To reach herd immunity, NC desperately needs its legislative leaders to step up

Dangerous advice

I am a practicing pediatrician in Goldsboro and our school board voted for the dangerous optional masking policy. We are already seeing negative effects of this policy, and only a couple of our magnet schools are open.

Ignoring the advice of public health authorities on masking will lead to more disease in school-age children, more disease in adult contacts of children, more hospitalizations of all age groups, and more preventable deaths in our state — not to mention severe negative educational consequences for our students.

North Carolina is currently experiencing woefully low COVID-19 vaccination rates in the face of a surge in the delta variant, especially in low-income counties. We are nowhere close to the herd immunity goals necessary to relax masking, quarantining, and social-distancing policies.

We cannot have it both ways: We either must buckle down on vaccination efforts to achieve herd immunity, or adhere to strict masking, social-distancing, and quarantine policies.

We desperately need leadership from our elected leaders in the General Assembly at this critical time to assure that all eligible people receive the vaccine so that we reach herd immunity guidelines.

Dr. David Tayloe, Goldsboro

Vaccine incentives

Regarding “State offers $100 to people who get COVID-19 vaccine,” (Aug 4):

So non-vaxxers need to be paid to protect their own health and that of others? How absurd is that! Common sense should tell you to do the right thing without having to be paid to do it. Any American who needs to be paid to protect themselves and others should be ashamed of themselves. It’s very sad that our country’s public health is not a top priority for everyone during this second surge of the virus.

Don Haines, Fuquay-Varina

Duke Energy

Articles Wednesday on the climate crisis and the controversial energy bill, House Bill 951, wrongly implied that Duke Energy is shifting off fossil fuels. In fact, Duke’s 15-year plan — hotly contested in a long-running N.C. Utilities Commission fight — proposes to add 9,600 megawatts of new gas-fired generation. That’s over 50 units at an unspecified number of sites in the Carolinas.

A UN-backed climate-and-methane report released in May calls for a halt to the expansion of natural gas (methane) infrastructure as essential to slowing climate change. Its lead author, Duke University’s Drew Shindell, told the New York Times that expanding gas is “going wildly in the wrong direction.”

Utilities in non-monopoly states are ramping up renewables paired with storage because that approach wins on economics and reliability.

Meanwhile, Duke Energy leaders spend millions giving money to our politicians and running greenwashing ads to hide the truth: Duke is only 5% renewable in the Carolinas — one-third the national average.

Jim Warren

Executive director, NC WARN

Fossil fuels

Regarding “N.C. should join with other states to cut utility emissions,” (Aug. 1 Opinion):

Capitalism is the economic driver of our society so we must appropriately price all goods and services. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is a first step toward incorporating the true costs of energy in N.C.

My dad retired from Philip Morris after 25 years as a mechanical engineer responsible for the cigarette-making machinery. I believe in the personal freedom to smoke, and the negative health impacts of smoking are undeniable. As such, cigarettes should cost $7-$9 a pack.

Same with fossil fuels. Drive your gas guzzler or your Tesla, it’s your choice, but the electricity that Duke Energy generates and the gas we put in our cars should reflect the true harm done to all of us in the form of a warming, more extreme world.

With RGGI and a national price on carbon, we can correct this market failure and have capitalism serve both the economy and the environment.

Donald Addu, Durham

Worst governor?

Regarding “With New York’s Cuomo out, who will replace him as the country’s worst governor?” (Aug. 10 Opinion):

I agree that if Andrew Cuomo is guilty of the alleged behaviors he should no longer be governor. However, to equate his very disturbing behaviors with the actions of other governors whose policies increased the death toll from COVID, especially during the recent surge, seems very wrong.

In fact, I would suggest that these other governors should be indicted. The number of deaths that resulted from their policies on masking, vaccinations and social distancing puts their behavior in a completely different realm than Cuomo’s, even amid accusations that he hid the number of nursing home deaths in New York.

Larry Wolf, Garner

NCSU baseball

The Aug. 8 coverage of N.C. State University’s shortened visit to the College World Series was sympathetic to NCSU. The fault lies on the shoulders of the baseball coach and athletic director. It is unforgivable that only 24 of 40 attendees were vaccinated, and unsurprising that so many got COVID-19. The team should not have been allowed to attend in the first place. What is so sad — and unforgivable — is how many other people the NCSU contingent may have infected.

Arthur Finn, Chapel Hill