San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Money wasted on new public toilets
Regarding “Sleek design for S.F. public toilets” (Bay Area, June 12): When you “gotta go, you gotta go.” No one really cares whether or not there are plants or shrubs on top or around the toilet. Why is San Francisco wasting taxpayers’ money? The “bureaucrats and practitioners” would never use these toilets no matter how many plants were on them.
Audrey Schambach, San Francisco
Informed judgment
Regarding “Supreme Court’s travel ban ruling must not repeat history” (Open Forum, June 13): In his most excellent opinion piece, Peter Irons likens the current travel ban to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. And indeed, with the secrecy of the reports justifying the actions in both cases, there are similarities. Solicitor General Noel Francisco must make the contents of his secret report available to the justices of the Supreme Court. Then they can make an informed judgment as to the “military necessity” of this ban.
Elizabeth Larson, San Francisco
Trump’s pardon power
President Trump calls upon NFL players to tell him who he should pardon in what he perhaps thinks will solve the issue of protests during the national anthem.
Focusing on just one aspect of many in this mind-boggling statement, perhaps Trump doesn’t realize that his pardon power doesn’t bring back to life those who have been killed? As would appear at the end if this were his tweet — sad.
Michael Fischer, El Cerrito
Protect the forests
A grim future faces California’s cherished forests, so there’s an urgent need for protection of our many watersheds. State water supplies depend on forests receiving and placing rain and snowmelt in the earth beneath, and also storing tons of carbon dioxide, keeping that greenhouse gas out of our atmosphere. Here are the multiple threats to our intact forests: The first is past natural damage from drought and bark beetles. Second, is the ongoing destruction of the complex forest ecology by the irresponsible timber harvest called clear-cutting, used by corporate logging companies to start tree farms. The third is the recent invasion of illicit marijuana growers in national forests. Both the second and third threats above remove large tracts of mature trees before planting saplings for their tree or pot farms, and both use toxic herbicides to protect their crops, diverting and polluting adjacent waterways. Our new governor and legislature must force the lax California Board of Forestry to prohibit the practice of clear-cutting in timber harvest, and to stop the use of toxic chemicals in all logging operations. Since forests have no voice, use yours to help them.
Bob Moncrieff, Monte Sereno
Environmentalists unite
Many of us would probably label ourselves as environmentalists. We respect nature and don’t think it should be ravaged for just every economic opportunity that comes along. We recycle with zeal and may drive electric or hybrid vehicles. We belong and contribute to the Sierra Club or the Nature Conservancy. We may write letters to the editor advocating for the protection of a park or an open space or the ocean or the rivers. We might even take a stand and subsequently become an activist, especially if it is happening in our own back yards. Environmentalists are not afraid to wear their green on their sleeves.
But the time has now passed where these smaller, personal, and only local actions will be good enough. Faced with the rapidly increasing existential threat of climate change, it is mandatory that all of the environmental community now coalesce behind demanding immediate action from their governments. Whether you’re a 1970s treehugger, a faith-based advocate or a newly aware millennial, it is incumbent upon all of us to join hands and use our collective power to move beyond simply protecting the environment. We are now severely challenged to protect the planet, to ensure our survival as a species.
Will Gibson, Pacific Grove
Don’t remove statue
Regarding “Another chance to get rid of demeaning relic” (Caille Millner, Datebook, June 9): When I look at the “Early Days” portion of the the Pioneer Monument at the Civic Center, I do not see a glorification of the conquest of the native population, to the contrary, it represents the brutal oppression of the original inhabitants. The priest is the villain of the piece, not a hero. To remove it would be to try to erase an ugly but very real part of our history. Perhaps we should add a statue that celebrates Native American culture.
William Atkins, San Francisco