Letters: Tom Steyer is promising the impossible in campaign

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Steyer is promising to do the impossible

Candidate for governor, Tom Steyer, is running ads saying he will ban corporations from contributing to Political Action Committees to support ads.

Perhaps Steyer missed the Supreme Court decision called “Citizens United,” which allows these corporate political contributions.

Either Steyer is quite uninformed, or he is trying to deceive the voters by promising something that is not legal. Many of his other promises also seem totally unachievable.

The voters should take note of any candidates promising things that can never happen, and vote for candidates who plan to achieve reasonable things as our new governor.

Brian McCormick
San Jose

Plenty of evidence we don’t deserve Earth

Re: “Population decline is key to saving Earth” (Page A6, Feb. 5).

Sadly, Tina Peak just doesn’t get it. How are capitalists going to continue making more money with fewer people to buy cell phones, the robots and the self-driving cars that are driving us to distraction? We literally do not know how to exist without an ever-growing population. Growth is always the answer to any economic troubles we may find ourselves in. The snail darter won’t do squat for our almighty GNP.

We’ve had plenty of chances to make better choices. It’s never been clearer that catastrophic consequences await us on our current path. At every turn, faced with choosing a better quality of life or just more stuff, it’s quantity over quality. We should just get on with the business of ending our self-inflicted collective misery. There’s more than ample proof we don’t deserve the magical miracle of planet Earth.

Eugene Ely
San Jose

Seniors team up to care for one another

Re: “Experts warn of growing strain on family caretakers” (Page A1, Feb. 2).

Everything quoted by the author is true and may be conservative.

I live in an assisted living facility and know something about caretaking. I am writing to highlight the holy alliances of caregiving that I came across at my facility.

A lady who was afflicted with advanced cancer fell in a bathroom and lay there for many hours until somebody found her. In the hospital, she met a 98-year-old man. They rented a room together and took care of each other.

An Ivy League graduate in their 70s was struck with a deadly disease, met a cancer-stricken lady on a bocce ball court, and they live together now, taking care of each other.

A man with a walker lost his wife, and a neighbor lost her husband. They moved into the rented place and take critically important care of each other.

God blesses them.

Kohli Singh
San Jose

Climate crisis puts winter games at risk

As Italy opens the 25th Winter Olympics, climate scientists warn that, with increasing temperatures threatening snowpack in potential sites, this may be one of the last games of its kind.

I grew up partly in Mammoth Lakes, where “the mountain” dominated the local economy, the high school offered after-school skiing, and the Winter Olympics were obligatory viewing. The climate crisis is a global emergency for many reasons. The cost for local economies comes into sharp focus when we consider the hundreds of ski-area communities, with their thousands of businesses, facing disaster due to a lack of snow.

For those of us who count skiing and the wonder of the Sierra in snow as part of our heritage, we know that the loss will not only be economic but cultural, on a level approaching the spiritual. Will the Winter Olympics be another lost treasure that our grandchildren cannot imagine?

Shaun Kelley Jahshan
Los Altos Hills

Stand together to bring change to Starbucks

As corporate greed seeps into every aspect of society, it is our job as consumers to stand up to these transgressions and demand better for workers. The CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol, has refused to negotiate a fair labor contract, instead leading one of the most aggressive union-busting campaigns in recent history. While baristas are simply fighting for a livable wage, more stable hours and an end to union-busting, Niccol and his executives refuse to act.

However, baristas are fighting back. Starbucks Workers United has led a historic nationwide Unfair Labor Practice strike, encouraging workers to stand up and demand better treatment from their employers. Remember, progress can only be made if we stand together.

Alyssa Gamino
San Jose