Earth Day 1970 needs repeating
On this Earth Day, I write to resuscitate political will for a sustainable world. People who believed the cost of pollution regulation robbed wealthy and working people of their fair share of profits/affordability elected a president determined to stop all of it via executive orders. Unopposed by a slim congressional majority, the reversal of pollution regulation proceeds.
Fifty-six years ago, Republicans and Democrats came together to act. The people spoke on April 22, 1970, urging action, alerted by the Cuyahoga River fires sparked by layered industrial chemical waste and increased respiratory illnesses/deaths caused by manufacturing exhaust in big cities. President Richard Nixon called for the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Everyone came together. We all cared for our environment, felt a deep sense of stewardship and loyalty to future generations.
We must reclaim such moral concerns — astronauts in both periods inspired us with their images of our solitary but beautiful planet, framed by the desolate moonscape, and with their awed appreciation for life itself and their love of family.
Let’s do this again, realize we need infrastructure changes because our future families need sustainable markets that preserve personal choice of an affordable and healthy life on Earth — clean air and water and livable temperatures.
BOB JAMES, ATLANTA
U.S. sends oil abroad, while prices rise at home
I’m trying to better understand something that seems confusing to many of us. How is it that the United States is able to sell oil to other countries while, at the same time, gas prices at home continue to rise?
It feels counterintuitive that we would export oil if it might contribute to higher costs for American consumers.
Are we being gouged here domestically while we export oil to others? For many of us, the disconnect between exporting energy and rising fuel costs raises real concerns. If American-produced oil is being sold into global markets at higher prices, it raises the question of whether domestic consumers are effectively competing against foreign buyers for our own resources.
Shouldn’t American consumers see the benefit of domestic production first — particularly when rising fuel costs affect everything from commuting to the price of goods and services? The current dynamic makes it difficult to understand why increased production and exports do not translate into relief at the pump at home.
SANDRA K. MARLOW, LEWISVILLE, N.C.
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