A Net-Zero School
To the editor:
Re “We Must Act Locally on Climate” [Aug. 6, page A3], the Nauset School Building Committee and the architectural firm for the proposed school did an excellent job with the schematic design within the set requirements and parameters.
As Mr. Elkin stated in his op-ed, starting now, all new buildings need to be carbon-neutral in order to meet interim 2030 goals.
The Mass. School Building Authority (MSBA) requires a minimum energy efficiency performance 10 percent greater than the updated energy code (August 2020). Two additional code updates are scheduled: one in January 2021, the second sometime later in 2021.
On Aug. 1, Cape Light Compact (CLC) implemented new commercial grants. CLC would partially reimburse a cost-benefit analysis and energy modeling for a passive house (PH) design. PH is one of two compliance mechanisms for the stretch energy code. It concentrates on passive energy efficiency, along with electrification of the heating and cooling systems, rather than rating a building’s sustainability as the MSBA’s current system does.
The Nauset School Building Committee should commit to a net-zero building, apply for the incentives, and have the cost-benefit analysis done.
The possibility of a costly mandated future retrofit remains. Potential taxpayer savings in operating and maintenance costs, including the redesign costs, should be weighed. Let’s pause the Nauset school project and give full consideration to designing a net-zero school.
Bob Higgins-Steele
Truro
Mask Desired but Not Required
To the editor:
For those of us with respiratory illnesses, allergies, compromised immune systems, or diabetes, or who are over age 60, any unmasked human being is a threat.
I live at the end of a private road with 10 residences. There is a new construction project going on next door. The contractor parks his oversized truck in the driveway, blocking cars. I requested that he put on a mask in the driveway and said that my health is compromised. He refused, saying that his truck was parked over six feet from me (it was in that moment, but not if I went to my car), that he was not working on my house, and, no, forget about it.
I know this contractor, and this is what got to me: to be disrespected in my own back yard by someone I know. I reported him to town hall. Provincetown Building Commissioner Anne Howard came to visit and explained that he is not required to wear a mask but could choose to do so as a courtesy.
How hard is it really to take the piece of cloth off your neck and put it over your nose and mouth? Or to whip out a throwaway mask instead of attitude?
This guy will never do what I ask, especially once he reads this. But maybe you will soften your stance, and next time someone asks you to put on a mask, do it just to be courteous.
Laura Shabott
Provincetown
This Candidate Cares
To the editor:
The Democratic primary is less than three weeks away. Cheryl Andrews is the best candidate seeking the office of Barnstable County commissioner on that ballot.
I met Cheryl when she was a member of the Provincetown Select Board and I was a Barnstable town councilor. Cheryl grew up in Barnstable and graduated from Barnstable High School before she got a degree in dentistry from the University of Pennsylvania. As a newly minted dentist in the days of HIV, Dr. Andrews returned to Cape Cod, made her home in Provincetown, and started her successful business.
Cheryl is a kind and compassionate person. She cares deeply about the Cape’s fragile environment. She makes our county better. She is Provincetown’s representative to the Cape Cod Commission and has previously served as an elected member of the Assembly of Delegates.
Cheryl is committed to the important preparation that officials need to do. She cares about the people on this peninsula and our critters. She broadly understands science and, at the same time, is a dedicated fiscal conservative.
My friend brings to the table just the right combination of heart and skill sets we desperately need during this difficult time.
Please help us elect Cheryl Andrews with your vote in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
June Daley
Marstons Mills
The Last Time I Saw Harry
To the editor:
Re “The Poet of the Dunes Brought Down to Earth” [Aug. 6, page B6], the last time I saw Harry Kemp, he was head down on a table in Manny Muggsy’s restaurant, currently the Post Office Café, I believe. It must have been a winter lunch hour in the late ’50s, since that was when Manny doled out free homemade bowls of squid stew to any customer who wanted some, and Harry wasn’t the only one.
Sal Del Deo is right: Harry Kemp wasn’t a great poet. He wrote a lot of Elizabethan sonnets in Elizabethan English, perhaps the last human on Earth to do so. But he also wrote the chapbook “Provincetown Nicknames in Rhyme,” and if your readers can still find a copy somewhere, it will carry them back to last century’s P’town, laughing all the way.
Brendan Galvin
Truro
‘Black’ or ‘black’?
To the editor:
I applaud the Independent’s reporting on racial profiling on the Outer Cape. However, one thing bothers me. I believe the Independent should capitalize “Black” when referring to African American people, as the New York Times and many medical journals currently do.
Humans are not black; we come in many shades. The term “Black” refers to a socially constructed category, and a shared culture, similar to the word “Latinx.” Please consider changing your policy.
Eliza C. Miller
New York City
Editor’s note: On matters of copy editing, we generally adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style, which currently recommends “black” except when an individual author prefers the upper-case “B.” We invite readers to express their views on this.
A Noble Visage
To the editor:
I am writing to thank the artist Mark Adams for his beautifully moving portrait of John Lewis [July 23, page A3], and to thank the paper for publishing the work. The death of this great American at a time when we need his voice most urgently is a terrible loss to us all. The tenderness with which Adams captures Lewis’s noble visage is comforting during this time of grief.
Brian Clague
Boston
