Bigger infrastructure needs than Trump’s wall

I personally oppose any funding for President Trump’s proposed border wall. It has been well established that more undocumented people are currently leaving the United States than are entering illegally.

Furthermore, congressional representatives of southern border states have said that many of their constituents are not in favor of such a wall. On the other hand, there are numerous pressing infrastructure needs throughout our nation. These include leaking dams, crumbling bridges, mass transit repairs and expansion, unsafe public drinking water, leaky and inadequate wastewater systems, as well as road resurfacing and construction to name only a few. Federal funds are desperately required now to address and remedy these and other kinds of long- neglected infrastructure problems. To me, these should be the first obligations with regard to any federal funds budgeted for construction priorities — not an expensive and unnecessary border wall.

Judith Muench, Homer Park

Climate change

Today climate change is hap- pening all over the world, even here in Chicago. Some people think that climate change is caused by humans and some people think that it’s caused by nature. But scientists say that when we use electricity that comes from gas and coal, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere and it traps the heat.

We need to stop using our cars and limit the amount of electricity we use. I’m in sixth grade and I go to Hawthorne Scholastic Academy. We’ve learned in science class that we should ride our bikes instead of using our cars. We could also take the bus, which uses only a limited amount of gas.

If we all do this, the rate of climate change will decrease, and we won’t have as many big storms. The polar ice won’t melt and our cities won’t flood. We would have a better environment when we grow up.

Ava Kaplan, Lake View

Personal responsibility

You should be lauded for your stance on the law about parolees associating with known felons and gang members to remain the same. It’s one of the first times you actually made the point that people have to become personally responsible for their actions, like the personal responsibility of agreeing to parole restrictions.

Now if you could just expand on that common sense and push the idea of personal responsibility to everyone, like obeying the law, then maybe the crime and violence in this city will begin to abate. It’s not society that causes crime, it is individuals.

Robert Stasch, Norwood Park