Letters: Politicians in robes; Vote like your life depends on it

Politicians in robes

Our “Supreme” Court has become less judicial, more political. It became only too clear in its recent decision on abortion. Recent protests and chaos surrounding this decision are the result of judicial decision-making without laying out any reasoning. The Court is too often using its emergency, or “shadow” docket (a shortcut reserved for urgent matters). Chaos beckons.

Last year, President Biden appointed a commission to study “reforms” to the Supreme Court, but nothing happened. Today, only 40% of voters approve of the Supreme Court, and that percentage is trending downward, quickly.

There is a growing, and unsettling, feeling that the Court is not legitimate; that it is unrepresentative, unelected, and an illegitimate pawn of the right.

Congress continues to be uninterested in limiting the court’s jurisdiction, or limiting Justices’ life terms, or expanding the number of seats on the court.

Even the titles “Supreme” Court, and “Supreme Court Justice” and their address: 1 1st St. NE Washington DC, imply an absolute power. We are feeling the effects of absolute power. It’s frightening.

What can we do? We’re not going to “storm” the Capitol. We’re not going to surround the White House. We will vote. Pennsylvania lifted Joe Biden to victory by one percentage point in 2020. Pennsylvania was, indeed, a Keystone State. Again, vote for Representatives who are committed to your values, through government checks and balances to strengthen our democracy.

Vote like your life depends on it

Benner Township residents’ health concerns regarding PFAS in their private wells ring true based on my experiences in a community where their public drinking water came from a well found to have the highest PFAS levels recorded in the world. A nearby plastics manufacturer polluted the well with one highly toxic PFAS and nearby oil refineries supplied fossil fuels for making plastic along with toxic emissions. The average lifespan for people in that county was 11 years less than another county without chemical manufacturers. Many children and adults became chronically ill and too many died.

There are over 9,000 chemicals classified as PFAS. Only two PFAS substances now have advisory recommendations in place for drinking water. If designated as hazardous substances Superfund resources could be unleashed for testing and remediation for the estimated over 200 million people with toxic levels of PFAS in their water.

Since 2003 funding from the General Fund for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection went down by 40% and staffing went down 28%. Since 2017 over 700 experienced Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff left, including over 200 scientists. 81% of EPA staff surveyed in 2018 agreed that political interests hindered their ability to make science-based decisions.

We need to demand our elected leaders fully staff and fund the agencies that offer science-based assessments that save lives. Let us demand fair share taxes, effective government, and a sustainable economy to support them.

In short let us start voting like our lives depend on it.

‘Time machine’ a reality?

After years of effort by so many, the U.S. Supreme Court, surprisingly, has created a Time Machine and I was privileged to use it. First, I was able to return to 1972 and witness a number of back alley abortions. Gruesome, but deserved by those who didn’t use contraception. Then, I went to Pittsburgh in 1969, a thriving city almost obliterated by smoke and pollution without the annoyance of an Environmental Protection Agency. It was on to Alabama, 1953, and the pleasure of all-white public transportation and segregated schools, too. That made me feel much safer. I was really quite excited when I got to the fall of 1920, right after WWI, and saw the excitement of all male candidates since women had no right to vote and deservedly so. The thrills of this world made me thankful for the court’s creativity and farsightedness. I was able to return to 2022, but the Court’s machine couldn’t take me into the future, although I knew that more excitement awaited, once they worked on the Time Machine just a bit more!