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A clean, sustainable energy plan for Nevada

Climate change is happening. Every year our summers are hotter and our winters are milder.

Meanwhile, the bathtub ring at Lake Mead continues to grow and winter snow packs at Mount Charleston just aren’t what they once were. We have many other precious wild areas in our state: Great Basin, Valley of Fire and Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevadas, to name a few.

We need to protect our precious environment. One way to do that is to take the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan seriously. We have sun, wind and geothermal in abundance in our state.

It is foolish to think small, or not at all, when it comes to developing these resources as part of a clean and sustainable energy plan for our state.

We need to think big on clean energy. Let’s leave a legacy to our children and grandchildren that we can be proud of and ensure our natural areas are still places they can enjoy.

Malissa Barton

Las Vegas

Clinton scandals

In the most recent round of improprieties regarding Hillary Clinton and her stint as secretary of state, we have her word that there was no “pay-to-play” involved. But in the wake of her emails, Benghazi, her interviews with the FBI, and her claims of being broke while earning $350,000 for an hour-long speech, I think the average person would appreciate something a little more concrete.

Everyone from the members of the U.S. Supreme Court down to our county commissioners recuse themselves or abstain from votes if there is an appearance of a conflict. But we’re supposed to take Hillary at her word that no influence peddling took place.

She could have avoided the whole mess, if she wanted, by not having these discussions in the first place. But that doesn’t fit in with the Clintons’ view on how they are above the standards applied to “ordinary” people. They wallow in these scandals and then just lie to the public, expecting us all to believe whatever story they happen to manufacture.

Lou Young

North Las Vegas

Pardon me

Unless Barack Obama beats her to it, Hillary Clinton’s first act as president would be a blanket pardon of herself.

Jerre West

Las Vegas

Adult decision

In his Tuesday letter, Clyde Dinkins warns that “if this pot measure passes, it will cause a great moral decline in our state.” I have to question what Mr. Dinkins’ standards are for morality in Nevada.

Last I checked, Nevada is the only state in the union to sanction prostitution. Much of the state’s economy is based on people blowing their money, getting drunk and stumbling down to Fremont Street to gawk at all-but-naked buskers. Radio advertises less-than-subtle ads for strip clubs and television proves that anyone’s bad behavior can be excused if it’s shocking enough to turn heads.

That right there is moral decline.

But where’s the outrage? Instead we’ve got people up in arms about what adults — not children, not teens, but adults — may put in their own bodies.

To be clear, I don’t like marijuana either and I certainly don’t think minors should have access to it. And yet prohibition has already failed in that regard. If anything, the illicit nature of the drug seems to have contributed to this “morass of criminality” Mr. Dinkins warns of.

Alcohol, a once similarly prohibited substance, has been legalized. Where’s the “morass of criminality”? It’s been a little while since I last heard anyone complain about moonshiners and bootleggers.

Mr. Dinkins urges us to “think of the children.” I have. And I can conclude only that sanctimony and hypocrisy on our part are far greater threats to society’s moral fabric than adults being free to make their own decisions.

Gordon Brown

Las Vegas

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