Letters: California’s clean skies are worth the price of gas

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Our state’s clean skies are worth the expense

Re: “State’s gas mandates drive unaffordability” (Page A6, June 3).

The writer wonders why the costs necessary for clean air should make Los Angeles so much more expensive than, say, Dallas, Texas.

There are at least two major reasons why: First, the Bay Area and Los Angeles are metro areas surrounded by high mountains on all sides, trapping dirty air. Second, California’s natural drought means that during the summer months, no rain falls to clean out such dirty air. Dallas has none of these problems.

I remember the 70s pics of filthy air in Los Angeles that were dramatically cleaned up in later decades due to gas regulations, smog checks and other efforts. We cannot go back to filthy air.

Jim Hammond
Castro Valley

Marine protected areas can bring ocean balance

Re: “Looking for edible uni from California’s coastal tide pools also helps the environment” (Page 2F, April 19).

Who doesn’t love eating sushi or, even better, sustainable sushi? Rather than tuna or salmon, along the Sonoma coast, sea urchins are being foraged and harvested.

The sea urchin species have increased their population by up to 10,000% in some areas, partially as a result of their primary predator, the sunflower sea star, being wiped out. This isn’t a secluded event. The most recent extreme marine heatwave has caused devastating consequences for ocean life. Specifically, our bull kelp forests in Northern California have decreased by 95% due to the sea urchins eating the kelp.

Due to rapidly warming temperatures, animals are losing food sources and growing more vulnerable to diseases. Our solution is to expand marine protected areas to grow resilience and increase fitness in marine life. We’ve seen the changes brought about by pre-existing marine protection areas and urge the Newsom Administration to be in favor of expanding these areas this summer.

Veronica Garcia
Oakland

US must release resources to fight Ebola

Re: “WHO chief visits epicenter of Ebola outbreak in Congo” (Page A6, June 1).

A rare strain of Ebola is spreading rapidly through war-torn provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Bundibugyo strain (BVD) has no known treatment or vaccine. Ebola circulated for weeks without detection, and is spreading towards the Kivu region and into Uganda.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. An American doctor is infected.

Instead of responding, the White House kept frozen $19 billion in public health and international assistance funds. The administration refuses to address the growing public health crisis, despite having funds Congress appropriated for this issue. Its policy of quarantining Americans abroad is creating violence in Kenya.

The Alliance for American Leadership calls on California representatives and senators to work with the White House to release these public health funds and contain Ebola before it reaches California.

Nikole Morales
Hayward

There’s still time for us to save democracy

It’s difficult these days to have any confidence or trust in our federal government since Donald Trump arrived.

Almost every government system or program has been impacted. Congress can’t solve America’s problems, the Supreme Court has lost its independence, and voters across the country are being gerrymandered out of existence. Someone wrote that the president in the future will not be able to restore the dignity of the office due to these problems.

Can democracy be saved? Yes, I believe it can, but it’s going to be slow and painful, unless the MAGA supporters finally wake up.

Stuart Shicoff
Martinez

Congress must assert a check over Trump

The “Clear and Present Danger” is upon us. We can no longer pretend that “all is well” in our government under Donald J. Trump. The corruption is unprecedented.

This is the most incompetent president in the history of the United States. He appoints only “yes men,” those who ‘kiss the ring,” and incompetent, unqualified lackeys. He doesn’t know what he is doing most of the time. A “circus barker” who only thinks of how to enrich himself. He doesn’t care one iota about the people of this country or the struggles they endure under his leadership.

We must fight back, for who knows what he will do next. Will Congress wake up from its deep sleep and put the brakes on his corrupt ideas? Will it be too late?

Joanne Wilfong
San Ramon