ATLANTA BELTLINE
Project benefits many, not just privileged few
A reader decries "the Beltline project for Yuppies" ("Privileged few benefit at taxpayers' expense," Letters, Dec. 31) and asks, "What projects are planned for the poor, or for open parks, repairs to infrastructure, and similar needs?" The Beltline project does all of these things. Besides 33 miles of trails connecting 45 in-town neighborhoods, there will be 1,300 acres of new parks and green space open to everyone, as well as major updates to existing parks. Already, four new parks have opened.
Also, 1,100 contaminated acres will be remediated, and 5,600 units of affordable workforce housing, added. A total of 30,000 new full-time jobs are projected, as well as thousands of construction jobs. Projects such as the 4th Ward Park have resulted in reduced storm water runoff, minimizing flooding and decreasing the burden on city infrastructure.
Take the free Beltline tour and see the blighted areas that will be revitalized. Even though I live in Gwinnett County, I volunteer with the Beltline because it will benefit so many people in depressed neighborhoods.
MARCIA BRANDES, Peachtree Corners
JUSTICE
Judicial picks critics forget civics lesson
I find it interesting that John Lewis and Joseph Lowery, both of whom spent years with a man who wanted people to be judged by their character and not by the color of their skin, opposed the president’s federal judicial judges appointments (“Leaders protest judicial picks,” News, Dec. 24). Why? Because of the color of their skin. Too bad they did not learn from the great man with whom they spent their youth.
LEX BEAL, Lawrenceville
GLOBAL WARMING
Arctic is suffering from climate change
James H. Rust in his letter (“Global warming idea in doubt in Antarctica,” Letters, Jan. 5) states that the ship recently frozen in ice in Antarctica “shows global warming is not taking place in Antarctica and increasing carbon dioxide has no influence on the Antarctic climate.” Scientists who study historical changes in climate expect the Antarctic to lag behind other parts of the world in showing the effects of global warming due to the geography, ocean currents and wind patterns unique to that continent.
The Arctic, on the other hand, is being affected now by atmospheric carbon dioxide. The “Arctic Report Card: Update for 2013,” just published by NOAA with assistance from NASA, states, “The effects of a persistent warming trend that began over 30 years ago remain clearly evident. The impacts of the warming climate on the physical environment during those 30 years are influencing Arctic ecosystems on the land and in the sea.”
The Heartland Institute, to which Mr. Rust provides policy advice, is an organization funded by billionaires, Exxon Mobil and the Illinois Coal Association, among others, to attack legitimate scientists and deny that the burning of fossil fuels is causing climate change. Each of us must decide whether we chose to believe the overwhelming consensus from the world’s scientific community or the increasingly virulent stream of denial funded by those whose personal financial interests are paramount.
HUGH PATRICK, Milton
