Letter: Lincoln was always against slavery

McCrory has no idea what he is saying

TO THE EDITOR:

What Pat McCrory doesn’t seem to understand when he talks about House Bill 2 is that nobody is advocating that men be allowed in women’s restrooms. We are advocating that women be allowed in women’s restrooms. Transgender women are women. Furthermore, when you make transgender women use men’s restrooms, you are forcibly outing them as transgender.

And as we know from the brutal examples of Elisha Walker, found murdered in Johnston County last year, and more than 20 other transgender people murdered throughout the U.S. in 2015 and 2016, it’s dangerous to be a transgender person in the U.S. There are zero recorded instances of a transgender person attacking someone in a public restroom. This bill doesn’t protect any women. Instead, it puts many in even more danger.

Brittany Burchett

Graduate student

Information and Library Science

McCrory needs to address air quality

TO THE EDITOR:

With the American Lung Association’s annual “State of the Air” report out this week, we can breathe a small sigh of relief. The report findings tell us that ozone pollution levels have dropped slightly in our community. This is good news for the 900,000 adults and 262,000 children diagnosed with asthma in North Carolina.

However, while we might have seen progress in the Triangle, there is still work to do to reduce air pollution that causes premature death, asthma attacks and lung cancer.

And as the report confirms, our changing climate will make it harder to protect human health, which means we need to act now.

The good news is that taking steps to reduce carbon pollution that contributes to climate change also reduces emissions that lead to harmful ozone and particulate matter.

The implementation of the Clean Power Plan is crucial in cleaning up the air we breathe.

We urge Governor McCrory to take steps now to address carbon pollution from power plants in N.C. as outlined in the Clean Power Plan, a major contributor to ozone pollution.

By cutting carbon pollution, power plants located here in N.C. and our neighboring states will not only help address pollution that is driving climate change, but also reduce other toxic pollutants that are harming our communities. N.C.’s children deserve nothing less.

Alison Lawrence Jones

Class of ’95