Letters are posted as we receive them during the week, and before they are printed in the paper, so check back frequently to see new letters. If you'd like to send a letter to the editor, use this postmarks submission form, or email your letter directly to Thanks for your patience.
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A Different Conclusion

RECEIVED Tue., April 7, 2020

Dear Editor,
    I share Colin Gonzalez’s admiration for Dr. Pritesh Gandhi [“Rootin’ for the Doctors,” Feedback, March 27]. I’ve heard him speak. He’s eloquent. I thank him for his front-line work during the time of the coronavirus.
    However, I’ve come to a different conclusion than Gonzalez. We need Dr. Gandhi here in Austin where he can continue his vital work. That’s why I’m voting for his opponent in the run-off.
Philip Russell

Hazard Pay for Hourly Workers

RECEIVED Tue., April 7, 2020

Dear Editor,
    As usual, H-E-B is more prepared and proactive than FEMA in an emergency. I believe the city of Austin should adopt H-E-B’s policy and give hazard pay to all hourly workers deemed essential and required to work during shelter-in-place orders. I also believe it should be retroactive to when nonessential employees were told to stay home. This is the least we can do to thank these workers for risking their health and that of their families in order to continue providing essential services to Austinites.
    I am not a city employee myself. I hope other citizens will express their agreement and encourage the mayor and City Council to act and show our gratitude.
Rhonda Pickens

The Green Movement

RECEIVED Sat., April 4, 2020

Dear Editor,‭
    I am a student at the UT,‭ ‬currently taking a class on sustainability.‭ ‬I found your article‭ “‬A Banana Peel,‭ ‬a Diaper,‭ ‬and a Plastic Bag‭” [‬Food,‭ ‬Feb.‭ ‬21] ‬very timely.‭ ‬This issue of waste management is a rising problem not only for decades into the future,‭ ‬but in a more immediate sense as Austin has to deal with landfills and their contamination of surrounding land.‭ ‬Soon,‭ ‬innovative waste management will be a necessity,‭ ‬not a choice.‭
    As a student who lives in one of those multifloored apartment buildings you mentioned,‭ ‬Austin’s composting initiative is unavailable to me.‭ ‬Especially in the neighborhoods around campus,‭ ‬there are thousands of people like me who would like to contribute to the zero-waste movement but aren’t being offered the opportunity at present.‭
    The growth of Austin isn’t stopping anytime soon and part of that obstacle consists of putting in place new measurements,‭ ‬so that the practices of Austinites‭ (‬including students‭) ‬start out as sustainable.‭ ‬Combined with education programs to expand the knowledge of current residents,‭ ‬this can make big strides to reaching the city’s‭ ‬2040‭ ‬goal of having‭ ‬90%‭ ‬less waste end up in landfills.‭
    I think your article succinctly defines many of the challenges facing the city’s initiative,‭ ‬but I also trust that Austin is the best place to create a movement such as this.‭ ‬To know the zero-waste plan was [created] back in‭ ‬2005‭ ‬gives me hope and a sense of pride,‭ ‬and I think it says something about who the city is and who it would like to be.‭
    The IPCC [Intergovern­mental Panel on Climate Change] is predicting an increased global heating,‭ ‬but the challenges we worry about facing tomorrow can be mitigated today if we work hard enough to stop them.‭ ‬Please continue educating Austinites on how we can contribute to the green movement‭!
Christie Basson

Communities Combating Climate Change

RECEIVED Sat., April 4, 2020

Dear Mr. King,
    I am Danny Lopez, a junior currently enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. I have recently become more aware of how serious the threats of climate change are, and have gotten increasingly discouraged until I read this article. I was doing some local research in hopes of changing the current path climate change is paving for our future and I saw your article, “AAAS Highlights Austin Efforts to Address Climate Change” [News, Sept. 16, 2019]. As a student who is still gaining insights on the effects of climate change, I was very pleased to read that several communities are using scientific information to adapt to climate change; one of the featured communities being Austin!
    In one of our lectures, our professor took a poll asking us how we feel about the current route of climate change, [and] although more than half of us agreed that we felt more hopeless, it is news like this that reignites our will to combat this potential threat to our future. Seeing how vast efforts from Austin to Yurok, California, are only enhances the intensity of this situation. Our country is known to not take this issue as seriously compared to other nations. However, your article has given me the sense of urgency to help us understand that we can still do something about climate change.
    I am onboard with and appreciate how communities across America are responding. A crucial thing we need to consider are tipping points of marine fisheries, tropical coral reefs, melting snow and glaciers, and marine phytoplankton; these tipping points are thresholds that we cannot exceed because it would cause detrimental changes to the current path to fight climate change. I hope people who read this are inspired to start their own ideas. All nations must unite for optimal defense against climate change.
Danny Lopez
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