LET TERS
BAD AIR DAYS
DOUBLE BILL FOR SPYING
I support President Obama’s recently
announced plan to combat climate change
and advance clean energy. The plan calls
for reducing carbon pollution from power
plants — our largest source of pollution
driving climate change — that also harms
our health and economy.
We are already seeing the effects of
climate change: Storms are becoming
more intense, heat waves more severe,
drought more persistent and wildfi re more
prevalent. Superstorm Sandy alone caused
more than $1 billion in damages and a loss
of life that cannot be quantifi ed.
Rising temperatures also trigger more
bad air days, which are of particular concern
for the young, the elderly and those with
asthma and other health issues. We can’t
afford to ignore these costs any longer.
Investing in renewable energy,
increased effi ciency and pollution controls
will create jobs and a more resilient
economy. In fact, history has shown when
we rein in pollution we get a big bang
for our buck. Since 1970 every $1 in
investment in compliance with Clean Air
Act standards has produced $4 to $8 in
economic benefi ts.
When it comes to our climate, the costs
of inaction are mounting. We owe it to our
children and future generations to rise to
this challenge.
If not for me then for our children and
grandchildren!
Fred Mallery
Eugene
I read an article stating that the National
Security Administration pays AT&T $360
plus $10 per day per taxpayer to disclose all
data for the purposes of “national security.”
That works out to $4,000 per taxpayer
being paid to the telecom providers by our
government without tax dollars.
I think if the government needs this
information, they should compel these
carriers to provide the information without
remuneration. If there is a real national security
reason, these corporations should cooperate
with the NSA for free, without a charge, to
participate in protecting our citizens.
If the government compelled these
carriers to supply the information for free,
without giving them a dime, I bet they
would refuse to cooperate without proof
that it helps save lives.
As it is right now, the telecom companies
are making huge profi ts not only for the
services they provide us, and with our tax
dollars being paid from a “secret budget”
that allows for spying on every single
American, while schools are being closed
and fi refi ghters are being laid off (not to
mention the fact that these corporations get
massive government subsidies and do not
pay a dime in taxes).
We should all call the senators and tell
them to end the practice of using our tax
dollars to pay for spying on us. If they
want to spy on us, they should compel the
information without any of our tax dollars
being used to get the information they
want on us.
Those people who say they don’t care
if the government spies on us — do they
mind the fact that they are paying their
phone company for service, and then the
government is using our tax dollars to pay
the phone company to spy on us? We are
essentially paying the phone company
twice. Still don’t mind?
Lonnie Clark
Eugene
OUR TOASTY BUN
A sudden onshore fl ow, a couple of
apple-crisp mornings, a fl urry of glossy
back-to-school circulars and suddenly
everyone is talking about our endless
summer’s end.
Don’t fall for Summer’s snow-job; she
still has all of her teeth. Anxious Autumn
and Woeful Winter, slumbering together
high up in the Cascades, may swipe the
occasional chill claw across the lid of our
valley, but for now Dame Summer squats
on the throne with her full, august weight. I
believe that as our years toll higher Helios
appears to chart a swifter course. But that,
of course, is chicanery. Time compresses
as we inch toward the edge, and the more
deeply we appreciate our remaining days
upon this mortal coil, the swifter their
metronomic passage seems.
So, chill. Drink deep those diaphanous
draughts of autumn and savor their brief
bursts of melancholy, and then wrap
yourself anew in that toasty bun of summer
and relish our succinct season of sun. Enjoy
the hot dogs, Eugene, we’ll be slugging
Summer’s for family, fun, & errands.
through the duck soup soon enough.
Dave Perham
Eugene
TEFLON POLICE CHIEF
When will EPD Chief Pete Kerns be
held accountable for the actions of those
people whose actions are, at best, highly
questionable and, at worst, illegal? The
evidence storage area is found to have
stolen goods hiding in plain sight in
and around his employees’ work space.
Pornography on work computers. An
offi cer who has taken an oath so afraid of
her alleged attacker that she is compelled
to hide from him. If I were assaulted,
would she hide from my attacker as well?
The offi cer convicted of sexual assault and
harassment was allowed to continue to work in
a Eugene high school after he was investigated
last fall for an improper relationship with a
student. Kerns says he is “afraid there may be
other victims out there.” Why has this matter
not been fully investigated while the students
were still in school?
Will the chief of police be held
accountable for these and other improper
happenings that are occurring on his
watch? Is he coated with Tefl on so that
nothing sticks to him? Where is Jon Ruiz
while all this is happening, hiding in a
bathroom?
James Murphy
Eugene
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