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Invest in Bay Area’s
greatest asset: Nature
Re: “Bay Area needs unity to solve its problems” (Page A9, Aug. 17).
I second Russell Hancock’s recent call for bold regional leadership in this period of “federal ruckus.” As climate impacts intensify, California must act now to build climate resilience for tomorrow — and for future generations.
Coyote Valley, just south of San José, offers a model for how conservation and stewardship of nature can do that. Here, protected natural and working lands provide a buffer from catastrophic wildfires, floodplains recharge groundwater, wetlands soak up rains to prevent downstream flooding, farmlands grow our food and open space connects over one million acres of critical wildlife corridors. These aren’t just ecological perks. This is essential infrastructure.
Nature-based solutions to climate impacts are cost-effective, scalable and rooted in equity, protecting all communities while enhancing public health and biodiversity.
As Hancock wrote, let’s “put ourselves back in charge.” We can start by investing in the most powerful tool we have: nature.
Andrea Mackenzie
General manager, Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority
San Jose
California ‘can do’
high-speed rail
Re: “Should California’s high-speed rail continue?” (Page A10, Aug. 17).
“Yes! California’s high-speed rail should continue,” is my answer to your question of Aug. 17.
I am a transplant from New England. California had many things of which to be proud. It is never a time to create things of which to be ashamed. All the reasons to attempt this project are still valid. We still need to wean ourselves off intrastate car and plane travel, or at least, provide a good alternative. This is still the environmentally friendly thing to do.
I believe the state must aggressively attempt to remove and mitigate obstacles and unnecessary burdens to the project, to seek greater efficiencies, and continue to fight for federal funding. I also support continued state funding of $1 billion+ a year until the project is complete, even in this time of escalating Trumponomics.
I always want California to be the “Can Do” state.
Bob Greene
Mountain View
State’s redistricting plan
is a necessary antidote
Re: “Newsom reveals mapping gambit” (Page A1, Aug. 15).
California’s redistricting (on the Nov. 4 ballot) may be criticized as a “partisan ploy.” However, that ignores the existential threat to our democracy underway by Donald Trump.
The threat is far beyond partisan politics. At stake: whether we’ll have fair elections ever again, in this country.
Trump already attempted a violent coup d’état (after trying other illegal ways to overturn the 2020 election). Upon returning in 2025, he pardoned the convicted felons of Jan. 6, and he has a green light to commit any other crimes, thanks to the Supreme Court that he stacked in his first term.
Now he’s blatantly rigging the 2026 election. What will be left of our democracy by 2028?
Newsom’s proposed redistricting is a necessary, and temporary, antidote to the Trump coup.
Madge Strong
Willits
Gerrymandering
is nothing new
Re: “Democrats mull a return to state’s gerrymandered past” (Page A6, Aug. 8).
I always thought the term “gerrymandering” came from the 80s when Gov. Jerry Brown started using it in California.
However, consulting with Webster’s dictionary, it came from the early 1800s when Declaration signer Elbridge Gerry was governor of Massachusetts, and later vice president under James Madison. One of the carved-up voting districts he created looked like the head, tail and four legs of a salamander. Another legislator coined the new word, gerrymander, instead.
In any case, gerrymandering is nothing new.
Ron Knapp
Saratoga
Democrats, GOP must
pause rivalry and lead
The Democratic and Republican parties lack the characteristics needed to work together and to govern our nation effectively. Their inability to lead and cooperate has caused chaos, division and devastation.
Texas and California are taking steps to redraw their congressional districts in an effort to shift power in Congress. As our country’s name clearly implies, the states that make up the United States must be united. The reality is that the states are divided based on the party that controls each state. Ditto the Congress and Senate. As a result, our nation has achieved ill will, division and hostility.
To build unity and foster national peace and harmony, our state and national leaders must end their rivalries and their false belief that anyone from a different political party is the enemy. Our leaders must work together — regardless of party — to govern and unite this country. There is no other way.
Nick Dellaporta
Santa Clara
We must keep our
heads in chaotic times
Every day, the newspaper is crammed with absurdities, making us wonder if we are living in a Franz Kafka novel.
From Donald Trump’s demand for $1 billion from the California taxpayer-supported UCLA to the crackdown on the Smithsonian Museum to the declaration of a public safety emergency in Washington, D.C., after the robbery of a DOGE employee, the list never ends.
It’s normal to feel despair under crazy circumstances. We must, however, be hopeful and do our best to resist. For example, let’s continue to keep ourselves informed, volunteer to help with voter registration and join peaceful rallies. Taking all these actions doesn’t guarantee change, especially in the short run, but if we don’t do anything, things will certainly go from bad to worse.
Florence Chan
Los Altos
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