Letters to the Editor
Bury I-95, and
fund mass transit
Re: "Need an 'earthquake' to cover I-95?" letter, Monday:
Removing I-95 and depending on Columbus Boulevard to carry the huge amount of cross-city and cross-country traffic through the tear-down area is simply asking for trouble. Sure, the aesthetics of the city may improve, but the traffic in the city would be even more disastrous.
We do not have a proper bypass freeway in this city, unlike San Francisco. I-95 is the most trafficked highway in the nation; the Embarcadero wasn't. Unless a pretty pricey bypass is built, this idea is ludicrous.
Covering the freeway seems like a much more appropriate compromise. The biggest question for me remains: When will Philadelphia spend the money on public transportation?
Andrew E. Rigefsky
Philadelphia
'Post-racial' America
is still just a dream
John Yoo cites the recent decision in Ricci v. DeStefano as a victory against the kind of judicial empathy that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor promises to bring to the table, suggesting that Sotomayor might be out of place. He then hails it as a sign that we are entering a post-racial America ("No more quotas," Sunday).
I wish he were right.
The fact is that, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which collects and publishes such statistics, the number of hate groups in the United States grew by a whopping 54 percent from 2000 through 2008.
One need only look at all the recent fuss about Latino immigration, along with the irrational suspicion of anyone who might look Middle Eastern, to realize that a "post-racial" America is still just a pipe dream. And, until we get there, a little more empathy is just what we need.
Mary Shaw
Chestnut Hill
N.J. electricity prices
a campaign issue
The candidates for governor in New Jersey should consider electricity prices in their energy plans. New Jersey is burdened with electricity costs significantly higher than the national average, ranking 46th-highest in the United States.
