Letters: Green hype | More pollution | A vote for chaos | Trump’s fears | False equivalence
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Don’t believe green hype
from Oakland airport
Re: “Plans to expand Oakland airport draw criticism” (Page A1, Sept. 15).
Kudos to 1,000 Grandmothers speaking at the Port of Oakland about the distressing signs of global heating.
2024 was the hottest summer on record. The Line and Airport fires burn in Southern California. The heat in Phoenix was unbearable. Air pollution in East Oakland is making the community sick.
Flying is the fastest way to fry the planet. Planes burn tons of fuel. Each flight spews hundreds of tons of pollution into our sensitive atmosphere, heating our planet 2-3 times more than ground travel due to high altitude effects.
We can’t afford to let airports and air travel expand. Don’t believe the green hype on low-carbon airports; the ground operations are nil compared to the toll of the flights. Sustainable Aviation Fuel currently fuels 0.01% of flights worldwide and there’s not enough cropland to fuel the rest. We’ve got to fly less if we want a livable future.
Ariella Granett
Berkeley
Airport expansion will
exacerbate pollution
Re: “Plans to expand Oakland airport draw criticism” (Page A1, Sept. 15).
I so appreciate the article for keeping our attention on possible airport expansion. I only wish it had been clearer about greenhouse gas emissions.
Already aviation is responsible for 11% of Bay Area emissions. Adding 16 gates to the Oakland airport would greatly increase the climate emissions its planes produce.
The airport administration likes to draw attention to its plans to reduce emissions caused by ground operations — moving planes around on the ground and attending to them and to passengers.
But that constitutes only 1% of the emissions the airport is responsible for by providing facilities for planes to take off and land. It’s a distraction.
By modernizing but not expanding, the airport can protect the health of its workers, East Bay residents and the planet. It needs to end mindless growth. It can make Oakland airport a leader to be proud of.
Lin Griffith
Oakland
A vote for Trump
is a vote for chaos
We are a country known to be a beacon of hope to people all over the world. It pains me to see Donald Trump and JD Vance actively dimming that light and causing needless unjustified suffering.
The false “eating cats and dogs” racist accusation by former President Trump against hard-working Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, was disgraceful. Trump’s rant echoed claims of the most extreme and violent right-wing groups (including neo-Nazis) in a community now terrorized with harassment and bomb threats that are causing schools to close as the people fear for their safety.
Enough is enough. Chaos, violence and continuous lies — that is what is in store for all of us if Trump is elected. Please vote to save us from this ordeal. Please think hard before you vote. Your and your children’s well-being will depend on it.
Matthew O’Donnell
Castro Valley
Trump fears another
bad debate performance
It is painfully obvious why Donald Trump does not want another debate with Kamala Harris.
In an embarrassing nationally televised rant, Trump displayed for all to see that he is an angry compulsive liar with no redeeming qualities. His unfitness for office laid bare, the GOP has no time to pivot away from a November disaster.
While some predict a close election for president, I sense a sea swell of momentum rising in the Harris-Walz campaign. Positivism and hopefulness will overcome constant chaos, negativity and conspiracy theories. Kamala Harris will become the first woman to serve as a U.S. president and a pitiful, angry old man will skulk back to Mar-a-Lago. We will have moved on.
Jon James
Pleasanton
Pope makes false
equivalence in race
As an American Catholic, I object to Pope Francis’ recent comments on our election encouraging that voters choose the “lesser of two evils.” There is no moral equivalence between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Trump has been impeached for crimes against our Constitution, convicted in civil court of assault against a woman, and convicted of fraud. His lying rhetoric has led to violence against immigrants. His support of White supremacists makes him a racist without a moral center
There is only one evil choice on the ballot: Donald Trump.
Dorothy Nicholas
Livermore