Views from readers: health care heroes + smoking and casinos
Staying on mission
Our region, along with the rest of the world, has been tested in countless ways throughout the last year. At the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic are the faces behind the masks, our health care heroes who have focused on one common purpose – keeping our community safe.
I have witnessed firsthand an unmatched dedication from our team members. Each day, they have provided essential services during a pandemic that has tragically taken the lives of more than a million worldwide.
This month, we know that the focus will be on how the virus has ravaged our region. However, I encourage you to consider another perspective, one of hope, in honor of our health care heroes. Hope encourages us and plants the seed to possibilities, offering strength and stamina.
As we begin to see some light shining through with the rate of hospitalizations declining and the increase in vaccine availability, we can imagine a new tomorrow. Know that as Memorial continues to define and envision this, we will seek new opportunities and seize them for the betterment of our community. We have the power to not just hope for a better tomorrow, but to shape it by the choices we make.
Please continue to protect yourself and those you love by following recommendations from the CDC and the Mississippi State Department of Health. Stay vigilant as we navigate this global health crisis together, more than one year later. Finally, understand that we are your partners in health and we will continue to work toward our mission of building a healthier community.
We are Memorial.
Kent Nicaud
President and CEO
Memorial Hospital at Gulfport
Stop smoking
The recent article in Sun Herald stated that the Gaming Commission kept the mandate for masks in casinos.
The new guidelines state that masks may be removed while eating and drinking.
The rule for smoking is conspicuously absent from the article. A smoker in a casino will lower their mask for the entire five to 10 minutes they smoke and/or allow the cigarette to sit in the ash tray.
The harmful effects of smoking and second-hand smoking are well documented. Doctors recommend that the No. 1 means to improve your health is to stop smoking. The Gaming Commission should prohibit all types of smoking in the casinos.
This way, all casinos would be on a level playing field.
Jerry Moreau
Diamondhead
Energy achievements
Mississippians are witness to one of the greatest expansions of energy production – one that creates jobs and makes the U.S. the world’s top oil and gas producer and second largest renewable energy producer.
We are also leading the way in improving our environment even as our energy output surges and our economy grows. We’re leading the world in cleaner air as we produce more energy than ever before.
Since 1990, the Mississippi’s emissions of key pollutants have all decreased by as much as 95%. This drop is remarkable given that Mississippi’s Gross Domestic Product surged 206% over the same period.
This accomplishment comes as electric power generation accounts for two-thirds of Mississippi’s natural gas consumption. In 2019, it provided almost three-fourths of the state’s net electricity generation.
Moreover, Mississippi ranks among the nation’s largest energy consumers per capita and more than 75% of its energy needs are met by oil and natural gas. While emissions of key pollutants were plunging and the state’s economic growth more than doubled, the population grew by 15% and Mississippians traveled 44% more on vehicle miles per capita basis.
Mississippi’s environmental stewardship has leapt ahead while costs have decreased, as Mississippi consumers saved more than $9.7 billion from 2008-2018, mostly because of affordable natural gas.
Our great environmental story underscores what happens when American industry, government and people team up to solve problems. Let’s support smarter, balanced energy policies and more environmental progress.
Kaitlin Schmidtke
Gulf Coast Director
Consumer Energy Alliance