Letters to the Editor

Until Spring….Farewell, Lime Bikes

Dear Editor:

As the last Lime Bike was picked up from the streets of Winthrop this week (in preparation for what will hopefully not be a snowy, waterlogged winter), I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the success of this new program and thank those at Town Hall and in our community who have been supportive.

Of course, the dockless bikeshare program has not been without its kinks (namely inappropriate and hazardous parking of the bikes), but overall the bikes have brought new, sustainable, healthy transportation and recreational opportunities to Winthrop residents (especially our youth) and a whole lot of fun.

I’m happy to report that, according to data from Lime, since the bikes first debuted in town on June 15, 2018, there have been a total of 12,020 trips taken by 2,871 people in Winthrop, covering a distance of 9,100.3 miles over the course of 252,534 minutes. Those are some impressive numbers for our small town of just around 18,000!

For many, the bikes provided a convenient incentive to get back on a bike, perhaps for the first time in years, and for many the bikes offered a new way for the family to spend time together getting exercise and exploring Winthrop in new ways. As someone who commutes to Orient Heights regularly on my personal bike, I loved having the option of grabbing a Lime Bike when there was rain in the forecast (so that I wouldn’t be committed to biking back home in the evening) or when I just needed to run from one part of town to the other but didn’t want to deal with parking. There are so many ways to enjoy a dockless bike, sometimes when you least expect it, and that is the beauty of the program.

The Transportation Advisory Committee and Bike Winthrop look forward to working with our Town officials to create new policy and infrastructure improvements that will make biking, as well as walking, in Winthrop safer, more convenient, more accessible, and more fun for everyone. Particularly as redevelopment efforts move forward in the Center and across town and traffic congestion and the impacts of climate change become increasingly prevalent, it is crucial that we invest in strategies that enable people to safely and conveniently get around Winthrop without a car. Dockless bikes alone won’t solve our challenges, but they can certainly be part of a comprehensive, forward thinking solution that works for all.

Julia Wallerce

Chair

Transportation Advisory Committee

 

TAKES ISSUE WITH COLUMN

Dear Editor:

I take issue with the Nov. 8 Op-Ed that Drew Johnson wrote.  It was entitled “Global Climate Action Summit Silent on Natural Gas Progress.”  Mr. Johnson noted that the gas industry uses “water and sand” to fracture or “frack” natural gas from the ground.  He failed to mention, however, that water, sand and chemicals are used in this process that he implies is safe.

I know of areas in Pennsylvania where people are getting sick, some with cancer.  I think a lot of us have seen the video where the man turns on his water faucet and flames shoot out of the spout.  If anyone googles “fracking” or “fracking fluid” they may discover that, in the U.S., about 750 compounds have been listed as additives for hydraulic fracturing. It’s from an industry report to the U.S. Congress in 2011 that was originally kept secret for “commercial reasons.”  There is “a list of the chemical constituents in additives that are used or have been used in fracturing operations, as based on the report of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, some are known to be carcinogenic.”  Example is 1,2 Benzisothiazolin-2-one/1,2-benzisothiazolin-3-one.  Commercial use of this compound is “insecticide spray, stain remover.”  The list is long.

I’d sooner put efforts into off shore wind, which our state leaders are currently pursuing.  Wind and solar sources of energy don’t contaminate groundwater, our waterways, and soil.  Not so good that Mr. Johnson left out “chemicals.”  Water, sand and chemicals are used to extract natural gas from the ground.

Sincerely,

Donna Segreti Reilly

30 Cottage Park Road

 

 

FACTS ARE BEING IGNORED

Dear Editor:

We read the opinion piece “Global Climate Action Summit Silent on Natural Gas Progress” with chagrin. This article is shameful propaganda. The author Drew Johnson is an alleged climate denier for hire—a shill for fossil fuel interests. The piece first appeared in the Washington Examiner whose parent company is owned by Philip Anschutz, a billionaire with oil interests. The Transcript lists Johnson as a senior scholar with the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) . TPA  is an advocacy front group that is part of the Koch political network. And in 2017, Mother Jones listed Johnson as Number 10 in the “Dirty Dozen of Climate Change Deniers.”

As Bill McKibben states in The New Yorker: “With wild fires, heat waves, and rising sea levels, large tracts of the earth are at risk of becoming uninhabitable, but the fossil-fuel industry continues its assault on the facts.”

Drew Johnson’s opinion piece “Global Climate Action Summit Silent on Natural Gas Progress” from the Nov. 8 Transcript is clear evidence of such an assault on facts.

How does one address Mr. Johnson’s gross disinformation? We absolutely cannot remain quiet when confronted with such distortion of facts.

Here are the facts as reported in today’s release of the US 4th National Climate Assessment and last month’s UN International Panel on Climate Change (I.P.C.C.) report. As Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, one of the authors of the 4th Climate Assessment, has stated: “Climate change is real; it’s us; it’s here; it’s bad; and it’s getting worse. BUT our choices can and do make a difference. And we must act now.” The time for inaction has long since passed.

NASA has stated: “The relentless rise in carbon dioxide (CO2) shows a remarkably constant relationship with fossil-fuel burning.” And this rise in CO2 corresponds with earth’s rise in global temperature.  And this rise in global temperature corresponds with our current multiple extreme weather events—fires, droughts, flooding, storms. And it is getting worse.

The US climate assessment report states that cutting carbon emissions will substantially reduce risks to people in the US and around the world. We have the means and we are moving in the right direction but not nearly fast enough to avoid substantial damages to the economy, health and safety, and quality of life. To prevent irreversible climate damage, we need to quickly transform our energy economy. Renewable solar and wind power need to provide the lion’s share of our energy, and we need to work fast to build out these industries while doubling down on energy efficiency.

Why do this? Because impacts from climate change on extreme weather and climate-related events, air quality, and the transmission of disease through insects and pests, food, and water increasingly threaten the health and well-being of the American people, particularly populations that are already vulnerable including our children.

As part of his cherry-picking, Johnson cites a reduction in CO2 emissions at electric plants powered by gas, compared with those powered by coal. Coal emits more CO2 and is more expensive than gas, which is why there is a push to phase out existing coal plants. Johnson calls this one CO2 reduction data point a reason “to drill more gas.” Remember, electricity generation accounts for 28% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The other 72% are due to transportation, industry, residential, etc., and we continue to see the relentless rise in atmospheric CO2 despite shutting down some coal-fired electric plants.

Johnson hides the fact that gas is mainly methane. Methane leaks from fracked gas processes, storage, and distribution, and it traps 86x more heat than CO2 in the first 20 years. So, with gas we get a double whammy of GHG emissions–methane when it leaks and CO2 when it burns –and the combination could actually be worse than coal.

And what about folks who live near fracking wells? 1200 peer-reviewed studies have reported that water and air contamination cause significant adverse health effects to children and adults living in close proximity to the wellhead–and there are over 300,000 fracked-gas wells in the U.S. alone.

The many municipalities, states, and countries which are banning fracking for health and economic reasons are not the only ones who see the handwriting on the wall–investors are fleeing too for fear of stranded assets—the poisoned wealth left in the ground.  Others– corporations, universities, faith groups, governments, and some investment firms are divesting from fossil fuel companies because they don’t want to foster our environmental destruction.

So, to the contrary, Mr. Johnson, fracking has not “yielded enormous environmental benefits.”  Fracking, as a major climate change culprit and with its very toxic processes, is yielding just the opposite–more like a death threat–for the environment, for our health, and for our economy.

In another foray against the truth, Mr. Johnson talks about “renewables receiving billions of dollars in handouts.” He suppresses the inconvenient fact that his favorite industry–the fossil fuel industry–itself receives subsidies that have been going on for over a hundred years.

Even today the US spends over $26 billion a year propping up fossil fuels. A new Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) study ranks this the worst among the G7 countries (the others are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and UK). Yet the current US administration “continues to subsidize fossil fuel production, and then promotes even more pro-polluter, pro-fossil fuel initiatives.” The study went on to say “One of the key points of understanding these fossil fuel subsidies is that they are not necessary. Fossil fuels don’t need any government support. Today, these subsidies exist to help fossil fuel companies enrich themselves at the taxpayers’ expense.”

Subsidies for renewables, on the other hand, benefit all of us. They contribute to a healthier environment, economy, and society. Furthermore, new wind and solar installations now can cost less than new fossil fuel power plants, even without subsidies. The more a country’s solar and wind companies can get ahead, the better they fare in quickly transforming the global energy economy.

Yes, there is good news too despite the dire forecasts from the I.P.C.C. and Climate Assessment reports. Mitigation-related activities are taking place across the United States at the state, and local levels as well as in the private sector. As Doctors for Climate have stated: “We can reduce emissions and switch to clean, renewable energy to make our air cleaner, our lungs healthier and our future climate more stable. It’s our imperative as physicians to speak out for this change…We hope our leaders will seize this opportunity.” The economic benefits that come with renewable energy are vast and broad and far outweigh the costs. And we know the huge costs of climate change inaction and how that threatens to knee-cap our economy.

In sum, citizens, journalists and media must do all we can to correct widespread disinformation coming from dark money and fossil fuel interests. Climate change has brought us to a critical junction.  We must support industries and elect leaders–at all levels of government– who demonstrate that they are good stewards for us and our environment; that they understand the dire situation that climate change has wrought; that they understand the huge health and economic benefits of renewables; and that they understand the urgency.  We need a swift and just transition to renewable energy. And we need to do it now.

Suzanne Hitchcock-Bryan

Maryalice Sharkey

Nan Howes

Carina Campobasso

Carol Walker

Kevin O’Reilly

Linda Speed

Winthrop Mothers Out Front