Letters 02-09-2015

Feb. 8, 2015

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Applause For "Next" Issue

The February 2 edition of Northern Express is/was the best issue I’ve read in some time.

The student articles are well written on wonderful subjects. The article on young, educated people moving into the area is poignant and addresses the major housing problem. To help solve the problem the city should remove the building height restrictions and allow the building of tall condo and apartment buildings in the old warehouse district west of downtown. Taller buildings in this area would not block any views of the bay and would provide housing for the new arrivals.

Traverse City is not the little town I grew up in.

Micheal Cromley, Afton

Climate Madness

Recent polls show that not only do large portions of our population agree that global warming is a real result of our use of carbon energy, but also scientists are almost unanimous in their agreement that global warming is real, will lead to the catastrophe of our current world and will prevent our grandchildren from leading a life anywhere near normal.

It now seems (according to Gallop and New York Times polls) hat both political parties are beginning to agree that this is our greatest task as a people, to protect our climate and preserve it for our children and grandchildren.

But amazingly, our Congress has now indicated that it has almost no intention of doing anything about what the people and scientists of this country and others perceive as the greatest problem we face as a civilized people -- the preservation of our world. And yet, we continue to elect these folks to lead us down paths of destruction, kowtowing to the mandates and dollars of their masters and sponsors, who seem to have no other objectives than to preserve their profits for as long as possible, despite the harm they will cause to our people.

This is madness"¦

Robert Marshall, Lake Leelanau

No To Multinational Deal

Are you alarmed about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)? It is an international trade deal that has been negotiated in secret by multinational corporations and the United States, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. This lack of transparency and accountability has many worried. . Trade agreements take precedence over national, state, and local laws. Vulnerable are laws regarding safe air, water, food, pharmaceuticals, worker/ human rights, intelligence, internet, judicial rulings and more. A TPP Dispute Resolution Council meeting in Geneva would pass judgments, but only multinational corporations and government trade representatives would be allowed. Rulings are final. A proposed fast track process would mean an up or down vote in Congress without amendments, filibusters, and limited debate.

It has been called "NAFTA on steroids." Since NAFTA, 64,000 American manufacturing plants have closed eliminating hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs directly and millions indirectly. Many who lost jobs end up with low-income, part-time jobs. Multinationals say they need this trade deal to remain competitive in the global marketplace; translated, that means profit over people, including you.

Tell President Obama and your legislators to say no to "fast track" and the TPP.

Beverly BJ Christensen, Cedar