Clean air saves lives, makes city livable
This is a discouraging Atlanta Journal-Constitution headline: “Atlanta air quality warrants an ‘F’ grade,” (AJC, April 24).
Our ozone pollution, with smoggy days tripling since last year, makes the city one of the worst in the Southeast for ozone and among the worst for year-round particle pollution. The main culprits are fossil fuel-powered electricity and vehicles.
Yet, plans to close coal plants are being reversed, with continued reliance on burning coal and gas to meet rising energy demand. At the same time, policies encouraging electric vehicles are being rolled back, despite transportation being a major source of harmful emissions.
Clean air is not just a talking point — it saves lives and makes the city more livable. We need leaders who prioritize public health and climate, not more pollution. Atlanta deserves better.
JEFF JOSLIN, ATLANTA
Like Pope Francis, we need leaders who inspire hope
Thank you, Patricia Murphy, for your April 23 opinion, “Pope challenged Congress to be better. It isn’t.”
You reminded us that we welcomed the pope in 2015 when he addressed a joint session of Congress. He wanted us to act boldly on climate change. We have not. He wanted us to welcome the immigrants. We do not. He wanted us to be the opposite of tyrants and murderers. We are not.
For me, this is where hope enters. I look for leaders who are able to see God in all people. In Atlanta, in Sudan, in Gaza, in Israel, in Ukraine.
Jimmy Carter said we will never have peace if we keep killing each other’s children. What can we do today to promote peace so Pope Francis can really rest in peace?
SALLY FERGUSON, ATLANTA
Dark undercurrent boosts Trump’s approval ratings
A friend sent me the “Happy” Easter message Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social. Unlike uplifting messages from previous presidents, this one read like the rantings of a mad king.
Why do his supporters speak so loudly and over reporters’ questions? Shakespeare has the answer: they “doth protest too much, methinks.”
I am no longer surprised and appalled by his rhetoric. Nevertheless, I am disturbed by his approval ratings still hovering in the lower 40s. Why has it not plunged to mid-20s or lower 30s by now?
Sadly, we must face the fact that we have a dark undercurrent in our American character. The treatment of our Indigenous people, Black people and successive waves of various immigrants all bear witness to this ugliness. Hopefully, one day, this ugly strain of us will once again be driven underground, and those who supported this man will be ashamed to say they did. May the Trump era one day be remembered as the McCarthy era has been.
SANDY GAINES WOOD, ATLANTA
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