LETTERS: Less fossil fuels, more land protection
To the editor:
The editorial opposing wilderness designations told us that the domestic energy boom responsible for the country’s economic growth was due to fossil fuels, not renewables (“Obama’s war on West,” Feb. 1 Review-Journal). The implication is that the same old way of doing things is the way to keep doing them. If that were the case, we’d all be riding horses and reading by candlelight (for those few who could read).
Progress demands constant innovation. The old glory days are fun to look back on, though it’s getting harder to look very far with the increasing pollution of our cities. We cannot continue to pollute the earth, air and water, and kill the other kinds of life that share this planet with us. As the most successful species on this earth, we are responsible for preserving it for generations to come.
Designating wilderness areas ensures that other species have a safe place to live, and that our children’s children will not live in a world barren of the exotic. Our descendants deserve as much wilderness as we can possibly leave them; they need to know we did our very best to pass the earth to them in good condition. The Republican Congress needs to start paying attention to preservation, not exploitation.
While it’s true that President Barack Obama and Republicans have not been successful at working together, there has been no good-faith effort on the part of the Republicans to work with the president on many issues. However, the bill in the House of Representatives to protect the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness has bipartisan leadership — Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Jared Huffman, D-Calif.
I thank the president for his important leadership to protect a national treasure. I hope the Nevada congressional delegation will follow his lead.
KRIS KNOLL
LAS VEGAS
A Hillary-Williams ticket
To the editor:
Now that defrocked NBC News anchor Brian Williams has firmly established his credentials as a spinner of yarns and teller of tall tales, he can pursue his next career: politics. Mr. Williams is already a gifted speaker using the teleprompter. I envision the 2016 Democratic ticket of Hillary Clinton and Brian Williams — two war heroes who both served while “under fire.”
DANIEL S. MAXIME
LAS VEGAS
R-J stadium coverage
To the editor:
The editorial on the downtown soccer stadium proposal was a timely, accurate and prophetic analysis that displays what newspapers are supposed to do (“Stadium debacle,” Feb. 10 Review-Journal). We should be proud of the Review-Journal for publishing a summary revealing how government will operate if we fail to keep it reined in and held accountable.
If we are ever going to interrupt the downward slide on which our form of government seems to be committed until its demise, we must become actively involved and seriously dedicated to corrective action. If we simply re-introduce common sense into our continuous monitoring of government, we can save our great nation, our freedom and form of life. We must be ever vigilant and well-informed.
The willingness of those whom we carelessly select and elect to spend other people’s money to accomplish their own preferences must end. The final factor of the validity of any project such as the MLS stadium should be: Do the people want this project badly enough to pay for it? If not, then it should fail for lack of support. Over and done with.
Judge Jerry Wiese rightly allowed the matter to progress to the June ballot, so that well-informed voters can accept or reject this fantasy. The Review-Journal rightly kept its readers updated on the progress of this political sleight-of-hand and held the light of transparency on City Hall.
KENNETH F. HINES
LAS VEGAS
