Readers write

We can stop the cesspool created by climate change

A month ago, I hired a plumber to try to determine how my tap water was being exposed to dirt — what it smelled and tasted like. Finally, I read in the AJC that the source of the foul water was a longer occurrence of water inversion in Lake Lanier. In a more recent AJC article, the culprit appears to be algae growth fueled by phosphorus and nitrogen from agricultural runoff, with warmer waters contributing as well.

On a larger scale, the Atlantic Ocean now has a giant seaweed belt stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the coast of West Africa — this, too, is fueled by warmer waters and human-made runoff. Even as the Trump administration favors industry over human beings in its Environmental Protection Agency and energy policies, we are just beginning to see our world as the cesspool it is destined to become … unless we act now.

COP30 failed in its climate change mitigation efforts due to selfish lobbying efforts. Are you not a “special interest” in your future? Only if you care enough to speak up rather than just letting the worst happen to you.

JOHN W. SHACKLETON JR., ATLANTA

Trump criminal case was deemed too inconvenient

What a surprise! Another criminal case was dismissed against the current president. This time, here in Georgia, the justification appears to be a lack of interest and the claim that the case was “conceived in Washington.”

What does that even mean? And other defendants, electors who knowingly signed their names falsely attesting to Trump’s victory, despite no evidence to support this, the charges are dropped against them as well. The lawyers made them do it. No consideration of the actual charge.

A sitting president tries to overturn legitimate presidential election results and is not held to account because it is just too inconvenient. Since it was “conceived in Washington,” make it somebody else’s problem.

But it’s not somebody else’s problem. It’s our problem. It’s Georgia’s problem. And it will just be one more Trump problem ignored in Georgia, where the rule of law is only held up if it is not too inconvenient.

A.M. CERRA, MARIETTA

Ga. senators are advocates for small businesses

In an opinion article on Nov. 23, a restaurant owner on Canton Street in Roswell was given a platform to share her thoughts on the tax legislation that Congress passed this year (“Tax cuts help keep the American dream alive in Georgia and across the nation”). She was touting the savings for their business and employees. This is great, as our small businesses need all the help they can get while food and supplies continue to get more expensive.

The issue I have with the article is that it became a political “hit piece” at the end. The bill has already passed and is in effect. She expressed her disappointment with our two senators in Georgia for not supporting the legislation as it was written.

I’m curious whether she reached out to the senators’ offices to see whether they would have supported the small-business aspects had it not been attached to the part that adds trillions to the national deficit and enriches wealthy corporate owners and CEOs. Both senators have been strong supporters and advocates for small businesses.

This year, we have seen many Republican politicians attend ribbon-cutting events for projects funded by the infrastructure bill they voted against. When called out, they said they liked certain parts of the bill but not others, so they voted no.

When my family and I frequent a local business, we don’t ask about their political affiliation. Sometimes they decide to bring it to you.