Newsday letters to the editor for Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018
Edmond Wing of North Massapequa packs his reusable bag at the East Farmingdale Stew Leonard's on Jan. 5, 2018, several days after Suffolk County introduced a 5-cent plastic bag fee. Credit: Johnny Milano
Bag fee won’t stop environmental litter
We are all becoming aware that when shopping at supermarkets and department stores in Suffolk County, we must bring our own bags or pay 5 cents per bag from retailers [“Little bag-lash over law,” News, Jan. 9].
If the intent of the county law is to stop the pollution of our streams, roads and waterways with bags, I believe our politicians have failed. People who are slobs and litterbugs will continue to be. It is up to our local code-enforcement officers to enforce litter laws.
As a former recycling educator for the Town of Islip, I recycle my plastic bags as liners in my garbage receptacles, and then they go to the waste-to-energy incinerator near the town airport.
Repeal the bag fee and punish litterbugs directly. If people wish to bring their own bags to the stores, that’s a good thing, too.
Richard Albanese, West Islip
Education, guidance better than prison
There is so much wrong with the sad story of the 22-year-old woman who kept her pregnancy hidden and then smothered her newborn baby [“Mother weeps at sentencing,” News, Jan. 9].
She was sentenced to 8 years in prison for being lost, stupid, and misguided and, yes, for killing her newborn.
According to the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit advocacy group, New York State spends $60,000 to imprison an inmate for a year. What will this woman get from her 8 years in prison? What will we get for the $480,000 we spend to imprison her? Is this really a correctional system or just plain punishment?
When she gets out of prison at age 30, what will she add to society, and what will she do with the rest of her life? I’d like to see the $480,000 spent to fix this broken person. She needs mental help, education and guidance. Adding one more poor, lost person to our prison population won’t do a thing for society. Instead of helping people like this, we as a nation are defunding Planned Parenthood and making stricter abortion laws.
James Ryan, Greenport
Lots of positives in wind-farm plans
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s announcement that he will seek to further develop offshore wind power stands to benefit all Long Islanders, even commercial fishing groups that oppose the plan [“Cuomo: State to seek 800 megawatts of offshore wind power,” News, Jan. 3].
Beyond supporting the much-needed transition away from fossil fuels, Cuomo’s commitment comes with investments in job training and infrastructure that will stimulate our local economy and strengthen our workforce.
These economic improvements will not be limited to workers in the wind industry. Fishing groups have expressed concerns that wind power platforms could damage fishing grounds. However, research on the wind farm operating off Block Island has shown no adverse effects on the marine environment, according to scientists and fishers who spoke at a forum in Rhode Island in December.
Likewise, there is no downside to Cuomo’s proposal. It gives Long Islanders nothing less than the opportunity and the resources to become leaders in an emerging and essential industry. This is an opportunity we can’t afford to pass up.
Abby Pariser, Huntington
Religion shouldn’t stand in way
Two Jan. 7 letters under the headline “Religious beliefs and gay wedding cakes” accurately describe the illogical arguments made by those claiming that their religious beliefs give them the right to refuse public and business services to those who are gay.
I cannot imagine God, who created the human race in his image, condoning prejudice and hate, and it is outrageous and egregious to permit people to cloak their prejudices under the guise of religious beliefs.
The county clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue civil marriage licenses for same-sex weddings a few years ago is a prime example of this intolerance. If she felt her religious beliefs actually supported her prejudice against those who are born gay, then she should have resigned from her public service job, rather than deny gay citizens the civil rights permitted others under the law.
The baker in Colorado who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex couple is another example of a person’s prejudice spilling over into the public arena. I don’t think any religion supports such cruelty and unfairness.
Kristine Chayes, Smithtown
