Thank you for the article “‘Hopefully, this will be the future'” by Nara Schoenberg (Aug. 21). Boosting electrification is an important strategy to get us to a net-zero future in time to leave a world to our children that resembles the one in which we grew up.
The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act will help jump-start the process with $8 billion set aside to help consumers pay for home electrification and high-efficiency electric appliances. But an even faster way to accelerate the process would be to supplement the Inflation Reduction Act with “cashback carbon pricing” legislation.
With cashback carbon pricing, fossil fuel companies would be charged a gradually increasing fee to reflect the significant social costs of their products, and that fee would be rebated back to households periodically as a dividend check. The dividend would ensure consumers would be unharmed by rising fossil fuel prices.
Savvy consumers would get a fast payback on their appliance investments and pocket the savings for things such as induction stoves, heat pumps and electric furnaces. The building electrification transition will happen as fast as we need it when fossil fuels are no longer subsidized and are priced to reflect their true cost.
— Andrew Panelli, Homer Glen
Comparing Trump and Cheney
Every so often, a Donald Trump supporter has argued that if you could get past the “mean tweets,” you’d have to admit Trump’s policies are a better prescription for the nation than the alternative. Policy, in other words, should be the only metric. It’s irrelevant how unpresidential, un-American or even treasonous a leader is if he or she delivers.
That would imply that Trump’s darkness isn’t part of the appeal, but rather something to be dismissed for the sake of a righteous program. Shouldn’t that make one wonder why U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney has been so pilloried? She voted with the Trump agenda at least 90% of the time. She’s in favor of small government, lower taxes and strong border security.
Philosophically, she’s on conservatism’s front lines. She could be the standard-bearing bulwark against “liberal socialists.” For the same policies, conservatives could get a patriot rather than an embarrassment. So why the demonization?
Could it be that Trump’s contempt for democracy, divisiveness, cruelty and “own-the-libs” combativeness are selling features after all? Might Trump be the only point of the MAGA cult, his most heinous self being the feature, not the bug?
— Art Collins, Aurora
How do we come together?
There is a song that occasionally pops up on my media stream that resonates with me regarding the current political climate. A particular politician’s image comes to mind. If you listen to it, you may or may not arrive at the same image. Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” was released in 2008. Perhaps the band had a crystal ball that led it to create this prophetic tune.
At times when it’s playing, I contemplate running for president in 2024, just to put an end to all this divisive rhetoric, finger-pointing, hatred and distrust. Have I ever held an elected office before? No, but then I wouldn’t be the first president to do so. I have no ambitions of shredding the Constitution and installing my own autocratic government to subjugate America’s citizens.
There are a number of elected officials (federal, state and local) who go beyond expressing their ideology and instead force it upon their constituencies by passing laws that do not reflect the majority’s will of the people.
One of God’s gifts to humanity was the gift of free will. The framers of the Constitution were heavily influenced by Christian-Jewish beliefs. However, our forefathers recognized and respected God’s gift of free will and put it in the Constitution’s separation of church and state. Government officials might express their ideology, but they can’t force it upon the people.
Whether or not I run in the 2024 presidential race is inconsequential. However, in order for this great social experiment we call democracy to survive, drastic changes need to be made. Not just by the political assembly, but by all Americans. We all must come together as one body, heart and soul. We need to reach past the boundaries of empathy and truly feel the pain and sorrow of others as if those were our circumstances. Only then can we administer compassion.
Likewise, when there is cause for celebration, we should all rejoice together as one. Leave behind any pride or jealousies over another’s accomplishments. When we rejoice as one, the accomplishment belongs to all of us.
If we can make this happen, not only will this great experiment heal, but it also will thrive for millenniums.
Viva la vida!
— Robert Priban, Crest Hill
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