We need clean air and energy balance, too

Of course our climate is changing. It has been warming and cooling essentially since the dawn of time. But regardless of the cause of any current change in climate, we must work together to produce cleaner air if for no other reason than we have to breathe it!

That does not mean, though, that we should abandon fossil fuels and place all of our bets on renewables, for as Dustin Hoffman’s character in “Little Big Man” said: “Sometimes the wind don’t blow.”

We must also realize that more than 1 billion people across the globe still do not have electricity in their homes. To bring them the electricity that will improve their standard of living in an environmentally and economically responsible manner, we must adopt a balanced global energy policy that includes clean and safe nuclear energy, renewables and investments in cleaner-burning coal, oil and gas.

Our region is, in many ways, already a hub for fossil fuels, nuclear energy and to some degree, renewables. The balanced energy approach outlined above, therefore, would also have a positive impact on our local economy. VAUGHN GILBERT

Elizabeth Township

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must not have an ounce of compassion and must be punished. BILL SCHWARTZ Scott

Pittsburgh immigrants and their advocates are correct to be wary of new Department of Homeland Security directives announced in February. The new rules enable the deportation of virtually any removable non-citizen, not just those who have committed serious crimes.

The Feb. 15 article “Immigrants Wary of Recent ICE Actions in City” describes the incidental arrests of four Pittsburgh-area residents swept up by ICE officers who were looking for other people. As reported in other cities, immigrants live in fear that they and their families will be victimized by the greatly expanded immigration enforcement rules.

These politically motivated DHS directives, founded in false stereotypes, have the effect of dehumanizing and criminalizing immigrants, despite the available facts which indicate that undocumented immigrant crime rates are lower than the crime rates of U.S. citizens. The new rules are expected to face court challenges around human rights issues. Finally, the DHS plan is massively expensive, requiring Congress to add billions of taxpayer dollars to fund an unnecessary border wall, 15,000 more immigration agents, more detention centers and more immigration judges.

This is funding ill-spent, and implementing the DHS plan can be expected to damage community safety, devastate families, erode human rights and encourage discrimination. Many believe that the DHS plan will also harm the economy. In the last analysis, the DHS measures work at cross-purposes to the U.N.’s 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes that contempt for human rights can lead to barbarous acts, in turn undermining peace and justice for everyone. KAREN CALHOUN

Boswell, Pa.