Letters: EV charging stations benefit Bellefonte; Speak out against hate

CDT readers
·3 min read
11

Editor’s note: The Centre Daily Times welcomes letters endorsing candidates in the Nov. 7 election and will accept letters that are received by Oct. 30. Letters are subject to editing, must be based on facts and should avoid attacks on other candidates.

EV charging stations benefit Bellefonte

I’m a representative of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby here in Centre County and proud of my roots in Bellefonte.

I applaud Bellefonte’s forward thinking in developing charging stations for electric vehicles. Strategically placed in downtown areas, these charging stations attract people needing to spend some time to get their vehicles fully charged and back on the road. I drove around to find each one in town, noting how many businesses were so very near to them. There are multiple proposals for charging stations across the country, and I’ve often thought that putting a business, and especially a restaurant, near a charging station would be pure genius.

I reviewed the Bellefonte Borough website and was happy to see charging stations were listed for all their public parking areas. I noticed also that these stations are very close to shopping and restaurants within the borough. The Reynolds Mansion staff noted the charging station near their bed and breakfast gets used nearly every week, and is a perk for staying there. I think it’s awesome that Bellefonte would provide such support for local businesses. I’ve heard rumblings from some politicians that they would remove these charging stations, which have already been installed at taxpayer expense, because the electricity is offered free of charge. Why not simply start charging for the service, as other municipalities currently do?

Thank you again, Bellefonte, keep up this good work, and keep those charging stations in place for the vehicles of the future.

Dan Alters, Bellefonte

Speak out against hate

Distribution of antisemitic hate literature in State College and the war in Israel have the same root: some people give themselves permission to see other people as less than human. My sister-in-law’s extended family contains one hostage and two in burn units because Hamas decided their lives are worth nothing.

After WWII, Pastor Martin Niemoller said,

“In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me — and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

Niemoller’s biography shows people can change. He supported Hitler’s rise, breaking with him only when Hitler’s interference in church doctrine became more than he could bear. His resistance led to seven years in solitary confinement in prison camps as a political dissident.

We have a past president and current candidate who vilifies everyone who does not support him. His behavior greenlights the worst in his base, telling them it’s OK to hate people who differ from them by race, religion, gender, or attitude. Members of his party who privately deplore his behavior don’t speak up from fear.

Silence will not protect us. Please speak out against all forms of hate.

Dianne Gregg, Centre Hall