind of people.” Somehow, those words sound a lot like what white Southerners said to Black citizens who were seeking equal rights in the 1960’s. “You’re just not ready.”
Today, those same “solid, steady, consistent” Republicans ( who used to be Democrats until the Civil Rights Act was passed ) don’t seem to be bothered by the fact that Donald Trump and his soon to be administration are planning to make more changes than any Democratic president since the Great Depression. Are Republicans looking forward to tariffs, mass deportations, the privatizing of Social Security, the revamping of our health care system, doing away with civil service, and the defunding of the departments of education, justice and the FBI? Let’s not forget clamping down on the press and prosecuting opponents. Plus, all these dramatic changes are to be orchestrated by many not-so-solid or steady individuals.
It seems those “steady, consistent” Republicans only favor dramatic changes when Trump suggests them.
Betty Kleinberg, Deerfield