Copyright 2000 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
Chicago
Sun-Times
November 26, 2000, SUNDAY, Late
Sports Final Edition
SECTION:
EDITORIAL; LETTERS; Pg. 44
LENGTH: 1510 words
HEADLINE: CTA should get on natural gas bandwagon
BODY:
The Chicago Transit Authority's announcement
that it will scale back plans to purchase hybrid-electric buses does not mean
the people of Chicago must give up hope of having cleaner-running buses (news
story, Nov. 15). There is another answer -- a better answer: buses
powered by natural gas.
Compared with even the newest diesel buses
available, natural gas buses produce far less smog-producing pollutants,
particulates (soot) and chemicals known as "air toxics." In fact, studies have
shown that natural gas buses are even cleaner than the diesel-hybrid buses that
the CTA has been considering.
Natural gas buses are a proven, reliable
technology. There are more than 4,000 natural gas buses operating in the United
States, and almost 20 percent of the transit buses on order in the United States
are powered by natural gas. Seven of the 10 largest transit authorities operate
natural gas buses in their fleets, and 19 transit authorities are so confident
in their performance that they are purchasing only natural gas buses.
A
bus purchased today still will be running on Chicago's streets in 2010. The CTA
can decide whether those will be diesel buses or cleaner, reliable, natural gas
buses. If clean air matters, the CTA should join New York, Los Angeles and more
than 70 other transit agencies around the country and begin phasing natural gas
vehicles into its fleet. And then, when the CTA becomes more confident in
hybrid-electric bus technology, it will be positioned to begin using an even
cleaner bus: a hybrid-electric bus powered by natural gas.
Rich
Kolodziej,
president,
Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition,
Arlington, Va.
A thug is just a thug
What is it with the
Chicago media and the use of the term "shakedown" ("4 city cops charged with
shakedowns," news story, Nov. 22)? Is this term reserved for use only when
police commit crimes such as armed robbery, kidnapping and false imprisonment?
What exactly is a shakedown? Any crime committed by someone who happened
to get on the police force?
Call it what it is: armed robbery. Just
because the state's attorney doesn't file armed robbery charges doesn't mean
that isn't what these victims experienced. Look up the statute. There is no such
crime as shakedown.
Edward McNamara,
Rogers Park
What's
there to hide?
Regarding Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
President Terrence O'Brien's stance, as reported in a news story (Nov. 17), that
discussions about a new multimillion-dollar biosolids recycling plant should
take place behind closed doors is of no surprise to the Civic Federation.
Rather, O'Brien once again has validated the conclusions reached in a recent
Civic Federation study.
In May, Friends of the Chicago River, Openlands
Project and the Civic Federation released a study of the water, land use
policies and governance; organizational structure of the water district. In its
part of the study on governance, the Civic Federation concluded that public
participation in board meetings is rare.
For the record, the Civic
Federation has no opinion as to which bid should be accepted or as to the
technical nature of the issue. Rather, we are stunned by the agency's plans to
close its doors to the public and discuss the issue in executive session. We
call upon the water district to encourage and engage in public
dialogue -- not hinder it.
John Currie, president,
Myer Blank,
director of policy analysis,
The Civic
Federation
Sharing is caring
It seems the Palestinians and the
Israelis want many areas that each believe belongs to them. In order for peace,
each side has to give.
I propose that the most holy areas be designated
as "no man's land" that Israelis and Palestinians share. Some months or days,
the Israelis could have access to these areas, then the Palestinians could have
their turn. At all times these areas would be under the control of the United
Nations.
If this idea settles the religious problems, then other
problems can be settled on a basis of "I want this, so I'll give up something
else." Many other problems will come up, but they can be settled one at a time
if both sides want peace.
Bill Rieck, Des Plaines
Take your
Vitamin C
Regarding the shortage of flu vaccines: My grandmother died at
age 32 from the flu epidemic of 1918 that killed 51 million people worldwide,
including 550,000 in the United States. She left an 11-month-old baby.
From the years since then and with all of this modern technology, I
never will understand how the United States is not able to manufacture enough
flu vaccine.
On Nov. 13 we went to the neighboring park district that
was offering flu shots. We were denied the shot because we did not live in the
suburb even though we live in the same township.
Is there a conspiracy
to weed out the population with another flu epidemic?
Elaine Procento,
Hoffman Estates
To err is mechanical
Forget George W.
Bush and Al Gore. Look at Pat Buchanan's totals. He got more votes in Palm Beach
than almost all of Florida combined? Get real. The Sun-Times argues the only
cause for a recount is fraud (editorial, Nov. 17). Tell that to the elderly
Jewish people in Palm Beach County who deeply yearned to help elect the first
national Jewish candidate in Joseph Lieberman.
I spoke with some
standing in the hot sun, cane in one hand, homemade protest sign in the other
and outrage in their hearts. One fellow spoke of realizing his mistake, asking
for a new ballot and being refused. Other women said their apartment building,
which is almost entirely Jewish, showed 37 votes for Buchanan.
The
Sun-Times urges us to trust voting machines, not people. Perhaps the editors
never have faced missing bank deposits that the computer can't find. Lucky
folks. How about New Mexico, where one misreading caused Gore to gain 600 votes
and victory in that state? Machines are accountable only to their operators, who
are human.
So put the partisan smears and conspiracies away and let the
hand counting continue, watched by everyone.
Karen Kennedy, Lake View
In every silver lining
George W. Bush supporters like David Frum
(column, Nov. 15) conveniently claimed that it would be best for the country if
Al Gore concedes the election to Bush. However, what really would set the best
example would be for Bush to say, "Go ahead and recount all you want. That's
fine with us."
Bush's peculiarly defensive reaction to a recount is
highly inappropriate, and is enough to cause any psychiatrist to suspect that,
subconsciously at least, Bush can't help but think Florida officials might have
slanted the results in his favor to avoid the catastrophe of losing the election
because he couldn't win a state in which his brother is the governor.
If
Bush wins under such a cloud, it will rain on his presidency, whereas clearing
it up properly would make him "The Greatest," the Muhammad Ali of presidents.
Kenneth J. Epstein, Edgewater
Healthy = productive
Congratulations to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for
the ergonomics regulations to protect workers from carpal
tunnel syndrome and other injuries (news story, Nov. 14). Though employers
continue to deny the problem, claiming workers are only pretending to be hurt,
we all know better. Hundreds of thousands of workers suffer ergonomics-related
injuries each year.
Now that OSHA has acted, employers want to stop the
regulations from being enforced. They claim that protecting workers is too
expensive. It also is very expensive not to implement the rules. The question is
will the cost be borne by the companies earning profits or by workers who may
never be able to work again.
Business responds to lawsuits. Fear of
lawsuits led Burger King to recall millions of Pokemon toys after only one child
choked to death. In the workplace, repetitive processes, machines and chemicals
injure workers regularly, yet little or nothing is done. Why? The Workers
Compensation Act has closed worker access to the courts, limiting them to
workers compensation benefits. If employers had to answer to juries, they would
prevent injuries instead of denying their existence.
One might expect
rising workers compensation premiums to force businesses to respond. However,
because workers compensation limits employees to low, hard-to-get benefits,
neither employers nor their insurance companies have strong incentives to act
responsibly. One study showed that only 6.7 percent of workers treated for
occupational disease (including ergonomic injuries) received any workers
compensation. This means taxpayers often end up supporting injured workers and
their families.
Without tough government regulations, the problem will
continue unabated. It's time that employers stop opposing the regulations and
start protecting their workers.
Steve Frederick,
Chicago Area
Committee on
Occupational Safety and Health
Sorry, but it's
chronic
It's not so much the surgery that hurts or the healing that
causes the pain. It's the lingering hospital bill we loathe so much that just
won't go away.
Richard J. White III, Elmhurst
GRAPHIC: The CTA has experimented with zero-emission
fuel cell buses, but another option is buses powered by natural gas. They
produce low levels of emissions.
LOAD-DATE: November
28, 2000 
