Extra Oakland airportassessment wanted
Re: “Airport expansion will move forward” (Web page A1, March 22).
Regardless of downturns in passenger visitors at Oakland Worldwide Airport after COVID, the Port of Oakland is set to develop it, constructing an extra terminal with 16 new gates. This enlargement would allow elevated numbers of flights every day over East and West Oakland, including to the heavy air air pollution and sound air pollution already burdening these deprived communities. The Port of Oakland board not too long ago agreed to this enlargement.
The Cease OAK Enlargement Coalition has sued the Port Authority to cease enlargement efforts till an intensive environmental evaluation is carried out, together with cautious evaluation of the enlargement’s well being impacts in these communities, particularly on kids. It also needs to realistically look at the choice of not enterprise the enlargement, which is required in all environmental influence assessments.
For the sake of environmental justice, Mayor-elect Barbara Lee and different metropolis officers ought to require a brand new, full environmental evaluation earlier than permitting the enlargement.
Susan WrightOakland
Trump operating hostiletakeover of U.S.
The president governs by decree, also referred to as govt order, ignores court docket rulings, threatens his critics, together with public officers and the press, and needs to annex different international locations. Authorities departments devoted to well being and welfare are decimated. Science is debunked. Books are banned from libraries. A famend museum is ordered to rewrite historical past. With out due course of, immigrants are despatched to overseas gulags. Nearly all of Congress is complicit in all of the adjustments.
The nation is the US, however we’re not in a constitutional disaster; it’s a hostile takeover.
Karen Lee CohenWalnut Creek
Trump is playingreverse Robin Hood
The downsizing of federal authorities departments by the Division of Authorities Effectivity, run by multibillionaire Elon Musk, was achieved with little if any thought as as to if these departments have been benefiting the general public.
It appears extra prefer it was an try by the Trump administration to chop again on authorities applications that they don’t agree with philosophically, just like the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention and the Meals and Drug Administration that work tirelessly to maintain us wholesome and put together for future pandemics. There have been greater than 280,000 layoffs. A lot of the ensuing greenback financial savings will probably be earmarked to finance upcoming tax cuts that can disproportionately go to upper-income taxpayers, lots of whom donated to Trump’s presidential marketing campaign.
The results of all of that is that we now have a mixture of government-legalized bribery and reverse Robin Hood.
Arthur StrausWalnut Creek
Shoppers owe unionsthanks for derailing invoice
Re: “Big Oil’s unlikely allies: unions” (Web page B1, April 28).
We customers owe an enormous due to the labor unions who shot down one other unhealthy concept from Huge Authorities to permit victims of wildfires and different local weather disasters to sue the oil firms for inflicting local weather change. Had this laws handed, the oil firms would have needed to increase their costs or lay off employees to pay the prices of the lawsuits.
The very last thing California customers want is greater vitality prices, that are already among the many highest within the U.S. It’s not stunning that environmental teams supported the laws, as they’ve by no means cared concerning the prices their insurance policies impose on customers. Disappointing is the absence of any pro-consumer teams opposing the laws. The group quoted within the article, Client Watchdog, has by no means been a good friend of customers, and is similar group that supported state insurance policies leading to many householders in fire-threat areas being unable to purchase hearth insurance coverage.
Dick PattersonEl Cerrito
The left isn’t immunefrom bias, antisemitism
Re: “Trump’s concern for Jews is a smokescreen” (Web page A7, Might 1).
Michelle Goldberg undermines the ethical integrity of her commentary by downplaying the depth and pervasiveness of anti-Jewish prejudice and discrimination on the left and the inequalities and injustices that consequence.
Antisemitism exists throughout the political spectrum and American society. It’s attainable and essential to defend the civil rights of minorities and democratic values, as Goldberg intends, with out abdicating accountability to deal with the numerous antisemitism on the left. Jewish individuals face it with disturbing regularity in many alternative contexts — from the office to our communities and faculties and universities, and significantly within the Bay Space.
Racism, sexism, anti-Jewish bigotry and different types of discrimination exist on the left. We should always by no means be glad with arguments that suggest that being merely much less discriminatory is enough ethically and politically. It isn’t. We should deal with all discrimination, together with antisemitism, vigorously, trusting those that report discrimination and exhibiting allyship and help.
Noam SchimmelBerkeley
Tax the wealthy insteadof closing libraries
Re: “Budget crisis will test Lee’s unifier claims” (Web page A6, April 30).
I am going to completely different libraries in Oakland to learn books on indigenous peoples. I additionally go on the pc to lookup data on indigenous peoples. Once I need assistance, I ask the library workers.
They’re public workers whom columnist Daniel Borenstein, in his April 30 column, likes to vilify because the causes of the price range disaster in Oakland when he questions Mayor-elect Barbara Lee’s striving to unify this metropolis. He desires her to chop applications just like the library to repair the price range, however to not go after billionaires who rigged the system.
Oakland wants to return collectively and doesn’t want Borenstein stoking division by blaming public workers as a substitute of billionaires for the price range disaster.
Billy TriceOakland
