Climate inaction’s costs higher than action’s

Manhattan: Even when I don’t agree with your editorials, I usually respect them. So I was disappointed that you supported Gov. Hochul’s backtracking on the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (“High energy,” editorial, March 22) while stating that the “costs of climate change will be immense,” as we suffered when the air was choking orange in 2023 caused by fires in Canada.

You could have pointed to opportunities New York has to promote sustainability. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act would reduce packaging waste, saving money on shipments to landfills and incinerators. The bill passed the Senate last June but never came to a vote in the Assembly. Speaker Carl Heastie can bring it to a vote and the governor can sign it. We could make rooftop and community solar more accessible and affordable with simple reforms if Albany agrees to make the Accelerate Solar for Affordable Power Act (ASAP) possible. Expansion of the J-51 tax abatement for buildings making upgrades to meet Local Law 97 targets is being considered in the budget.

Those are just some solutions. The governor says she’s concerned about “all the stress our residents are under.” When have we not been under stress? There are always economic problems, yet you had a story about heat in the Southwest (110 degrees in March!). Rather than plans to build nuclear reactors, which will take years to come online, and data centers that use vast quantities of water and ignore the concerns of communities, sensible solutions can be put in place right now. Eileen Leonard

Shifting priorities

Hampton Bays, L.I.: Maybe the TSA should close the priority lane when things get busy and open up a standard lane. That would help speed things up. It might even help to urge Congress to do its job. Gene Kelly

Surging violence

Brooklyn: To Voicer Steven Davies: Since the barbaric Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the Gaza war that followed, Jews in America, Britain and other Western countries have been subject to a tsunami of hatred. Jews outside of Israel are the only people held collectively responsible for a country in which they do not live. Jews have been murdered in Colorado, Manchester, U.K., and Sydney, Australia. A synagogue in Jackson, Miss., was burned to the ground. You seem oblivious or unconcerned about the scourge of antisemitism. It might interest you to know that the Israelis who were murdered in Washington, had just attended a conference concerning the need to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza. Wendy Jackson

Bit more than can chew

Vancouver: President Trump and his director of operations, ultra-terrorist Benjamin Netanyahu, are obviously losing badly and are looking to take the world down with them. Israel is in shambles with probably large casualties, dead and maimed. The U.S. has spent billions, has lost a large quantity of military resources and is being chased from the Middle East region. It has also lost a significant number of military personnel, although it won’t admit it. And Iran is not about to give either country a soft way out. Both Trump and Netanyahu will pay an enormous price for their criminality. Wayne Bailey

Another quagmire

North Bennington, Vt.: Yes, it’s déjà vu all over again, as Yogi Berra would say. You’d think that after Vietnam, we would have learned. In a meaningless war, we lost 48,000 men killed in action (17,725 KIAs drafted, many college grads) of 2.6 million men in combat in ‘Nam. End result: We frantically got our people out of Saigon before the North Vietnamese took over. Will history repeat itself in Iran? Hopefully not! If our leaders in Congress wake up in time, we may avoid another Vietnam. “It ain’t over ’til it’s over!” Tom King

Price tracking

Bronx: Voicer Robert Brennan talked about comparing gas prices in America under Joe Biden and Trump. According to Macrotrends.net: March 2019, $2.40/gallon; March 2020, $1.84; March 2021, $2.78; March 2022, $4.18; March 2023, $3.29; March 2024, $3.41; March 2025, $2.95; March 2026, $3.79. This looks to me like there was a worldwide COVID supply chain spike in 2022, then prices subsided until the start of the Iran war. Stuart Eber

Unqualified & elevated

Long Branch, N.J.: The same people who claim that a Black woman who’d been the attorney general and senator for a state with the largest population and economy, and who served as vice president, was unqualified to be president are trying to convince us that a plumber with no college degree should be the Department of Homeland Security secretary. In addition, every Republican senator who tried to block the nomination of a qualified Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court just voted to confirm the plumber with no experience to lead DHS. Lenzy Kelley

Sinister spite

South Windsor, Conn.: Robert B. Mueller exemplified public service, from his time as a Marine in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, to his time in the U.S. attorney’s office to his nomination to be FBI director by George W. Bush one week before 9/11 and his service in that capacity. Upon his death, former Presidents Bush and Barack Obama issued messages of condolence and appreciation written in true presidential fashion, with dignity and respect. Presidents speak with decorum because they speak for the people. In celebrating Mueller’s death (“Good, I’m glad he’s dead”), Trump spoke not for the American people but for himself, because he’s the defining metric. The epitome of narcissism, demeaning and denigrating others upon their deaths (John McCain, Rob Reiner) who’ve displeased him is nothing new, but the Mueller post sinks to a new low. John Gallup

Unlawful enforcement

Brooklyn: Re “ICE gave false info to grab migrants” (March 26): The excuse that ICE gave for destroying people’s lives is, “Oops, we made a mistake.” Maybe if ICE officials and their agents were arrested and tried for their misdeeds, the terror would stop. Every deportation should be based on immigration law, not the whims of ICE nor those of the president. Herman Kolender

Protect N.Y.

Manhattan: Gov. Hochul, please put the complete New York for All Act into the 2026 budget. It makes it clear that being an immigrant is not a crime and our laws protect all New Yorkers. Outside of NYC, local law enforcement is often deputized by ICE to arrest people they deem to be here illegally and detain them in local jails without due process. These arrangements would become illegal, formally and informally. The bill also keeps personal immigration data private. Local and state personnel can’t ask people their immigration status, share it, put it in a database or use it in health care, housing or family issues. Illegal acts are still illegal. Court orders have to be followed. Experts confirm there is nothing in the bill that disrupts our legal system in any way. It protects immigrants who might not otherwise report a crime or serve as a witness. Melissa Riker