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Trump forces taxpayers to bail out coal
Re: “Trump sends $75 million to terminal” (Page A1, June 6). Coal can’t survive in the marketplace, so taxpayers are being ordered to rescue it. As your article reports, the $75 million for Oakland’s terminal comes via the Defense Production Act — a Cold War statute meant for genuine national emergencies, not for propping up a fuel that lost out to cheaper natural gas, wind and solar years ago.
Bay Area residents will pay twice: once in taxes, and again in the health and climate costs of shipping millions of tons of coal a year through our region to be burned in Asia. Meanwhile, the clean-energy economy our region actually leads gets nothing.
If this project made economic sense, it wouldn’t need a federal bailout after thirteen years. Private investors should read that signal clearly — and so should Congress. There are far better uses for $75 million than exporting yesterday’s fuel from tomorrow’s economy. The Rev. Laurie Manning
Oakland
Becerra’s ‘coronation’ appears inevitable
Re: “Becerra leads big in early polling” (Page A1, June 12).
It’s a given that the majority of folks who voted for Tom Steyer will be voting for Xavier Becerra, so why wait for a November election and a January coronation? Let’s make it all official and crown Xavier governor on August 1. This way Xavier has a 5-month head start to make good on all his promises to fight Donald Trump while making everything more affordable, like reducing the costs of gasoline, groceries, utilities and rent.
This would also give him a head start hiring the doctors and nurses needed to provide free healthcare to every person living in California, and most importantly, he can start making every billionaire and corporation begin paying their fair share in taxes so he can pay for all this stuff.
And the best part is we avoid having to endure the divisive mudslinging between the two parties, knowing the outcome is a given.
Bill Behan
Brentwood
Schools must allow students authentic lives
Re: “District, GOP at odds over policies” (Page A1, June 11). It’s disheartening to continue seeing this aversion to the flourishing of LGBTQ+ students, especially during Pride month.
As a queer teacher myself, I often recall my time in public schools being defined by a mixture of shame and secrecy. This inability to positively take ownership of who I was while simultaneously keeping it out of reach from my classmates was not only mentally taxing, but a complete blow to my development as a person.
Students experience some of the most formative years of identity development while in school, whether it’s realizing they’re bisexual or they’re into paddle tennis. This isn’t a matter of indoctrination, as so many politicians put it. Rather, it’s a question of growth and whether or not we are capable of realizing that schooling is meant to cultivate who a student is, not stunt it.
Gabriel Nitro
Berkeley
Board is picking on somebody doing good
Re: “‘Crappy Childhood Fairy’ sues state board” (Page B1, June 10). I have never taken her group class, but the fact that the California Board of Psychology spent this much time and effort on policing her instead of on policing their practitioners for not meeting ethical standards has me livid with righteous rage. Human beings in suffering deserve better.
Shantha Smith
San Jose
Trump’s CalFresh rules exemplify his cruelty
Re: “CalFresh changes bringing concern” (Page A1, May 26). Just when I think I cannot despise Donald Trump any more than I already do, he decides to make it harder for people to eat. When did cruelty become a major plank in the Republican Party platform?
Ruth Crabtree
San Jose
Diplomacy should not be one man’s province
Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that he will start no wars, end all wars and that he can stop or prevent conflicts with a simple phone call. Such statements reflect a dangerous view of international affairs. They are grandiose, pompous and arrogant, reducing complex geopolitical realities to the will of a single individual.
History demonstrates that wars arise from deep political, economic, territorial and ideological conflicts that cannot be resolved through personal bravado or simplistic promises. Believing that one leader alone can control world events risks misjudging adversaries, alienating allies and encouraging reckless decision-making.
Peace is achieved through diplomacy, alliances, deterrence and careful statecraft — not through claims of personal omnipotence. The danger of this mindset is not that it will prevent wars, but that it may lead to new confrontations, escalating tensions and increasing the risk of conflicts that could ultimately engulf entire regions, or even the world.
Mark Grzan
Morgan Hill