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Oakland not quitting on coal terminal fight
Re: “Company’s coal suit over city’s ban fails” (Page B1, Oct. 7).
This spring, Donald Trump boasted that a proposed coal terminal would start shipping deadly coal out of West Oakland in 2028. A few months later, it’s clear that the East Bay has no intention of going down so easily.
I’ve lived in West Oakland for over ten years. My kids go to school here. We already deal with pollution from the Port, multiple freeways and dozens of toxic facilities: A coal terminal would push air pollution to even more dangerous levels.
Assembly Bill 40 mandates a fair, thorough environmental review for the terminal. It’ll confirm what we already know: Shipping coal would have disastrous health impacts for the hundreds of thousands of people living along the route of mile-long coal trains.
My neighbors and I will be active in every step of this environmental review process. We will not let deadly coal endanger our homes, our neighborhoods or our children.
Nicole Merino Tsui
Oakland
Please keep citizens abreast of coal terminal
Re: “Company’s coal suit over city’s ban fails” (Page B1, Oct. 7).
To mitigate the effects of coal exposure in Oakland, the city banned the storage of coal in 2016. Unsurprisingly, the Trump administration announced a $75 million investment in the building of a coal terminal in West Oakland in 2026.
Oakland historically has been subjected to the worst air quality in the Bay Area; it is safe to say this is a direct attack on the residents of Oakland. This is why it is important for California to keep fighting for the right to clean air through legislation. Although reported on the proposal of Assembly Bill 40, the East Bay Times did not report on the passing of AB 40 on September 30.
It is crucial to keep readers, community members and the future of Oakland informed of the possible impacts on their environment and health. Residents deserve clean air and clean lungs.
Téa Morales
San Jose
Vote yes on strong Moraga schools
As two community-minded seniors, we’ve worn many hats in Moraga — teacher, president of the Moraga Historical Society, founding Board member of the Moraga Education Foundation and the Moraga Community Foundation, and former Moraga Co-Citizens of the Year. We believe the health of our schools and our communities are inseparable. That’s why we’re voting yes on Measure W.
Some seniors, whose kids and grandkids have graduated, might question what this has to do with them. The answer is that strong schools are a top reason families continue to make Lamorinda home and a major reason our property values have stayed strong. When schools thrive, communities thrive.
Measure W provides eight years of locally controlled funding for teachers, manageable class sizes, advanced academic programs and counseling services.
Please join us in voting Yes on Measure W.
Susan and Sam Sperry
Moraga
Push reps to act on Trump’s latest outrage
Re: “Trump sparks backlash from California leaders” (Page A1, Oct. 7).
Today I contacted my senators and congressman, then my governor and my mayor, to urge them to do the same. Please join me in imploring your representatives to protect us. This is what I wrote:
“I read today that the President of the United States offered two California cities to another country as collateral damage, as a ‘small price to pay.’ The quote I read took place at the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center in Grand Island, Nebraska, Oct. 5, 2026: ‘It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. That’s a very small price to pay.’
“This man must be removed from office, whether through Article 25 or impeachment. Please save us.”
Linda Inman-Hoffert
Concord
RFK Jr. is failing citizens on vaccines
Re: “CDC vaccine policy recommendations grind to a halt under Health Secretary Kennedy” (Sept. 25).
The report on the halt of CDC vaccine recommendations exploits a dangerous fault in federal healthcare leadership.
For years, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices guided CDC policy, including insurers affiliated toward that evidence-based guidance. Yet Donald Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to oversee federal health agencies and replaced the ACIP with anti-vaccine activists, evoking a lawsuit from the American Academy of Pediatrics. In March, a federal judge ruled that Kennedy violated federal procedures and ultimately suspended Kennedy’s decision to reduce recommended childhood vaccines.
The FDA failed to provide guidance on the new flu vaccine, leaving recommendations unclear and reducing childhood vaccination rates.
As Dr. Jason Goldman expressed, a necessary return to transparent, evidence-driven processes safeguards communities. In addition, Yale policy researcher Jason Schwartz cautions that strong evidence cannot inform the public without an appropriate system functioning.
Jaraya Henry
Hayward
This November, vote for profound national change
Listen up, America. According to the U.S. Constitution, its purpose is to “promote the general Welfare.”
Don’t believe me? Read the opening paragraph of the U.S. Constitution. Promoting the general welfare means America: everyone, not just the poor or the rich. Nor does it mean any political party.
Currently, America is out of control and in the grip of a president who is in authoritarian control of the U.S. federal government. The Founding Fathers never counted on political parties.
It’s time to vote for a change.
Armando Gaytan
Pleasanton