A writer to the editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has criticized the city of Maplewood, which approved the ‘We Are Still In‘ environmental initiative in a resolution at its recent council meeting, telling the Post-Dispatch to “please spare me this mindless drivel.”
We Are Still In is a group of city officials and other leaders who have declared they support the Paris Climate Agreement in spite of President Trump’s rejection of it. The Post-Dispatch reported the Maplewood Council’s decision on Wednesday.
“A population of 8,000 people is not a city. It is barely a small town and one that wastes its time on kindergarten theatrics,” the writer from St. Charles said.
How is a 65-word letter to the editor on the P-D website worthy of anyone’s time? And why is 40 South News reposting the ramblings of a random St Charles troll? And the letter is signed “Viki Farrow.” Is that a man’s name? What the heck? How about some actual news with accurate headlines, eh?
Lincoln Douglas: thanks.
If the Maplewood Mayor is truly committed to making an impact on climate change he should propose a 5% tax on all carbon inputs each resident purchases and contribute this to Al Gore’s trillion dollar Save the Planet Climate Change Kitty. Let’s put real teeth in making life better for those who will inherit the earth!
Why fool around with half measures?
If they’re serious, let’s turn off the AC in all city buildings and facilities. That means city hall, the schools, courts, all of it. If global warming, climate change, whatever we’re calling it this month is a real existential crisis, let’s start acting like it. Otherwise, “theatrics” is an all too accurate term.
I love to see that Maplewood has committed to further reducing our carbon footprint. In light of this, I would like to start an initiative to make our Police, Fire, and other city vehicles more environmentally friendly.
I think that our Fire Apparatus would be a good place to start and set a precedent to our neighboring municipalities and the St. Louis area as a whole. The next time you see the Maplewood fire truck in passing, take a look at how large the tail pipe is in the rear. It’s huge! That big diesel engine is burning precious fossil fuels and producing harmful greenhouse gases. I am proposing that we investigate alternatives to diesel fuel, such as Compressed Natural Gas, or CNG (see: https://www.firetrucks.com/trucks/green-alternative-power).
From what I’ve been reading, CNG appears to be a cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable fuel source. If anyone reading this has ever sat down for a meal at Steak ‘N Shake, spent an afternoon at the pool, or read 40South, you know that our fire department is always out on the run. I like to consider Maplewood a progressive city, and I hope that we can lead the way for St. Louis to become a healthier and cleaner community.
If you check the list of mayors who signed on opposing the administrations stance on the Paris Accord, you will see the largest cities in the U.S., including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. These cities engage in the same “kindergarten theatrics” as Maplewood because they believe that local and state governments are going to have to address climate change issues being ignored in Washington. Maplewood’s initiatives earned the EPA’s Green Power Community of 2016 award for the entire United States. See:
https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/maplewood-mo-community-receives-epa-green-power-community-year-award.
The assertion that the size of a city has anything to do with the quality of life in that community shows an ignorance that leads me to believe that there is a valid reason that you know so much about kindergarten theatrics.
Well said Barry! This is why we voted for you. Keep up the awesome work!
To the anonymous writer from St. Charles, I believe it was the small population states that elected #45 to office. Don’t underestimate what one passionate person can accomplish or one inspired “small” town can achieve.
We are a small town, dude stay out in st Charles wasting resources getting around; living in your tired subdivision. We residents of Maplewood value our city, and the world. We would like to leave our town in better shape for our children. Having lived in Maplewood since the 1970’s I am pleased to see what this town has become. You do not want to visit, that is fine with us.