Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz listens after meeting with President Joe Biden, July 3, at the White House in Washington. Vice President Kamala Harris has picked Walz to be her running mate.Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press
North star
Re “Tim Walz’s greatest asset is what he is not as Kamala Harris picks him as running mate” (Aug. 7): As a University of Minnesota graduate who spent most of her adult life in the hockey- and fishing-happy state (the most Canadian of states, many say), I welcome the selection of Governor Tim Walz as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee.
He represents the best of the sometimes-maligned “Minnesota nice.” He not only looks like a guy one would see in a hardware store, he is actually someone who knows what to do with supplies bought at such stores.
A country desperately in need of healing just might need such a choice. One thinks fellow Minnesotans and former vice-presidents Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale would be suitably proud.
Mary Stanik Tucson, Ariz.
Presidential fuel
Re “Kamala Harris’s energy policies could be her Achilles’ heel” (Aug. 5): We are told that Kamala Harris’s big error was supporting a ban against fracking, which “is the very reason that the U.S. can produce increasing amounts of oil and natural gas and have the relative energy independence it does.”
Producing more fossil fuels will likely propel more climate change disasters such as Hurricane Beryl, the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded, and wildfires in the west. Energy efficiency and renewable energy sources should be the way to have energy independence.
More people should let our politicians know that we want them to tax and regulate the fossil fuel industry and support the transition to a clean and just economy. For starters, Canadians can write their MP to say that they celebrate the rebate every time their cheques come in.
Roberta Tevlin Toronto
Kamala Harris is no radical leftist. She appears to be a pragmatist who, like Joe Biden, seems to recognize that the only way to get Americans and the rest of the world to stop producing fossil fuels is to cut off demand.
Once people are confident that there are dependable, less expensive, cleaner ways to generate the power they need, fossil fuels will likely go the way of the horse and buggy. And that can’t happen fast enough.
Liz Addison Toronto
By example
Re “Canadians deserve decorum in their Parliament” (Aug. 6): I am less concerned about the lack of decorum, disappointing as it is, as I am about the lack of substance.
Other parliaments do better. Take Britain. My brother (we both have lived there) said that he got a good idea of Keir Starmer as a leader and parliamentarian from previously watching a debate in the House between him and Boris Johnson.
In Canada, I find neither decorum nor substance as we see the government ignore questions or answer off-topic and the opposition focus on personal attacks. Issues of substance are not, understandably, being raised in Parliament.
Canadians mostly rely on the media to investigate and highlight the issues. Let’s hope that our media, as it evolves, continues in that role.
Brian Northgrave Ottawa
Have to adapt
Re “The lesson of the Jasper wildfire is spend less on fighting climate change, more on adapting to its effects” (Report on Business, Aug. 1): The federal government reportedly invests by a ratio of 20:1 in climate change mitigation compared to adaptation. There should be much more for adaptation, and big changes in how we live, work and travel.
For all new buildings, air conditioning and insulation against heat should be mandatory, as well as windows with built-in blinds and special glass to protect against heat penetration. We should have more public fountains, trees for shade and cooling and canopies over sidewalks and squares.
Climate change is making parts of the world unsuitable for human habitation, thus we should have international agreement for how to deal with climate refugees and how to mediate competition over scarce food and water. We should also prepare for new global pandemics caused by zoonotic viruses from damaged ecosystems.
There is much to do and little time to waste.
Reiner Jaakson Oakville, Ont.
Just drive
Re “It’s a good thing that electric vehicles haven’t caught on yet – they’re inflationary” (Report on Business, Aug. 2): So are the costs of climate change mitigation, devastation and human health.
Alan Lawrence Toronto
After buying snow tires and insurance, the only other maintenance costs I have for my electric vehicle are windshield washer fluid and air filters.
As for being inflationary: Since 2020, I have driven over 80,000 kilometres, saved $10,000 in gas and prevented 15.2 tons of carbon emissions. It is saving money and good for the planet.
Jorma Ikavalko New Tecumseth, Ont.
“Don’t get me wrong, the climate crisis is real.” But by no means should we do anything about it that might cost money, apparently.
Ottawa’s mandate to end internal combustion engine vehicle sales is described as “simply too aggressive. This is not the time to push cash-strapped consumers to adopt costlier cars.” But the mandate is for 2035.
That’s 11 years from now. Gas-powered cars sold in 2034 will still be on the road till at least the 2040s. So when will the time be to stop kicking the can down the road? Or will there always be some excuse not to do so?
Isn’t that how we got here?
Tom Sullivan Toronto
Eat it
Re “Why haven’t kids’ menus evolved past chicken fingers?” (Aug. 1): I am gobsmacked.
I grew up in a working-class Italian household and we ate whatever was prepared, and we were grateful for it. On the rare occasions we ate in restaurants, there were no “kids menus.” We ate what the adults ate.
May I suggest parents plan a trip with their children to some of the most impoverished places on the planet? Let me know how “picky” they are when their food options are limited in unimaginable ways.
Kids will eat when they are hungry. I believe parents who have “picky eaters” have created them.
Neither parents nor businesses should perpetuate this level of entitlement.
Lisa De Pieri Burlington, Ont.
Re “Long live the diner: Why greasy spoons and luncheonettes are surging in popularity” (Pursuits, Aug. 3): I don’t mean to be catty, but referring to Katz’s, arguably the world’s most famous delicatessen, as a “diner” feels akin to mistaking a feline for a canine.
For me, the essence of the essen is essential.
Bartley Kives Winnipeg
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