Friday letters: Hard rains and wild fires, Houston's crusader, Al Green

Always a crusader

Regarding "Standing ovation" (Page A14, Wednesday), former Houston City Councilman Peter Brown and I were classmates in elementary and high school and friends all our lives.

Brown was always among the smartest in class. He played on championship varsity basketball and football teams. Our yearbook labeled him "crusader." That label accurately described his whole life of service.

He was a winner. He will be missed.

Jim Greenwood, Houston

Hard rains and wild fires

Regarding "NOAA's report card on Arctic reveals permafrost thawing faster than before" (Page A8, Wednesday) the "new" report told us what we already knew and simply made the evidence of the "old" studies more compelling and ominous. Climate change floods the Gulf Coast while desiccating the West Coast, and everyone everywhere is increasingly experiencing and paying for its cascading consequences.

America is making rapid progress in adopting clean energy, but we are also loathe to abandon the profits and false security offered by fossil fuels. However, insurance actuaries are well aware of the burgeoning economic costs of climate change, and Moody's warns state and local governments that their credit ratings will suffer unless they prepare for climate change.

Of course we must prepare and adapt, but we must do much more. We can hope another Harvey won't come along for 9,000 years, as statistics suggested before climate change reset expectations. But hope isn't enough either. It's insane to continue making the problem worse. We must stop new fossil-fuel exploration and development. Instead, we should research, develop and implement clean-energy technologies at full speed; Establish a revenue-neutral carbon tax to expedite the inevitable clean-energy economy and make it as painless as possible, and tell politicians with our votes that we expect them to both cooperate and lead.

Carol Steinhart, Madison, Wis.

Holding to convictions

Regarding "Just win" letter (Page A31, Sunday) the letter writer chastises U.S. Rep. Al Green's efforts to impeach Donald Trump, but Green, D-Houston, is doing exactly what should be done.

If a sitting president has obstructed justice and it looks like the president and cohorts may have done just that, then you don't have to wait until the next election to get rid of him. You do it now and let the vice president take over.

No president is above the law. President Richard Nixon knew he was going to be impeached because of his involvement in the Watergate break-in so he just resigned rather than face that prospect.

Green believes there is already enough evidence to begin impeachment proceedings so that is why he is doing it.

Robert Nackman, Houston