Big Oil, climate change, choosing Stony Brook University's next president
It would be best to select a dedicated Stony Brook University alumnus as the school's next president, a reader writes.
Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas/John Paraskevas
Big Oil: Share in costs of climate change
Rising sea levels may be the tip of the iceberg [“How rising sea levels will change Long Island,” News, May 19]. The costs of adjusting to climate change are high, even staggering. Are the right people footing the bill? Is everyone equally responsible for climate change?
Investigations have shown that fossil fuel companies knew decades ago that their products would wreak environmental havoc. And just like the tobacco companies, they lied to the public. Sharon Eubanks, who led the Justice Department’s case against Big Tobacco, recently told Congress regarding climate change, “Just as the Department of Justice investigated the tobacco industry and ultimately filed a civil racketeering complaint against the industry, given the similarities of the fraudulent acts, and the government’s successful case against tobacco . . . We should not waste any more time wringing our hands about what can be done.”
Long Islanders and their governments should consider lawsuits against fossil fuel companies now.
Over 40 state and municipal governments have taken Big Oil to court seeking damages. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli estimated that localities could soon be spending $2 billion per year adapting to climate change.
As a volunteer with Food & Water Watch LI, I say that our local and state representatives should make sure that Big Oil pays its fair share of the costs.
— Fred Harrison, Merrick
Get SBU alumnus for next president
It’s upsetting and insulting that Maurie McInnis would bail on Stony Brook University for Yale University after only four years — and with 30 days’ notice, no less “SBU prez resigns,” News, May 30]. And it came after state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, only a dozen days earlier, proclaimed to SBU graduates that their college was better than Ivy League schools like Princeton and Columbia. And Yale.
It may be best to select a dedicated SBU alumnus to avoid another slap in the face.
— Kevin Seaman, Stony Brook
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