Stay in RGGI
Re “A frightening scenario” (Our Views, Oct. 27): The editorial is more than timely. Speaking the truth is a key part of a free press. The Editorial Board printed the truth about climate impacts on Hampton Roads and the entire coastal regions of the USA while reasserting the importance of remaining a member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
I have been studying the decision-making of Gov. Glenn Youngkin. It is clear to me that he does not grasp the moment in which his leadership is vital to safer outcomes now and in the near future. To not recognize that time is of the essence for making decisions that keep our community moving toward safer climate parameters is indeed frightening. We have about 30 years to make the curve of the climate challenge.
I have not heard Youngkin as governor discuss the promise of business incentives and citizen savings in the infrastructure and inflation reduction bills for transition to clean energy that holds the key to whether rising seas, storms, and heat extremes will or will not overwhelm us.
In 2020, the Virginia legislature voted to join RGGI as part of a comprehensive Clean Energy and Flood Preparedness Act. Since then RGGI generated $452 million for energy efficiency and flood resilience, RGGI saved money in reduced electricity prices and reduced pollution. RGGI states reduce emissions 90% faster than the rest of the nation — while growing 31% faster economically.
Stay the course and better.
Susan Feathers, Virginia Beach
Child abuse
Re “Virginia AG punts investigation of child abuse allegations at New Kent children’s hospital” (Oct. 14): It has been interesting and disgusting to read about the priorities of our illustrious Attorney General Jason Miyares. It seems that after years of investigating roughly 50 claims of sexual misconduct from former patients of the Cumberland Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Miyares decided to end his office’s work on the matter and dump it on the very limited resources available to the tiny New Kent County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office.
No legitimate rationale for this harmful move was offered. In the meantime, it was recently reported that there will be a new merchant code for firearm purchases that will finally remove said sales from being lumped together with the sales of numerous other items. The significance to this move, according to bankers, is that it will allow them to note and report on suspicious gun activity. Our attorney general’s reaction: “This new policy will do little more than put Virginians’ privacy at risk and discourage law-abiding citizens from exercising their constitutional right to purchase a firearm,” according to rvamag.com. Further, “The purchase of firearms should be ‘no one’s business but their own.’” Do these sound like appropriate words from the commonwealth’s top prosecutor? I guess he could care less about child abuse as long as folks can load up on guns. This is so sad, and we are stuck with him for a few more years.
Thomas Mueller, Norfolk
Brittney Griner
WNBA basketball player Brittney Griner has been stuck in a Russian prison cell for nearly nine months now and is looking at spending the next eight years and three months incarcerated there. A few years ago under former President Donald Trump there were three teenagers who were American basketball players overseas in China who were caught up in some shoplifting incident. They were LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill. Trump reached out to Chinese leader Xi Jinping and all three were released from jail and back home on American soil.
Viewpoints
Around this time, Trump made the claim that he might get along well with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump was very much ostracized and condemned for making this statement.
With it appearing that the Biden administration has had no luck in securing the release of Griner, isn’t time to bring in the deal-making skills of Trump to negotiate with Putin to obtain Griner’s release? It sure can’t hurt anything. After all, he is the author of “Trump: The Art of the Deal.”
Pat O’Brien, Norfolk
Native Americans
The Supreme Court is scheduled to begin the hearing of Haaland v. Brackeen on Wednesday. This case alleges that the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 is unconstitutional. ICWA gives tribal governments exclusive jurisdiction over the case when the child resides on, or is domiciled on, the reservation, or when the child is a ward of the tribe; and concurrent, but presumptive, jurisdiction over non-reservation Native Americans’ foster care placement proceedings.
This act was created as for many decades there had been forced removals of indigenous children from their families and culture, and forced relocation to white families. One significant factor in this removal was the boarding school era, which was an attempt to force assimilation, and often involved the government labeling indigenous parents as “unfit” solely for keeping their traditional practices and culture, then removing the children and stripping them of their culture.
This case argues that ICWA is unconstitutional despite its 44 years of standing. Should this be reversed, indigenous sovereignty would be damaged. Not to mention the psychological and spiritual trauma that occurs as children are separated from their culture. I urge Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, and Rep. Bobby Scott to show their support in protecting indigenous children. Please contact your representatives regarding this issue.
Jamie L. Canty, Newport News