Page 4 - Ct Viewpoints News Today

Adolescent mental health has long been under-addressed and under-resourced This past year, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced us all to social distance and move our lives online for the safety of ourselves and our communities, Connecticut’s students have quietly suffered. Health agencies report that feelings of isolation and anxiety among youth are at a record-high, and while the pandemic and other stressful world events have exacerbated these struggles, they are not new for many students.  Sar...

A Quakerly justice reform appeal of conscience I’m a Quaker.  I sometimes have trouble explaining what that means to people.  Partly that’s because, unlike most other religions, Quakerism doesn’t have much of a hierarchical structure, so to speak.  Long ago, before I began to know the Society of Friends (our “formal” name), I asked a beloved elder in Wilton Meeting to explain to me how Quakers are “organized,” and he broke into peals of laughter! Madeleine Wilken And Quakerism ...

Strong bipartisan support for electric vehicles Four out of five Connecticut voters support the direct sale of electric vehicles. It’s time to listen to them. For years, Connecticut has prohibited electric vehicle manufacturers from selling their cars directly to consumers in the state. Ending the prohibition on direct sales will allow us to help the environment while creating new jobs —as it already has in states where direct sales are permitted. The unintentional policy whiplash of incent...

No time to waste for our health care workers The shared experience of the COVID pandemic, now in its second year, has at times shown the potential to defuse the toxic polarization that divides our nation. The indiscriminate harm that the airborne COVID virus inflicted on millions of people and families did, at times, bring us back to the basics of protecting our communities, of looking out for each other, and working together to guard public health. U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney Although some of that ...

Young people speaking with legislators at Sunrise CTs 2021 Earth Day event. Photo credit Nick Barta. As a 17-year-old Connecticut climate activist, I spend a lot of time trying to influence policies, so that our state takes bold climate action. At the beginning of the 2021 Connecticut legislative session, a couple other activists and I had a meeting with two members of the state legislature about a bill we wanted to introduce, which would prevent Connecticut from continuing to build new fossil ...

Catholic birthmothers to legislators: Help us heal Members of Catholic Mothers for Truth & Transparency meeting together on zoom to listen, support, and elevate each others voices. After living for many years alone in pain and secrecy and shame, this is one way they find the healing they need to live a more peaceful life. We applaud the House of Representatives for passing House Bill 6105 earlier this month. The bill removes a date-based restriction and restores the right of every single Connec...

The state legislature must end solitary confinement I oversaw a long-term solitary confinement unit in Connecticut. Isolated confinement harms us all. When I think about the solitary confinement unit that I oversaw, the first thing I remember is the sound. Constant banging on cell doors, jangling keys, and most of all, people yelling from their single cells. Whenever I toured the unit, people would shout to me: “Warden! Warden! I need to talk to you!” I always stopped to listen. But moments...

Connecticut should accelerate energy storage deployment to benefit consumers and the environment Key Capture Energy NY 1 Project, 20 MW, Saratoga County, NY. Photo courtesy of Key Capture Energy. The Connecticut General Assembly is considering legislation – Senate Bill 952 – to ensure deployment of 1,000 megawatts of energy storage capacity by the end of 2030 – enough to power about 1 million homes. To capture the benefits of energy storage and ensure Connecticut stays on track to meet it...

Minors are legally abused in a system supposedly based on principles of fairness and equality because they are unaware of their rights. Innocent young people are exposed to traumatic experiences that not only harm their development but haunt them for life. The United States incarcerates young people at a rate higher than any other country with about 44,000 youths locked up behind bars. In Connecticut alone, 747 youths are detained awaiting trial, a majority of them minorities. Minors need their...

Air quality better than last year, but Connecticut suit of midwestern states should continue Last month the CT Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released its report on the state of Connecticut’s environment. The report tracked the number of unhealthy air days there were in Connecticut last year. There were 17 bad air days, meaning that for over two weeks during the hot summer months Connecticut’s air was burdened with ground level ozone. As bad as 17 days of unhealthy are, last year th...