The entrance to the Canyon Drive property was shrouded by trees that were removed by dump trucks that began appearing in Bluffview in March. A reader recommends Dallas do more to preserve trees.
Robert Wilonsky/Staff writer
Invest in trees
Re: “Taking the bluff out of Bluffview — Residents, property owners clash over redevelopment of northwest Dallas land,” by Robert Wilonsky, Wednesday Opinion.
It’s shameful to read about the destruction of trees and topography in Bluffview. Dallas has long been a city that does not take enough interest in its limited natural beauty, and it falls far short of doing what is required to protect the native landscape.
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While I favor a pro-business climate and understand that the success of Big D is due in part to our embrace of development, there is a way to achieve both. City planners — or whatever passes for city planning in Dallas nowadays — should look to Austin and their strict enforcement of tree preservation rules. In Austin, trees with a diameter of 19 inches or greater require a permit for removal or significant impact during construction.
Additionally, if your project involves working near these trees, you must follow specific tree protection measures to ensure their preservation. Yes, this slows down the process and potentially increases project costs, but it preserves trees that cannot be reliably replaced, replanted, nor grow to canopy height overnight.
Trees, it hardly needs saying, provide so much more than shade, beauty and habitats. A successful city should invest in them.
Beverly Lowry, Dallas/Old Preston Hollow
What are we doing?
Re: “NOAA: Contiguous U.S. breaks record for hottest month,” Tuesday news story.
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Amazon’s decision to build the largest polluting natural gas power plant in the country to power its new AI center in West Texas should alarm all of us. At a time when we’re facing an accelerating climate crisis, adding massive new sources of carbon emissions is moving us in the wrong direction.
The timing couldn’t be more troubling. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just reported that July was the hottest month ever recorded in the United States. Extreme heat is already threatening our health, straining our electric grid, damaging agriculture and wreaking havoc on communities.
AI and economic growth do not have to come at the expense of a livable planet. Texas has abundant sunshine and wind that can provide reliable, affordable electricity without locking us into decades of additional fossil fuel emissions.
We can’t keep building gas-powered electric infrastructure while the planet continues to heat. If we’re serious about protecting ourselves and future generations, we must demand cleaner energy choices now.
What are we doing? The climate is telling us we have run out of time for business as usual. This November we must vote for candidates who will work to protect our planet. Our very lives may depend on it.
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Andrea Christgau, Keller
She’s appalled
Re: “Electric shock gloves draw outrage,” Thursday news story.
I am appalled that electric shock gloves are being planned for distribution to ICE agents. My first thought was, where are the body cams they were supposed to start wearing to be more transparent in their actions?
Now, this transparency is skipped, and we move straight to a new way to assert power and possibly injure more people, many of whom are not the vicious criminals that we were promised would be arrested and deported.
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How many more Renée Good and Alex Pretti tragedies do we need before these agents are reined in?
Irene McCleskey, Carrollton
Our broken immigration system
Republicans’ anxiety over immigration is misplaced. The United States needs legal immigrants to grow and prosper, as stagnant populations create economic and social strain.
Of course, the border must be secure, illegal immigration stopped and entry managed through a fair, lawful process that welcomes contributors while maintaining order.
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American universities can be magnets that attract the brightest young people from around the world when they can be vetted and provided a path to work toward citizenship if they qualify. Not doing so wastes an incredible opportunity to fuel our country for future growth and prosperity.
The country also needs legal pathways for foreign workers in labor-short industries such as agriculture, construction and other essential sectors.
Republicans had two years to overhaul the broken immigration system, but failed to act. Yes, executive orders tightened the border, but they are not a permanent solution.
Bipartisan reforms have often been attempted in the past and always failed. If Republicans lose the House or Senate this November, comprehensive reform is unlikely, making this missed opportunity especially disappointing.
Jack Gibson, North Dallas
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Don’t mess with stockyards
Re: “Stockyards expansion dropped — Developer cites market conditions in halting $1B second phase of development,” Aug. 6 Metro & Business story.
The story detailing the plans for the Fort Worth Stockyards throws me into, yes, a small fit of regret and a call to stop the madness. The more change corporations bring to that area, the more likely they are to destroy the essence of why people want to go there in the first place. Big corporations can never leave well enough alone when there is money to be made.
I grew up in the stockyards area, sorta. My grandfather, Will Cornutt, operated a hotel around the corner and several other businesses in what was, back then, close to a dangerous, no-go area. Our mother insisted we spend time every summer, no matter that we lived about 1,400 miles away, with her relatives in Texas. We had a grand time going to the Isis Theatre and trying to stay out of serious trouble.
The plans to change things are exactly what I feared would be on the horizon when we last visited a few years ago.
Just like the president’s plans to disrupt Washington, D.C., these kinds of changes should be carefully considered, widely reviewed and, if necessary, turned down flat.
Don’t mess with it when you have something grand. The halfway rundown character is part of its charm. Don’t wreck it. Please.