12/31 Letters: We need to take up arms against climate change.
When my son was nine, he built an igloo on our front lawn and stayed in it all day during the winter storm of 2000. We ‘d told him how rare snow falls were in our new home in North Carolina, and he wanted to make the most of it He reminds us of this while he helps us to shovel the driveway every winter now.
Climate change is being felt everywhere. From record setting high temperatures in Japan and Australia, level 4 and 5 hurricanes on our shores, fires in in California and snow in our own backyards. We can argue whether these would have happened without human input; we can’t argue about we have to do to prevent uncontrollable and irreparable destruction.
We have to lower carbon emissions, and quickly.
H.R. 7173 is the most comprehensive bill yet presented by our Federal Government. It is an important step in the right direction. It asks for a bit of sacrifice from businesses but avoids wholesale economic upheaval. Avoidance will prove more painful and expensive down the line.
We must band together as if we were facing a world war. Because that is essentially what this is.
Deborah Gross
Chapel Hill
Question for the Sheriff
A police officer in California was shot and killed while making a routine traffic stop for a vehicle without a license plate. The police are searching for a suspect whom they describe as being in this country illegally. My question to Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker is, “Would you turn the shooter over to ICE or just let him back on the street? Do you have certain limits on the severity of the crime before you decide to turn a criminal over to ICE for deportation? If so, what are those limits?” Sheriff Baker was elected by the citizens of Wake County, so why would he believe he owes anything to anyone who is here illegally and committing crimes against our citizens?
Russell Catania
Apex
Hostages
Your headline should have read, “Meadows steals GOP and Trump for Border Wall Fight,” because that is what he and his House Freedom Caucus are doing- holding the entire country hostage to his budget-busting border wall. Stocks are tanking, the deficit is ballooning, and citizens and allies are truly frightened of what the next hour of Trump chaos will bring.
Laurie McDowell
Raleigh
Inaccurate news
Headlines in the Observer’s Dec. 18 issue [”false report of shootout” and “Trump inaccurately brags about pay raise”] raise the question: when does an “inaccurate” utterance rise to the level of the more accusatory “falsehood” or “lie.” All three words reflect an untruthful utterance. Lie implies intent — a deliberate statement that is not true or accurate. Did the President know that his statement to the troops was false, making it a lie? The question arises as so much of what he says is “inaccurate.” If he acted with knowledge of the truth, he would unquestionably be the “serial liar” FBI Director James Comey suggests.
For the moment, I am willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt — that he is either extraordinarily ignorant, just plain stupid or incapable of separating truth from fiction. His utterance of half-truths or incomplete statements does however support the intentional falsehood narrative. One thing is unquestionably true — more “false news” out of the president’s mouth!
Carl F. Goodman
Chapel Hill
Homelessness
The single image of the homeless, which many have had, changes with N.C. State University’s study on homeless students. The homeless can be smart and industrious victims of circumstance. I agree that we are in this together, and that those who can should help with the essential needs of our greater family.
Kathy Dow
Cary
Population growth
Re: “US population sees slowest growth since Great Depression.” The tone of this piece sounds like this is a bad thing. I view it as a small step towards a good thing — zero global population growth. I am aware that the current economic model totally depends on an ever-growing demand side to support “prosperity.” This is clearly unsustainable, and it is time to call this model for what it really is: the ultimate Ponzi Scheme. This is a bit like waking up to the truth of global warming. If we don’t come up with a new economic model very soon, only very bad things will result. This new model may involve embracing and nurturing the concept of altruism (Roll over in your grave, Ayn Rand!)
Fritz Reinagel
Durham