Readers Write: The EPA and greenhouse gasses, fraud, religious values, UnitedHealth

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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With all the concerns here in Minnesota and around the world, I hope people will still take note of a major change that the Trump administration is bringing to the Environmental Protection Agency (“Trump revokes ability to regulate greenhouse gases,” Feb. 13). Rescinding the endangerment finding will nullify many regulations that limit dangerous emissions. No matter what your beliefs are about climate change, I think we can all agree that air and water pollution are bad! The EPA has placed regulations on emissions from cars and factories, trying to keep us safe. Removing regulations will certainly please businesses that pollute, but it will also result in more asthma, more heart disease and more cancer. Apparently the Trump administration is more interested in keeping polluters happy than in preserving the health of citizens. Please let your representatives know that this is a terrible move!

Catharine Ruther, St. Paul

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This February marks three years since the “Carbon Free by 2040” bill was signed into law. At the time, lawmakers called it critical and promised it would make financial sense. My rising utility bills tell a very different story.

The carbon-free electricity mandate has no meaningful enforcement mechanism — only the hope that voters and their pocketbooks will eventually restore some common sense in St. Paul. That is why it matters so much to have representation that understands the need for reasonable, balanced energy policy.

Bob Lawrence, Woodbury

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“Trump revokes ability to regulate greenhouse gases”: Mr. President, words fail me. Watching you sell off my grandchildren’s birthright of a livable planet in favor of your fossil-fuel donors and ignorant cronies saddens me no end. Fortunately, more enlightened countries are making strides, especially the Chinese. There may be hope in the averages.

Harald Eriksen, Brooklyn Park

In case you missed it in the Business section (“A plea for solutions, not noise, on fraud,” Feb. 13), Evan Ramstad separates fact from fiction to clarify how fraud got out of control in Minnesota.

In conclusion, Ramstad suggests we use this opportunity to recalibrate our programs and oversight based on lessons learned. Last, he encourages elected officials and candidates to support this grinding work rather than impede it with sound bites (as though they knew what was wrong all along and only they can fix it). Well done.

Daniel Patton, Minneapolis

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I wanted to thank Ramstad for his column “A plea for solutions, not noise, on fraud.” I appreciated learning about Hamline University political scientist David Schultz’s article about the history of oversight in Minnesota government programs, which Ramstad linked to. It is so hard to get past the “noise” and headlines, and his columns help me do that on various topics. I appreciate his political summary where both parties have to move beyond their standard talking points. These articles give me some supporting information when I reach out to my representatives regarding issues I care about coming up this next session.

There has to be a way to move forward with purpose, without finger-pointing and without completely destroying institutions. Maybe reviewing and implementing the “boring” would be a way all parties can come together.

After President Donald Trump’s typically rambling address at the National Prayer Breakfast, a letter writer rightfully noted it’s high time the religious community speak out more forcefully against Trump’s “gross improprieties,” including his “immigration enforcement indignities” (“For religious leaders, when is enough finally enough?” Readers Write, Feb. 10). But it’s worth noting that locally, faith leaders have not been reluctant. Minnesota’s religious community has set an example for the country, much like its citizens have modeled compassion, resolve and peaceful protest in the face of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement siege.

Nearly 100 faith leaders were arrested while praying and protesting at the airport last month. Early in the surge, a large group of local religious leaders publicly condemned Trump‘s crude disparagement of the Somali community. Three spoke out at CNN’s nationally televised town hall in January.

Those are just the most visible actions. An inconsistent churchgoer myself, I’ve felt drawn to my south Minneapolis church lately, in large part because it makes practical, direct help easy. It connects parishioners to nonprofits, schools and citizen groups that provide money, food and services to those stuck in their homes fearing arrest and detainment without due process. After a recent church service, nearly 250 volunteers signed up to deliver groceries. That’s not politics. Providing care and compassion for those who need it most is what churches have always done, no matter the cause of the hardship. They are values practiced across faiths everywhere. They’ll be no less vital when the siege ends and healing begins.

Chris Ison, Hudson, Wis.

Chalk up another win for organized resistance, this time at the University of Minnesota Medical School, where principled medical students recently stood up to unseemly corporate intrusion in their education (“U’s med school gets heat for class,” Feb. 12). Turns out that UnitedHealth Group, the for-profit insurance giant notorious for excessive claim denials, had secured a deal with the U to conduct a medical school course extolling the virtues of “value-based care.” Sold as a cost-cutting measure, value-based care is, in fact, a controversial model that has been criticized for delay and denial of patient care, onerous documentation requirements imposed on burned-out physicians and lack of improvement in patient outcomes — all while benefiting the bottom line of the private insurance industry and its Wall Street investors.

Count this as a success in blocking the corporate encroachment on medical education — for now. Yet UnitedHealth’s chief medical officer did not seem chastened, saying, “We are constantly evolving to meet the needs of the university and its students.”

We clearly must stay vigilant against this determined giant.

Dave Dvorak, Minneapolis