Letters to the Editor

Letter: Madore, Mielke know the right path

I am writing in response to watching a recent Clark County commissioner's meeting on television, mainly on the naming of Sen. Don Benton to director of the county's environmental services. Unfortunately, most of the citizens who spoke were against David Madore, Tom Mielke, and Benton.

Letter: Madore is running roughshod

Clark County commissioners and the county Board of Health are responsible for local health policy. As a recent retiree from public health, my experience as environmental services manager and lead for the Growing Healthier Report taught me that there is positive visionary community interest in creating the building blocks (e.g., active transportation, access to healthy foods, environmental quality) for a healthy Clark County.

Letter: Scrutinize all political groups

Thank you Ruth Marcus for the May 16 column, "IRS scandal overshadows another failure by agency," stating that the true IRS scandal is its leniency in scrutinizing all political groups, not just conservative ones. My first thought, upon hearing of the scandal, was, "What? They're not also targeting liberal groups?"

Letter: Reduce effects of climate change

A review of 12,000 papers on climate change, in the May 15 issue of Environmental Research Letters, found that 97 percent of scientists attribute climate change to human activities. Although we're unlikely to reverse climate change, we can mitigate its effects by reducing our driving, energy use, and meat consumption. A 2006 U.N. report estimated that meat consumption accounts for 18 percent of man-made greenhouse gases. A 2009 article in the respected World Watch magazine suggested that it may be closer to 50 percent.

Letter: Disparity in cost creates question

I'm just curious why the new I-74 bridge across the Mississippi River between Illinois and Iowa, which includes a new eight-lane span and the supporting bridge approaches, ramps, and highway connections, has a price tag of $850 million and the Columbia River Crossing, even including light rail, is $3.4 billion? Read about the I-74 project.