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OPINION
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TheMesaTribune.com | @EVTNow /EVTNow
Twin 33s a viable solution to green shipping
BY DENNY BARNEY Tribune Guest Writer
The well-being of our environment is more important than ever. As such, it’s time for us to consider modernizing our trucking industry, which moves about 72 percent of all freight in the United States.
When we order packages online, a domino effect occurs of boxes being loaded onto trucks to those trucks hitting the highways to hardworking delivery people dropping packages off at America’s doorsteps. Thankfully, there is a simple solution to get this process done more ef�iciently and sustainably by modernizing federal regulations to allow trailers that are �ive feet longer than the 28-foot trailers currently permitted.
Arizona is one of 20 states in the U.S. that allow twin 33-foot trailers to operate. Lawmakers know the environmental and economic gains these trailers bring to our state and the technological advancements that make them safe.
Unfortunately, the remaining 30 states still adhere to the federal regulation set in the 1980s mandating that trailers cannot exceed more than 28 feet.
This regulation, set before the emergence of modern technology and our heavy reliance on e-commerce, does not take current obstacles of the shipping industry or our country’s increasing need for environmental sustainability into consideration. “Twin 33s” are merely �ive feet longer than the trailers currently allowed by federal law, but their long-term bene�its are clear. In addition to far-reaching safety and economic gains, these trailers play a crucial role in our �ight to preserve our environment by using less gas and reducing carbon emissions. In fact, the Americans for Modern Transportation, noted that the adoption of Twin 33’ trailers equates to 274 million fewer gallons of fuel, 3.12 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions and 3.36 billion fewer vehicle miles traveled with transportation ef�iciencies.
Aside from using less gas and requiring fewer miles driven, Twin 33 trailers increase freight capacity by 18 percent while following the 80,000-lb. weight limit on truck freight. Given the various sizes and shapes of boxes our packages come in, these trailers get more people what they need by �itting a higher volume of boxes containing America’s multitude of online orders.
Trucks drive our nation’s economy, transporting a majority of freight each year and supplying our businesses with the goods they need to prosper.
As e-commerce continues to grow exponentially and more people rely on the ability to run their errands with the press of a button, our shipping industry must adapt to keep pace with our modern needs.
The use of Twin 33s in Arizona has already proved successful, but because of the decades-old federal regulation they are not allowed to cross state borders. If the rest of the country allowed Twin 33s, we would see faster shipping times, thriving interstate commerce, and far less strain on our environment.
As we watch our nation’s infrastructure strive to become greener each day, our lawmakers should ensure the shipping industry does not fall behind by implementing greener policies like the adoption of Twin 33s. I hope our senators will help the rest of the country experience the bene�its of Twin 33s by advocating for their federal adoption in Congress.
Denny Barney is president and CEO of East Valley Partnership, a business owner and a former Maricopa County
Supervisor. ■
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The Supreme Court ruled recently that certain Arizona voting rules do not violate the Voting Rights Act. But just because something is legal doesn’t mean it is ethical.
We all are familiar with the moral concept of balancing the letter and the spirit of the law. When we talk about observing the spirit of the law, we are acknowledging that the highest morality involves asking what is the best we can do, not what is the most we can get away with.
This framework can help us consider laws within their historical context, where we ask about the intent of the law and the people it seeks to protect or potentially exclude. Historians agree that Congress intended the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to provide expansive protections for the right to vote.
Just a year prior, some senators thought a voting rights law unnecessary. Illinois Republican Everett Dirksen had already worked tirelessly to pass the Civil Rights Act, because he understood the moral imperative of equality, suggesting that “stronger than all the armies” is a law whose “time has come.”
However, after witnessing the horrifying violence of Bloody Sunday, Dirksen realized the Civil Rights Act was insuf�icient in protecting the right to vote, so he helped draft the revolutionary bill. Exemplifying this noble spirit, the VRA has been accepted as one of the crown jewels of American democracy.
Looking for the underlying spirit can also reveal examples of laws with discriminatory purposes, even if the letter of the law appears neutral.
For instance, literacy tests for voting registration were designed to seem fair on their face, but they were often written and employed with racist intent to disenfranchise Black Americans.
What was the spirit of the Arizona voting law addressed in the Brnovich decision, where the Court upheld policies that ban ballot collecting and throw out all out-ofprecinct ballots?
Although the law does not mention race, the effect of prohibiting volunteer collection of ballots is borne disproportionately by some Arizonans: Only 18 percent of Native Americans living on tribal lands have mail service to their homes.
As such, prohibiting ballot collecting can have a severe impact on casting a ballot. What could be the spirit behind trying to make it harder for them to vote?
The out-of-precinct policy also has discriminatory effects. As Justice Kagan pointed out in her dissent, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Black Americans in Arizona were twice as likely to have their ballots discarded than white voters. Even if this result is accidental, a state committed to voting rights would seek to �ix this imbalance.
We must be united in our commitment to protect every American’s right to vote. We believe there were inspired elements to the Founding Fathers’ conception of “a more perfect union.”
As women of faith in the 21st century, we too ask: How can we form a more perfect union? Our faith compels us to seek the higher path — to speak out and do better.
Let’s call on our senators to pass new laws that uphold the spirit of the Voting Rights Act, to ensure that every American’s right to vote is sacred. We face a formative moment in our democracy where we can determine what spirit to imbue into new legislation. We deserve voting laws that are both legal and ethical.
Christie Black is a director of advocacy for Mormon Women for Ethical Government. She resides in Mesa. Gilbert resident, Rachel Albertsen is the director of
special projects for MWEG. ■
Rachel Albertsen Christie Black
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THE MESA TRIBUNE | AUGUST 15, 2021
Re�lections on New York governor’s downfall
BY JD HAYWORTH Tribune Columnist
Newton H. Minow, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission under John F. Kennedy, denounced television as a “vast wasteland” in 1961.
Comedy, action, and even morality plays came into the nation’s homes, courtesy of cartoons. It didn’t take long for the kids to distinguish the “good guys” and “bad guys,” as the contrast was as stark as the black and white in which it was televised.
One dastardly duo of that era’s animation—Biggy Rat and Itchy Brother— came roaring back into the collective consciousness of baby boomers last year in the real-life personas of Andrew and Chris Cuomo.
The governor of New York and his younger sibling, a hectoring, lecturing cable news host—were ushered into American homes on a regular basis with repartee that the low I.Q. brain trust at CNN apparently regarded as the epitome of “infotainment.” It became apparent within a nanosecond that the Cuomo Brothers would never be confused with the Smothers Brothers. It was also painfully obvious that neither Cuomo boy grew into the man their father was. In the Age of Reagan, Gov. Mario Cuomo emerged as the “Great Democrat Hope,” especially following his keynote address at the 1984 San Francisco Convention. But New York’s �irst Gov. Cuomo earned the un�lattering nickname “Hamlet on the Hudson” for his indecisiveness and ultimate refusal to run for president. In late December, 1991, a chartered plane was poised to �ly him to New Hampshire ninety minutes prior to that state closing �iling for its �irst in the nation presidential primary in 1992. Mario Cuomo said no; another Democrat governor, Bill Clinton of Arkansas, became president.
The second Gov. Cuomo was ultimately discovered to possess hungers and habits that can only be described as “Clintonesque.” Like so many other Democrats in 2020, he decided to politicize the pandemic; but unlike the rest of his leftist cohorts, he took a page out of his younger brother’s career handbook—daily television.
By making his “Live from Albany” daily telecasts available to CNN and every other conceivable video outlet, Andrew Cuomo was able to feast on the political equivalent of manna—free media. It was a political masterstroke. It also earned him a Daytime “Emmy” Award for his TV performances and over $5 million for his book.
The “white-hot spotlight” and the partisan predilections of most in the press corps combined to slow scrutiny of the failures of Cuomo’s leadership. But eventually, they were exposed.
The New York Times proved it wasn’t fooling around on April Fool’s Day of this year when it reported that the governor’s staff lowered the number of COVID nursing home fatalities.
Strange, then, that the nursing home scandal did not prompt Andrew Cuomo’s resignation as governor. Instead, subsequent charges of sexual harassment proved the catalyst that forced the “Luv Guv” to call it quits.
Why?
Curious observers would do well to remember the political environment that exists in today’s Democratic Party. There are allegations of similar nursing home fatalities in Pennsylvania and Michigan and both those states hold gubernatorial elections next year.
Had Cuomo departed Albany because of the nursing home scandal, both Tom Wolf and Gretchen Whitmer could have faced a similar fate in Harrisburg and Lansing. Instead, New York’s female lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul, becomes the Empire State’s �irst female governor, giving NY Dems the chance to “turn the page” prior to their own 2022 gubernatorial election. What’s next for Andrew Cuomo? It would seem a “vast wasteland.” While some predict a political comeback, it would be wise for him to wait until 2032…The Year of the Rat. ■
