Letters to the Editor | April 12, 2024

The bridge loss and debris from the bridge that blocks the main channel in Baltimore means shipping is, for the most part, being rerouted to other ports on the East Coast. Unfortunately, many of the ships that routinely used the Baltimore Port won’t be able to use our port. Because of a lack of our state and federal politicians pushing for channel deepening, Philadelphia is the only major port on the East Coast that can’t handle ships that require a 50-foot channel. We now have a 46-foot channel. As time passes, more and more ships now require a 50-foot channel. The accident in Baltimore will point this out as we lose some business.

Warren Veith, Philadelphia

On April 4, the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968, MSNBC’s Morning Joe showed a video of Bobby Kennedy breaking the news to an alarmed audience near Indianapolis. The listeners were stunned, of course, but Kennedy’s gravitas and obvious concern moved them all deeply. Analysts later concluded that Kennedy at least saved Indiana, if not the nation, from the violence and rioting that night, and the subsequent violence across America ignited by anger over King’s demise. That same video should be shown often in our schools to remind students of King’s life and death, and the values of peacemaking and peacemakers.

Gordon Bennett, Coatesville, gordybennett1743@gmail.com

It was announced last week that the centrist political group No Labels is dropping plans to put forward a third-party ticket in November. This represents a huge shake-up to the 2024 presidential race. The group’s previous plans to run a unity ticket worried Democrats that it could siphon votes from President Joe Biden’s reelection bid. This is unabashedly good news for Biden and materially improves his odds of being reelected. Now the only confounding and perplexing third-party candidate of any substance is Robert Kennedy Jr., who, despite pleas from almost all of his family members, so far remains committed to trying to qualify for the ballot in every state, and still poses a real risk to Biden’s reelection hopes. As Kennedy has absolutely no viable path to winning, we can only speculate as to what’s driving him to run. We can only assume it’s his unbridled hubris and ego, and hopefully, ultimately, he will wise up and do the right thing for his country, and drop out.

Ken Derow, Swarthmore

The Inquirer recently reported that arson in Philadelphia is rising at astonishing rates unseen in other major U.S. cities. Philadelphia’s high amount of poor housing infrastructure may indeed be a reason, but I do not believe it tells the whole story. It is important to remember the greatest concentration of arson is in North Philadelphia.

These neighborhoods are at the epicenter of the opioid epidemic. Substance usage history is a strong risk factor for arson; it also tends to coexist in people with psychiatric disorders, which are disproportionately seen among arsonists. It may very well be the case that the same people using and abusing highly addictive drugs are the same people committing and recommitting arson. However, it is hard to explore this based on currently existing information.

Locally, information pertaining to arson is currently only collected and circulated in police databases. Ensuring that a comprehensive statewide registry, like the one introduced in House Bill 1591 by State Rep. Scott Conklin in 2023, has publicly available data would increase transparency in factors contributing to the city’s arson uptick. Interventions can then be created to prevent future fire-setting, and in turn, save lives and the city millions of dollars in damages. Arson is inherently a difficult offense to accuse and convict since it has few witnesses and leaves little evidence. A database that helps reduce wrongful arson prosecutions and increase rightful ones can only help to quell future blazes.

Jayalakshmi N. Alagar, Philadelphia, jayalakshmi.alagar@temple.edu

Columnist Jennifer Stefano makes the point that human rights do not come from government but from God, and she quotes the Founding Fathers when doing so. At the time of independence, the different religions for new Americans were mostly Christian. Among them: Presbyterian, Anglican, Quaker, and Catholic, each having different beliefs and rights for their members. Some early city and state governments were founded on certain religions, such as the Puritans in Salem, Mass. Under religious banners, they enabled themselves to do terrible things and to ban those from other religions from their cities. The founders were deists but explicitly forbade an establishment of religion because once a person or a group or a government declares God on their side, they give themselves the power of God to bless or deny the rights of others. Specifically, the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The founders, especially Thomas Jefferson (despite his hypocritical actions), knew this. They were explicit in not establishing any religion to rule the country.

R. Simmons, West Deptford, r.simmons1212@gmail.com

Methane is one of the world’s largest contributors to climate change. In Pennsylvania, significant contributors to methane emissions are orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells. These wells are supposed to be properly closed to prevent water and air pollution, but since the state’s oil and gas industry was largely unregulated before the 1950s, most older wells were never plugged. There are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of undocumented, unplugged wells across the commonwealth, and many have no solvent owner of record, so the cleanup liability is often passed onto the state and federal government.

In his most recent budget address, Gov. Josh Shapiro called for $11 million to identify and plug abandoned wells. This will help make a serious dent in Pennsylvania’s abandoned well backlog, and free up federal funding for methane mitigation. However, with the cost of plugging a single well sitting at around $100,000, this funding will not be enough. Maximizing state funding for abandoned well plugging will open an entirely new industry for workforce development, primarily for construction laborers, truck drivers, and heavy machine operators. State legislators must commit to appropriating as much funding as possible for our new methane mitigation industry.

Tim Hayes, Dublin

The swastika graffiti at a Wynnewood synagogue is hateful and frightening. My own synagogue faced a series of antisemitic incidents years ago, and I remember how vulnerable we felt. I appreciated Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El’s statement, as reported in The Inquirer, differentiating antisemitism from criticism of Israel: “A swastika is not a commentary on the policies of the state of Israel or a sign of solidarity with Palestinians.” Unfortunately, the rest of the article blurred that clear line. As context for the incident, the article cites the peaceful #ShutItDown4Palestine march.

Civil disobedience is not equivalent to, and does not lead to, Nazi graffiti. Lumping these two actions together is misleading and dangerous. The Israeli government does not represent all Jews, and many of us in the Jewish community strongly oppose Israel’s actions. To describe political speech like “free Gaza” as antisemitic suggests that criticizing Israel equals attacking Jews. This shuts down important political discourse and endangers Jews by encouraging the belief that Israel’s inhumane actions justify antisemitic attacks. It’s also notable that, although The Inquirer did cover the uptick in both anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim harassment back in November, it has not yet covered the new CAIR report documenting the huge wave of anti-Muslim hate incidents.

Alexandra Volin Avelin, Philadelphia

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