Letters: Thankful for ‘unsung heroes’ at Juniper Village; Biden has right priorities

Thankful for ‘unsung heroes’ at Juniper Village

On behalf of the Juniper Village Brookline Senior Living, Skilled Rehabilitation and Care, and Wellspring Memory Care communities, we would like to express our utmost gratitude for our associates, as well and their families, for the sacrifices they have made this year. Our associates’ families are the unsung heroes who keep households running, do their part to isolate and follow COVID precautions, and provide emotional support and encouragement – all so our team can take care of those whose well-being has been entrusted to us at Juniper. We would also like to sincerely thank our residents for their understanding and dedication, and convey our appreciation to their families for being our partners.

We are especially grateful this Thanksgiving for everyone’s support amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and we look forward to our continued participation in the State College community by providing the best care possible for our elderly.

Biden has right priorities

“Greenhouse gases” have reached a very dangerous level, worldwide. The science is clear; it’s not a hoax. Eighty-five percent of the world’s industrial energy comes from fossil fuels, and that causes temperatures to rise and rise. During the recent Paris climate accord meeting, Trump declared their goal was not “to save the environment. It was designed to kill the American economy.”

“C’mon, man,” President-elect Biden urged, climate is no hoax. It is a Biden-administration top priority, after COVID, to reduce carbon gas emissions. And, when new habits, industry and new R&D meet the challenge, people will use less fossil fuel (carbon). The current cap and trade strategy, to raise the cost of carbon emissions through a “tax,” or a system of “permits,” is not supported by Republicans. Biden will propose an alternate strategy.

And temperatures continue to rise. It will cost billions of dollars to reduce carbon gases. But, it will cost more lives, fires and flood disasters, if we do not confront this worldwide challenge, and soon. Biden has proposed to spend as much as $300 billion on “green” R&D and venture capital, and to change how energy is generated and used, over the next four years. Biden will rejoin the Paris accord in January.

C’mon, man, make America carbon neutral by 2050.

Get on board with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

My wife and I have the great fortune of retiring to Bellefonte this year to enjoy the tremendous beauty of central Pa. I get confused then on why lifetime residents of this area are so resistant for protecting the long-term environment of this area. State officials are proposing that Pennsylvania join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a program that has dramatically reduced climate pollution in the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic. From 2008 through 2018, carbon pollution decreased by 47% for states participating in RGGI, outpacing the rest of the country by 90%. When Pennsylvania joins RGGI, it’s projected to further reduce carbon emissions statewide by a massive 188 million tons by 2030. State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, Sen. Jake Corman and fellow Pennsylvania Republicans keep opposing joining other Northeast states in supporting RGGI. We need to recognize that fracking will not last forever but the sun and wind will, so let’s get moving to get on board with RGGI. Our neighboring states are snickering at us!