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Readers write: living with nature; immigration in 2016; warming up to climate change

Letters to the editor for the Dec. 21, 2015, weekly magazine.

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Thomas D. Mangelsen
Grizzly 399 and her 3 cubs (one is behind her) explore the new growth during the summer months at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

Living peacefully with nature
Thanks for the Nov. 30 cover story, “Icon of the Tetons,” which highlighted the complexities of sustaining the life of species with little room to spare. While the actual chances of a park visitor being injured by a bear (1 in 2.1 million) counters our fear-based culture, holdouts of antiquated grazing laws on public lands are certainly components of the dilemma. The coexistence of humans and wild animals is a work in progress, indeed.
Lisa D. Hoover
Blue Lake, Calif.

Immigration in 2016
Regarding “Why immigration could be central to the 2016 campaign” (Nov. 23): Immigration policy should be central to the 2016 presidential campaign because of its impact on the bottom half of American society. Today, low-skilled immigrants increase income inequality and collapse income for much of society. We have three options: (1) continue current policies that enable large-scale legal and illegal immigration of low-skilled workers, which drives down pay rates for low-skilled jobs, to the benefit of wealthy employers; (2) remove some or all of the unauthorized immigrants and raise incomes; or (3) establish a subsidy, such as $5 an hour for all workers, to lower the expense for businesses to hire low-skilled workers. Economic growth by itself will not solve this problem. The choice is ours.
Charles Forsberg
Lexington, Mass.

Warming up to climate change
Regarding the online Dec. 6 Monitor’s View, “A cool consensus emerges on global warming” (CSMonitor.com): Climate change caused by human action may be real and thus a proper topic for discussion in the public square, but it will not gain the currency required for broad buy-in until we can demonstrate that immediate action is urgently needed. There are so many more proximate issues, such as education, employment, and empowerment, that making the case that climate change is what we should fear most is a tough sell. Many will have trouble warming to the idea.
Paul Bloustein
Cincinnati

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