Dialogue

by

WE TOLD YOU SO

Surprise! President George W. Bush no longer believes that CO2 emissions from power plants need to be curbed. This is in direct contrast to his campaign promises and to what his appointee to head the EPA had announced would be agency policy. Bush does not believe that global warming is a reality. When he was Governor of Texas he did not believe in mandatory air pollution reductions for polluting facilities that were grandfathered from the 1971 Clean Air Act. We’ve now had thirty years of non-compliance! His voluntary program for these polluters was a dismal failure and made Texas the laughing stock of the nation during the presidential election. What an accomplishment-Houston is the most polluted city in America. Bush thinks that government should work with polluters instead of fining them. That was his directive to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) and that that is why the rest of America calls the TNRCC “trainwreck.” Bush was the engineer of the derailed train.

President Bush’s definition of “good science” must have been written by the polluting corporations that bought him the presidency. Perhaps he skilled his science classes at Yale. Must have been a conflict with frat party time. This is a warning to America-beware. We have a very unscientific president when it comes to the environment and public health protection. When industry wants to do whatever it wants to pollute our country, he never calls it “bad science.” Funny how he never breaks a promise to industry. I am ashamed to call him my President.

Christine Wilson Lakeway

PASS BILL, SAVE SPACE

House Bill 1028, a bill to reduce the offense levels for marijuana possession in Texas, has received little attention from Texas citizens. While many individuals feel the bill does not apply to them, an official fiscal analysis has shown that it will. According to the Legislative Budget Bureau, decreased incarceration of marijuana offenders will save Texas over 40 million dollars in 5 years and more than 3,000 prison beds in 10 years. If H.B. 1028 passes, it will mean more money and more prison space could be used to fight violent crime. Instead of punishing nonviolent marijuana users, the state could afford to keep rapists and murderers behind bars and not prematurely free them on parole. This bill will benefit all Texas citizens, and all Texas legislators should support it.

Kat DeBurgh Marijuana Policy Project Washington, DC

NO MORE NUKES

Thanks to Molly Ivins for bringing up the downside to nuclear power plants. Another downside is that they release at least 418,00 curies of radioactive gasses annually. (Krypton and Tritium, according to tables published in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, section 51.20, Jan. 1, 1978). This may be the reason that Ernest Sternglass’s studies in the 1980s found an increase cancer rate around nuclear power plants.

Rick Potthoff Houston

AND HOWDY TO YOU, TOO

Howdy and comradely greetings to you from the Huntsville KKKoncentration KKKamp system. Hope this letter finds you all well and in excellent spirits.

I wanted to write to say thank you for the most interesting issues of your magazine. Thanks! I share them with some fellow prisoners, so I’m not the only one who appreciates your effort. Would greatly like to keep receiving the magazine.

Kevin Glover Huntsville

HATE NOT

The hate crimes bill (“Two Cheers for the Hate Crimes Bill,” March 16), which serves as the local liberal litmus test, is nothing short of criminalizing thought. As the editorial noted, Texas law already penalizes behavior. For those of us who work in the criminal system, it is silly to think that criminalizing anything changes behavior. The hate crimes bill is this year’s analog to loyalty oaths. I am dismayed that the Observer jumped on the bandwagon of outlawing what someone thinks, even though the liberals are driving the wagon.

D’Ann Johnson Austin