Atlanta Streetcar has positive impact
I read Benita Dodd’s disjointed column “A streetcar named denial” (May 19, Opinion) with bewilderment and disgust. Ms. Dodd hails from a limited government school of thought where everyone is a self-made entrepreneur and the very idea of the communal, leveling effect of mass transportation is anathema, particularly if it’s funded from the public purse. I have ridden the streetcar since service began. I’ve talked to residents, vendors, tourists and others. Overwhelmingly, people are positive and delighted with it. The effect of such a project has to be measured in decades: Those boarded-up businesses and trash-strewn parking lots to which Ms. Dodd refers will be a thing of the past. Already, the King Center and Sweet Auburn Market are reporting huge increases in visitors. Where once these gems were only for the intrepid, they are now thronged during opening hours, and scores of new, dynamic bars and restaurants have opened on Edgewood Avenue.
JOHN FITZGERALD, ATLANTA
Slow movers create traffic hazards
One of the rules of the road is that slower vehicles stay right, and faster vehicles pass on the left. By grouping vehicles of similar speed together in the same lane, we reduce the chance of accidents and improve the flow of traffic. Slow drivers in the left lane create an unsafe situation where other drivers must break the rules of the road to pass. Those driving the speed limit in the left-most lane make sanctimonious claims that others are speeding and should not be passing them. But their inconsiderate actions are provoking others to further abandon the rules of the road and of the law. Their behavior and claims demonstrate they value their self-righteousness over the safety and well-being of others.
GARY BEALE, CHAMBLEE
Climate change needs action now
The president is right saying failure to act on climate change “would be a dereliction of duty” (“Obama asserts climate change is a security threat,” News, May 21). Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists are convinced human-caused global warming is happening. Our military leaders have been warning of this threat. The Syrian civil war and Arab Spring uprisings were both preceded by climate-related changes — drought and food and economic insecurity. To say our adversaries are not motivated by “weather” is a cheap, politically motivated line that ignores facts. Our enemies use climate-related disasters and the related unrest to recruit, shift blame and exploit. Our Creator has blessed us with natural beauty and abundance. Science tells how we misuse it and how to stop the damage. The time to take action is now.
JEFF JOSLIN, ATLANTA
