All must take steps to build clean energy future
Two AJC stories on July 11 should send climate change alerts to everyone’s cell phones: “Ga. among leading states in gas leaks” and “Glacier tragedy shows severity of summer heat in Europe.”
Both triggered the loss of life. How many more consequences go unreported? Thousands. Ecosystems fail because temperatures rise faster. Record heat waves erode our mental health. Fossil fuel dependencies result in accelerating greenhouse emission levels. It must stop.
A recent Yale study ranks climate change at the bottom of conservatives’ agenda. We need moderates and progressives to come together to open our skies and let the sun shine. Build a clean energy future!
As citizens, we must encourage our leaders to support legislation from nature to technical advancement and public awareness. It’s time each of us takes steps. My wife and I are replacing our natural gas stove with an electric induction one. We wish Georgia Power had better plans to go green.
What will you do? Call your representatives.
BOB JAMES, ATLANTA
Savannah base vital for combat-ready air force
No state should see a reduction in its combat readiness, especially when the world is potentially staring down World War III.
The July 9 opinion column, “Congress likes changes which hit someone else,” makes the false assumption that military investments only help the state in which they are located.
I advocated for the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC) to remain open, not just because Georgia needed it but because the world needed it. The U.S. cannot lead the free world with an air force that is the smallest, oldest and least prepared it has ever been.
The Savannah CRTC is the most effective, highly utilized center of its kind in the country. Now is not the time to rein in our combat readiness; in fact, we should be opening more centers, be them in Georgia or another state that can provide the world-class training our servicemembers deserve.
U.S. REP. BUDDY CARTER, R-POOLER
Repeal 2nd Amendment to stop gun violence
Shocked by mass killings? You should be, but why should it stop there.
Every day, the AJC publishes pages of local killings. We learn that a fast food worker is shot over a serving of mayonnaise. Over 40,000 gun- deaths (many from suicide) each year all point to the prevalence of guns in this country.
Perhaps we have become desensitized from video games, TV violence, NRA propaganda, or just the frequency of killings. Slogans about “taking away your guns” appeal to superficial thinking. Politicians are scared of the angry populace that feels that the gun gives power to their powerlessness. They receive political contributions from the NRA, prolonging the gun culture.
Assault weapons and handguns exist to kill. The reliance on misinterpreting the Second Amendment to the Constitution has escalated to the absurd. We are a sad joke to the rest of the world.
Recent gun legislation is like a band-aid on a mortal wound. Repeal the Second Amendment! Stop the killing.
JOHN SHACKLETON, ATLANTA
