Monday, November 24, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
LETTERS: Reid doing the right thing on fire legislation
To the editor:
In response to the Nov. 20 op-ed "Beltway stalling tactics: Fiddling while forests burn":
At a time when legitimate solutions are needed to address the wildfire situation, the author resorted to finger-pointing and reckless accusations about Sen. Harry Reid and The Wilderness Society.
In reality, The Wilderness Society has been deeply engaged in the development of wildfire legislation that promotes effective wildland fire management. Our primary emphasis has been to ensure any legislation places top priority on community protection, regardless of where those communities are located.
Moreover, any fire management program must work across all land ownerships and jurisdictions to be effective and it must make new money available for hazardous fuel removal. Unfortunately, the administration's proposal fails on both these counts. No new money is authorized and non-federal lands are ignored altogether.
Nonetheless, the reason Sen. Reid has fought for the Senate version of the bill is that it is a better bill, in large part because it would allow funding to be spent on private, city or county lands. Accusing him of wanting to kill the bill is ridiculous and a complete fabrication.
Finally, using the Southern California fires to justify a bogus solution is searing in its irresponsibility. Many factors drove these fires and contributed to their severity, including decades of fire suppression, hot Santa Ana winds, high ambient temperatures, low humidity, drought, thousands of homes built in harm's way, and the failure to invest adequately in local firefighting infrastructure.
JAY THOMAS WATSON
SAN FRANCISCO
The writer is director of The Wilderness Society's wildland fire program.
Bribe them
To the editor:
When is someone going to get it? If the state of Nevada would pour as much money into students, instead of insane new programs with "cutesy" names, in-services, leaving students with subs, tracking student test scores, remediating, committees, record keeping, rating schools, etc., etc. in the name of "No Child Left Behind," I am absolutely positive our students would perform on their tests.
Example: Give our students a reason to perform. Give those "state" dollars to the test takers who raise their scores by 10, 20 or 30 points. A simple $100 to a fourth grader? Wow!
Here is a little secret that educators in Clark County know. Teachers teach. Students learn. Most take home reasonable report cards. Students do not perform on tests because there isn't a reason for them to perform. Give them a reason, and they will do it. Get it?
BONNIE TEIGUM
LAS VEGAS
Water use
To the editor:
An article on Nov. 20 noted that the valley used 0.5 percent more water in October than in October 2002. Pat Mulroy, general manager of the water authority, stated that because October was warmer than normal people watered for longer periods of time, albeit, only once a week.
Golly Ms. Mulroy, I wonder if all those new homes built since October 2002 might have contributed to the additional water use. Could it be that all those new homes and continued building will offset the affects of restricting water use?
R.L. HARBACH
HENDERSON
Media depravity
To the editor:
With the war on terrorism raging, many people killed in Turkey, demonstrations in Miami protesting the loss of American jobs to other countries in the Americas, and major protests against our president in London, our local and national media has chosen to glorify one sick pop music star by devoting hundreds of hours to Michael Jackson being arrested for child molestation.
The Las Vegans who got out of their cars in traffic to watch his motorcade should have all been given moving violation traffic tickets.
Too bad we don't pay as much attention to our politicians. If we did, perhaps our country would not have the terrible problems it currently faces. It is pitiful that the media contributes so heavily to the depravity of Americans.
GAIL MUNFORD
LAS VEGAS
Yucca vote
To the editor:
Should Nevadans seriously question the words of Joseph Lieberman, who says he would not go forward with Yucca Mountain "if I feel it's not safe" (Review-Journal, Nov. 20)? George Bush said that he would base his decision on "sound science" -- yet almost no one buys that in spite of the several billion dollars that the Department of Energy spent to demonstrate that it's safe. After all, who is Mr. Bush to believe, if not the trusty DOE? Should he trust someone who feels that it isn't safe?
What, if anything, would Sen. Lieberman base his feelings on? Is he like many who simply assume a position rather than look at facts? Or would he believe the DOE's multibillion-dollar research?
Furthermore, after a decade or more of studies and billions spent, Sen. Lieberman would "want to examine whether there are alternatives." Already the repository is in trouble time-wise. Wasn't he the one who urged an "accelerated waste acceptance" time frame in 1999? Another decade or so of delay caused by re-examining the project doesn't seem plausible. There are more than feelings at stake here.
And finally, those of us who knew Sen. Lieberman's positions on political issues before he became Al Gore's running mate know that his opinions can change as quickly as the time it takes him to go from voter group to voter group. Maybe Nevadans will be forced to choose between one who bases his Yucca decision on feelings and one who bases it on DOE reports. Does anyone feel good about that?
DENNIS WEBER
LAS VEGAS
August group
To the editor:
I deeply resent your recent editorials smearing Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Deborah Agosti and the high court over the Guinn v. Legislature decision. I feel honored to have such dedicated, honest and hard-working guardians of justice in Nevada. I know of no more principled, service-oriented individuals than those who so ably serve the citizens' interests there. And Justice Agosti stands out for integrity even in this august group.
Lay the blame where it belongs: on the obstructionist radicals in the Legislature.
CAROL F. CHESNUT
LAS VEGAS
