GOP lawmakers put their position ahead of planet
In your July 31 news article, “Summer of heat, fire fails to sway GOP on climate,” a Utah Republican of the Conservative Climate Solutions Caucus commented on the heat, “Because I’m not a scientist, I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about that.”
Perhaps he should have said, “Because fossil fuels interests support Republicans, I won’t worry about their effect on global boiling.” Not a single Republican supported the biggest piece of climate legislation in U.S. history. Only a few ethical Republicans like senators Romney and Murkowski (who are open to a price on carbon) question their party’s stance on climate change. Fossil fuel companies have lied about, lobbied against and thwarted action against climate change. This July, we were given a foretaste of what is coming, and yet Republicans chose to vote against the future of our planet to preserve their undeserved seats in Washington. Government is supposed to think of our long-term interests because Americans are short-sighted. Where is the outrage?
JOHN W. SHACKLETON JR., ATLANTA
Film shows humanity of Black trans women
As I read the lengthy article about “Kokomo City,” the new film about Black trans women sex workers, I was impressed by the film’s goal of deconstructing the widespread notion that such individuals are unworthy of respect. I’ll be there at the Plaza Theater on Ponce for its premier Atlanta showing.
But I could not help being surprised and mystified by the lack of even a single reference to the groundbreaking Indie film “Tangerine” (2015). Set in south Los Angeles, it relates the often-humorous, often-appalling experiences of several trans sex workers. The humanity of the characters in that film was on full display. It’s also worth noting that it was filmed on three iPhones; you could almost smell the streets and dives. The film’s fierce immediacy was remarkable.
Both films depict what many people think of as perverts as being people searching for what almost everyone really wants: love and understanding. Take off all the labels, and you have reality.
RICKS CARSON, ATLANTA
