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Readers Write: Bridge-gate spells end for Christie; Drought and immigration growth

Letters to the Editor for the Feb. 17, 2014 weekly magazine:

If 'bridge-gate' was caused solely by Christie's underlings, he has no control of his staff. If he had prior knowledge of it, it is a criminal matter. Such a person is not deserving of the presidency – or a governorship.

The Pew Research Center projects that 82 percent of US population growth between 2005 and 2050 will come from immigrants and their descendants. Yet we dodge discussing the consequences demographics have on scarce water resources.

| North Haven, Conn. and Rio Rancho, N.M.

Bridge-gate spells the end for Christie

Two recent Inside Washington articles on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and the Bridge-gate affair ("Bridge-gate," Jan. 20, and "Christie's silver lining?," Jan. 27) inaccurately play down the severity of the lane closures in Fort Lee, N.J., and the scandal's potential impact on Mr. Christie's prospects as a future GOP presidential candidate.

First, the traffic jams didn't occur directly on the George Washington Bridge but on local access lanes in Fort Lee, causing days of serious problems for motorists, residents, schoolchildren, and emergency personnel. A death was attributed to the failure of an ambulance to get to a hospital.

It seems that this matter will definitely derail the governor's chances for the presidency in 2016. Christie is facing an "either/or" situation. If the situation was caused solely by his underlings, that proves that he has no control of his staff; however, the buck still stops on his desk. On the other hand, if he had prior knowledge of the closing, then it is a criminal matter. Such a person is not deserving of the presidency – or a governorship. Let the hearings commence.

George P. Lamarsh

North Haven, Conn.

Drought and immigration growth

Regarding the Feb. 10 Briefing on California's drought: Work to combat drought should include a hard look at the sacred cow of a booming population. Do Americans conserve merely to free water for more growth in this, the world's third most populated nation, behind only China and India? In the 1918 drought, California's population was 3.5 million. Today, it nears 40 million. The Southwest teeters at the brink of the first federal water emergency on the Colorado River, a primary California water source, even as Gov. Jerry Brown and others extend a welcome mat to the world.

The Pew Research Center projects that fully 82 percent of US population growth between 2005 and 2050 will come from immigrants and their descendants. Yet we dodge discussion of the consequences demographics have on scarce water resources. We must not simply conserve or find "new" water sources; we must take steps to curb – or at least take into account – immigration-driven population growth.

Kathleene Parker

Rio Rancho, N.M.

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