Social media warnings are a good first step
The surgeon general’s new mandated warning message about social media apps has been a long-awaited government response to the youth mental health crisis. I hope that this will open the eyes of parents who don’t know or believe that their child’s mental health is declining. This warning label is not the solution; however, it is a good first step from the government.
TEDDY HAMILTON, ATLANTA
City would rather court developers than fix problems
It’s well known and has been reported by this paper that many commercial properties are under-taxed in Atlanta. Also, incoming businesses seeking to dive into one of the hottest markets in the United States always seem to request and receive juicy tax breaks, as if they will lose money by locating here and need reassurance.
These constant, lucrative handouts to prosperous businesses have cost the city hundreds of millions. Much of this could have been directed to our water infrastructure or transportation problems. Sadly, our city council seems more than willing to accommodate developers instead of doing the un-sexy work of solving problems like water and traffic. It’s time to seriously reevaluate that and redirect appropriately scaled taxes to fixing real problems that have been building for decades.
Our aging pipes aren’t the only thing outdated and leaking in Atlanta: Our obsolete revenue flow is fountaining all over the place and flooding the pockets of developers. The rest of us are left with dry taps.
ROB MCDOWELL, ATLANTA
Legalized bump stocks risk mass carnage
Thanks to Republicans on the Supreme Court and in Congress, we can now look forward to mass shooting carnage the likes of which we’ve never seen before.
It has long been illegal for private citizens to have machine guns, and bump stocks turn semi-automatic weapons into machine guns. But six extremists on the Supreme Court have struck down a federal rule banning bump stocks, resorting to ridiculous mental gymnastics to deny the obvious. And Senate Republicans are blocking Democrats’ efforts to ban bump stocks by law. The blood on their hands will likely not trouble them.
Meanwhile, we Georgians are at enhanced risk because of open-carry laws passed by GOP legislators pandering to males suffering from arrested development and manhood insecurity. Case in point: Research shows that someone publicly carrying a gun is more likely, not less likely, to become a gunshot victim. The man who tried to intervene with the recent bus hijacker in Atlanta was fatally shot with his own gun.
CHRIS MOSER, STONECREST
Permit reforms are needed to meet clean energy demand
The June 16 article “Against the Wind: As solar power surges in the United States, wind struggles” highlighted the bottleneck permitting causes for building wind turbines to generate electricity.
The time-consuming holdups stem from barriers to plan approvals, early community engagement, construction of the wind turbines, and construction of the infrastructure and transmission lines needed to deliver this cheap power across our country. Georgia’s growing power needs caused Georgia Power to plan more gas plants to meet the demand. Yet, cheaper and cleaner wind power would be available if we can speed up the process of building and distributing this precious resource.
I visited the office of my congresswoman, Rep. Nikema Williams, last week to seek her help with permitting reform. But you can help from home with a quick call to your elected representative and Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
Sustainable power is cheaper power. Sustainable power is cleaner power. It’s also a bipartisan issue that both sides agree will help Americans save money, slow climate change and improve air quality. Let’s work together to demand swift action.
JEFF JOSLIN, ATLANTA
