Letters to the Editor | Dec. 4, 2023

I am writing to express my disapproval of Pennsylvania American Water’s requested rate increase. Private companies that own public utilities are taking a gamble with ownership of public goods like water access. They also have shareholders and profit to draw from in order to fund the repair of their systems.

Once a company chooses to own a vital service like water and sewer infrastructure, my responsibility as a taxpayer in maintaining the infrastructure stops. My fellow citizens and I no longer have control over the system in the same way we did as voters and taxpayers when the water system was controlled by our government. And as such, it is not — nor should it be — the responsibility of the citizens whose health and safety rests on Pennsylvania American Water’s ability to provide said goods and services. Its ability to generate profit is not my concern.

If the corporation is in good standing, it can take out loans, secure lines of credit, or reduce profits (shareholders understand that investments come with risks) — these companies have options. However, many families in our communities who are struggling to pay rent, buy food, and, yes, afford clean and safe water, have far fewer options or access to capital. We should not bear the brunt of their budget shortfalls. Isn’t that the solution that Pennsylvania American Water offers when buying water systems? That governments and their citizens would not have to increase taxes in order to make long-deferred maintenance investments? Using its commitment to upgrade systems as a justification for a rate increase is merely a tax paid to a private company. I hope that the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission will deny the rate increase request.

Krista Scott, Yardley

Thanks so much for publishing the op-ed by Douglas Villalta and Paul Devine Bottone regarding COP28 and climate impacts on Philadelphia. The story they shared of the immigrant boy who required IV fluids as a medical intervention following exposure to high temperatures was affecting and reminds us that climate change is not just about distant glaciers, but is also about saving human lives.

When we engage in a threat as massive and complex as climate change, we must do as the two coauthors suggested: not only act to rescue suffering victims but also act to contain the root cause of the problem. Our efforts to cut carbon emissions must be well-thought-out and cost-effective and must be local, national, and global. The realistic economics of carbon pricing, carbon dividends, and carbon border adjustments should play a role — because current fossil fuels pricing does not reflect its true cost to ourselves and our children, perpetuating a market failure that blights our future.

Please continue to show the human face of climate change in your articles and opinion pieces. Massive human migration from climate-driven crop failure is a frightening prospect, one that we must work harder to prevent.

Chris Wiegard, Chester, Va., valibn656@gmail.com

When Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime fell and the Cambodian Killing Fields ended in 1979, hundreds of thousands of beleaguered, starving Cambodians streamed toward Thailand.

President Jimmy Carter asked first lady Rosalynn Carter to survey the crisis. She wrote of her visit to a refugee camp that nothing “had prepared me for the human suffering I saw.” She returned home and took a leading role in rallying her husband’s administration to expand support for Cambodian refugees. Her efforts ultimately helped to care for and resettle 150,000 Cambodian refugees who immigrated to America.

One of those Cambodians who immigrated to the U.S. was 13-year-old Leth Oun, who at the time of Carter’s visit was struggling to live in a makeshift refugee camp in Cambodia just beyond the Thai border. He had been homeless for a year after barely surviving the Killing Fields. Following almost four years in U.N. camps, Leth immigrated to the U.S. in 1983. After 17 years working low-wage jobs while earning degrees from Community College of Philadelphia and Widener University, he landed a job as a federal corrections officer. In 2002, he became an officer in the U.S. Secret Service, a job from which he retired last month after more than two decades of protecting presidents, first ladies, and vice presidents in the country he now calls home.

Rosalynn Carter’s efforts on behalf of Cambodian Killing Fields survivors received only brief mentions in the coverage of her death. But Carter’s heroic efforts are something we should celebrate and honor. Leth and many of his fellow Cambodian Americans might not be where they are today had it not been for the late first lady’s efforts 44 years ago.

Joe Samuel Starnes, coauthor of Leth Oun’s “A Refugee’s American Dream,” Haddon Township

I appreciated your article on the services for first lady Rosalynn Carter. My eyes were drawn, however, to the photo of her husband of 77 years, now cradled in a wheelchair, his tiny body swallowed up by a once-fitting suit. This tiny man, so near to the end himself, represented the best that this country can expect from its former presidents. In 1980, he lost his bid for reelection. But he adhered to his constitutional oath and graciously accepted the will of the voters. He issued no diatribes, expressed no anger at the lopsided vote count, exhibited no bitterness toward his opponent, and vowed no revenge. Jimmy Carter conceded honorably. Moreover, he and Rosalynn had plans. Not plans to run again, to litigate, or to inflame his supporters, but plans to continue serving this country in ways both humble and effective. Together, they founded the Carter Center, promoting human rights worldwide and earning a Nobel Peace Prize. In this role, Carter traveled globally to monitor elections, conduct peace negotiations, and promote the eradication of infectious diseases. Ubiquitous photos of the couple painting or hammering houses reflected their 30-year partnership with Habitat for Humanity. This selfless emphasis on charitable and diplomatic endeavors was the hallmark of Jimmy Carter’s post-presidency. It should have served as a model for all those who followed.

Kathleen Jepsen, Kennett Square

Kudos to Jenice Armstrong for her The Golden Bachelor column in Thursday’s Inquirer, and many thanks to the producers of the program for acknowledging us “golden girls.” It’s sadly true that when one reaches a certain age and, as they say, the “bloom is off the rose,” one becomes as invisible as a ghost. I cannot count how many men have walked ahead of me, shut the door in my face, or driven by when I’m on the side of the road with a flat tire. If I were in my 20s or 30s, my chances of having the door held or the flat changed would be far better. I detest being called “Ma’am” and being looked upon as a cute old lady when I don’t feel that way at all. The Golden Bachelor has inspired us “older girls” that we are still attractive and active. Best of all, the show’s contestants confirmed that we don’t need a man in our lives to be accomplished, successful, and interesting. To all those women who were confident enough to put themselves out there on The Golden Bachelor: You’re all winners!

Bridget Benjamin, Bellmawr

Suggestions that Congress “impose safeguards to stop the corruption of the Supreme Court” are absurd on multiple grounds. First and foremost, Congress has limited authority over the U.S. Supreme Court, which is an independent and coequal branch of government under the Constitution. Second, the endlessly demonstrated sewer of corruption that is Congress is in no position to criticize what bloviating demagogues like Dick Durbin perceive as the justices’ ethical deficiencies. But perhaps most importantly, anyone willing to overlook the decades of truly breathtaking corruption by Joe Biden and his entire family, much of which has demonstrably compromised the national security of the United States, is disqualified from even discussing anyone else’s corruption, which pales in comparison with Biden’s. Criticizing this Supreme Court’s ethics became a desperate move by Democrats who haven’t come to terms with a court that, for the first time in decades, leans to the originalist right.

Stephen Leonard, Boise, Idaho

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