LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Gas Leaf Blowers

For those doubting the dangers of gas leaf blowers:

“By 2020, leaf blowers and other small gas engines will create more ozone pollution than all of the passenger cars in the state” Michael Benjamin, California Air Resources Board, reported.

“The evidence we have is pretty clear that people who have been living in places that are more polluted over time, that they are more likely to die from coronavirus,” according to Aaron Bernstein, Director of the Center for Climate and Health, Harvard University.

“Scientists have suggested that air pollution particles may be acting as vehicles for viral transmission …  the virus could be dispersed more widely on air pollution particles …  improving air quality could play an important role in overcoming the pandemic,” from “Relationship Between Air Pollution and Coronavirus” on the BBC website on April 27.

At 150 MPH, gas-blowers blast viruses, pesticides, fertilizer, feces, arsenic, lead, benzene and other toxins into our air. Blowers have been poisoning the air we breathe since the 1970s, as rates of asthma and all kinds of cancers have increased.

Now, with a deadly virus spreading, why would we allow blowers—any blowers—to continue fouling our air? Don’t we want our family and neighbors to have the best chance possible to fight the coronavirus? Of course we do.

The drop in traffic has helped immeasurably, but, remember: “A six-ton Ford Raptor truck must drive 3,887 miles to equal the exhaust of one two-stroke, gas-powered engine used for yard fork for half hour,” according to edmunds.com/Auto Club of California.

Now is the time to silence the blowers and help keep the air in our beautiful town safe and healthy.

For more information, please read this link from the BBC website: bbc.com/future/article/20200427-how-air-pollution-exacerbates-covid-19

Pepper and Joe Edmiston

Time at Home

The birds in the backyard don’t know about coronavirus. We have this one little guy who keeps tapping at our kitchen window, wanting to get in. It’s gone on for a month.

He doesn’t know about the corona. Neither does the cat next door. Or any of the bugs starting to buzz around the orange blossoms. But they live in a different world than us. No rat race, no who has the more righteous this or that, whose kids go to which school and achieve this or the proverbial that. They just get their chores done. And all that has changed for us sophisticated humans.

I’m an actor used to having long stretches at home, but even my wife and I are noticing we are home a lot. Mostly. Like everyone. Home. Has this ever happened before? Maybe in a sci-fi movie. A “Twilight Zone.” A “Star Trek.” An “Outer Limits.”

The world has stopped. It is in pause. Like one of those stop action commercials where only the lead actor moves, everyone else is frozen.

So, what do I see? The television. We aren’t fiction television watchers. We love the talk shows, the news and “60 Minutes.” But now the TV is on all day, all night. We ping pong between CNN and FOX, and then slide to MSNBC.

They are slick and on it. But the more you watch—actually didn’t take long—to see the skew toward the ideals that each group protects.

I remember when CNN, created by Ted Turner, was a real news station. It was the first 24-hour news, what? You mean the TV doesn’t go off at midnight with the National Anthem? TV all night? It was news. News. No offense CNN, but no opinions. Very few. Now, you too FOX and CNBC, opinions. It’s dizzying if you pay attention.

My wife wants “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory,” I want that Don Lemon and Sean Hannity, with a little Rachel Maddow on the side.

Who do we believe? Then we have Governor Cuomo, whom I’m addicted to and am a fan of, shooting back and forth on facts and is doing his grittiest to steer NY clear of the rocks.

And the main show is the everyday press conferences of President Trump and Fauci and the White House leaders. I don’t mean to belittle it calling it a show. There are days when I like, hate, believe, don’t believe, pay attention, don’t pay attention. Get scared. Be still.

And the President is our President, makes no sense to sling arrows at him now. It’s time to help him fix his truck. After that you can sit and tell him your viewpoint. Now we have to fix this truck.

Remember before the virus? The world was spinning pretty fast. It was hard to keep up. So much going on. So much to stay aware of. The market was blazing, the world was buying, the party was on. And stop. Like a needle on a record. Abrupt stop.

You can get anyone on the phone now. They are all home, all your friends, all your family, all your colleagues. And I’ve talked to people I love to talk to but don’t. And we are now. Everyone is hurting, everyone is trying to make sense.

Adjust, get those disciplined minds into a productive home life during the corona. Cleaning out those drawers. Learning that guitar you always wanted to learn. Reading that article or book or old cards and letters. Organizing old photos. Sending texts and jokes and news.

And we get down, and moody, and irritated. But I’m learning (my wife might think otherwise), but I’m learning to listen, and to communicate a little better. A little, I’m sure my wife would say. But I think I’m listening to her a bit more. I’m waiting, I’m a bit, maybe more than a bit, attentive.

Today the stories on TV made me upset and in my alone time, I hung my head. But I picked it up. It’s the only manner to fight this enemy. It’s to look up. My ears are filled with the TV, my eyes are filled with what I imagine and my soul is full of hope.

Steve Guttenberg

The Palisadian-Post accepts letters to the editor via email at mypost@palipost.com or mail/hand-delivered at 881 Alma Real Drive, Suite 213, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. To be considered for publication, letters must be signed, and are subject to editing for length and clarity. Opinions expressed in letters do not necessarily reflect the views of opinions of the Palisadian-Post.