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Trump taking guardrails
off the entire nation

Re: “Trump will drive nation into ditch” (Page A6, Dec. 18).

A writer says that the president-elect is ‘’undermining institutional effectiveness and credibility” and worries he will ‘’drive the nation into a ditch.” It is much worse than that.

Donald Trump and his bootlickers are spreading lies and chaos throughout the world. Insulting our allies and fomenting hate among factions at home and abroad is his shtick. He will torpedo any science-driven help for the environment and accelerate the desecration of our natural habitat, all for money.

So, goodbye to safeguards: Industry will now be free to increase dumping poison into our air, water and soil. What could be the harm of that? And, speaking of disease, I can hardly wait to see how they mismanage the next pandemic: get your syringe, bleach and UV light ready. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it will just “go away.” Then we can focus on polio, soon to re-emerge on the heels of withholding vaccines.

Marilynn Gray-Raine
Danville

Wood smoke threatens
the Bay Area’s health

Did you know that wood smoke is the largest source of air pollution in the Bay Area during the winter? Some residents may be inclined to fire up their woodburning stoves or fireplaces around the holidays. Unfortunately, burning wood can be harmful to ourselves and our loved ones.

The fine particles in wood smoke are so tiny that they can move beyond the lungs and into the bloodstream, which can lead to asthma attacks and heart attacks. People with lung disease, heart disease, as well as kids and older adults, face higher risks from this smoke.

To improve the air quality in your home this winter, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s Clean HEET program helps reduce the cost of switching from a wood-burning stove or fireplace insert to an electric heat pump. You can find more information on how to protect your lungs at lung.org.

David Pepper
Oakland

Where were business
leaders before vote?

Re: “Tech makes an economic case for immigrants” (Page C9, Dec. 23).

Now “Tech makes an economic case for immigrants.” Recent reports indicate that agribusiness is lobbying to allow immigrant labor on farms, too. The garment and hospitality industries also seek exemptions. Business leaders everywhere agree that the Republican crackdown on immigrant workers, along with high tariffs on imports, will raise consumer prices significantly and spike inflation.

I understand their point. That is why this Republican voted for Democrats up and down the ballot in November. Donald Trump promised to deport 11 million immigrants, slap heavy tariffs (taxes) on consumer goods and become dictator on his first day in office. Why did so many of these moguls support Trump, against America’s interests, and wait until now to make their case?

Please ask the corporate elite to explain why so few of them had the integrity to defend migrant workers and explain tariffs’ impact on inflation — before the election. Taxpayer subsidies, perhaps?

Chris Conrad
El Sobrante

Trump education pick
motivated by profit

Re: “Trump’s education pick shows he understands assignment” (Page A6, Dec. 19).

Erika Donalds lauds Donald Trump’s selection of Linda McMahon to be our next education secretary. Donalds’ doesn’t hide the contempt she has for public education when she supports someone whose main qualification seems to be her role as an owner of World Wrestling Entertainment.

The final words in her opinion piece tell it all – the goal is for the Education Department to “turn off the lights.”

As with most of Trump’s picks, the goal is to shut down the function for which those departments have been set up, from protecting our environment to protecting civil and labor rights, and, with McMahon, to destroy public education and replace it with a profit-making charter, religious and private system which can make billionaires like McMahon even wealthier.

David Weintraub
Oakland

Purdy’s money could
have been better spent

Re: “Purdy spreads the holiday cheer, gets SUVs for his O-line” (Page C3, Dec. 21).

More nonsensical than their pay.

Why would you give 10 players who make more money per year than most of us will make in our lifetime gifts that total more than $500,000?

I understand that he is very grateful and that he wants to show them that, but would not that kind of money be so much better spent on those lives in the Bay Area, or anywhere for that matter, that are in dire situations, especially at this time of the year? Wouldn’t a tearful hug and a smack on the butt at a fine restaurant somewhere show just as much feeling?

There is so much silly money there that a $50,000-plus vehicle as a thank-you gift is not considered over the top. Just think what that kind of money dropped into the red basket of a food bank could provide.

Mark Hertstein
Pittsburg

Keeping Diablo Canyon
open isn’t worth the risk

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Re: “Nuclear plant stays open; bills to rise” (Page B1, Dec. 23).

The rationale for decommissioning the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is more urgent than rising electricity rates.

The aging complex is surrounded by four active earthquake faults with the potential to produce quakes and tsunamis greater than the plant is designed to withstand. A Fukushima-scale catastrophe is in the cards for San Luis Obispo so long as Diablo Canyon remains in operation.

Mat Bergman
Richmond