Our climate future, NYers in Florida, more

Our climate future should be big news

I find it hard to believe that the article in response to the UN Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was far into the paper on page 24 [" ‘Just a matter of time,’ " News, Aug. 15].

If this story were on the cover, it would help drive home the kind of local emergency that it is and begin a conversation about what steps immediately should be taken to help create a better outcome for us all.

Growing up on Long Island, I have seen all that it has to offer, and it makes me sad to think how much has been lost and how much might be lost in the near future.

We should all be thinking of changes we can make and not wait for public officials to hash it out.

We have options: stop allowing landscapers to use leaf blowers, which use fossil fuels; plant native plants that don’t require chemicals and excess water for maintenance; use less plastic, etc.

For us all to make informed decisions about changes we could enact to make a difference, it would be appreciated if Newsday would inform us how we all can make a difference in a bigger way.

Long Island’s environmental status should be front-page news.

— Jerilyn Fortsch, East Northport

NYers have right to vote from Florida

In an atmosphere in which Republicans are legislating voting restrictions all over the country, searching for criminal actions, John J. Faso had the audacity to accuse Democrats of using absentee ballots to rig voting ["Dems trying to rig NY voting system," Opinion, Aug. 16].

I am a member of a major demographic called "snowbirds." After years of dedicated service as an FDNY officer, I believe I have earned the right to escape the winters and flee to Florida.

I am a fully vaccinated 80-year-old, and I will continue my 20-year retreat even though Florida has become a hotbed for the coronavirus.

Yet I have cast my vote here via absentee voting for more than 20 years and had never heard of an abuse of the system.

The writer, like many in the GOP seem to do, continues to try to fix that which is not broken.

— Anthony Bruno, Babylon

Target LI growth to transit hub areas

The population trends captured by the latest U.S. Census represent the limitations of our built environment within Nassau and Suffolk counties ["Eye on population growth," News, Aug. 15].

Planners have long called for increasing the diversity of Long Island’s housing in both price and type, as well as for ever-stronger interconnectivity and environmental safeguards for water protection and open space that are necessary to ensure sustainable growth. The relatively tepid rates of population growth highlights why both are necessary.

The key to ensuring the region’s continued vibrancy is not allowing wholesale real estate development but targeting all future growth to key areas near transit hubs that have the infrastructure systems to sustain manageable economic expansion.

As Long Island’s built communities further age, policymakers and the public must work together to adapt our suburbia to the needs of the 21st century.

But we need a regionally cohesive and responsible road map that doesn’t just blindly recommend more growth but provides a unified plan that applies it within the environmental limitations of our suburb.

— Richard Murdocco, Commack

The writer is an adjunct professor of planning in Stony Brook University’s public policy master’s program.

Give ‘Shoeless Joe’ second chance at hall

The baseball game played at the "Field of Dreams" in Dyersville, Iowa was a pure delight [" ‘Dreams’ game? Not corny if it works," Sports, Aug. 15].

The classic movie was first and foremost a compelling story of second chances, and how much we all would like a second chance to relive and correct some of our most egregious mistakes and errors.

How about a second chance for "Shoeless" Joe Jackson? He was banished from baseball forever as a result of the 1919 World Series scandal. Eight members of the Chicago White Sox were implicated in fixing the series. But Jackson had a terrific series both at bat and in the field. His crime was that he did not report the bribery to the proper authorities.

After more than 100 years, isn’t it about time that we rehabilitate the standing and reputation of "Shoeless Joe" and give his ghost a second chance by admitting him into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown?

— Jack Bilello, Massapequa Park