Letters to the Editor: She loved 'Lone Ranger,' Keystone oil project would be harmful, and more

Don?t be influenced by movie reviews
I went to see the "Lone Ranger" movie and thoroughly enjoyed it. The review is so wrong. Do reviewers hate Johnny Depp or what?

Beyond Midnight got 3 stars and it was the worst move I ever saw. The Lone Ranger was one of the best movies in a long time.

Phooey to the idiotic reviews.

? BEV CONTOIS, Westfield

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Keystone Pipeline harmful project

I should like to comment on a statement in your editorial, ?No easy answers in energy discussion? that is favorable toward approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.

You say ?If Keystone is not constructed, the oil will (still) be extracted.? I agree, but it then will have to be transported by other means such as rail at greater cost which will make it more expensive and less profitable. This would reduce its present unfair competition with renewable energy since the producers are not paying for the pollution arising from the use of the oil.

Climatologists predict, probably correctly, that if CO2 emission continues at the present rate, global warming will be greatly facilitated with consequences such as the rising of sea levels by six feet or more, leading to the flooding of parts of many of our principal cities and the submerging of many low-lying areas of the world. The economic impact would far outweigh the gain afforded by the pipeline. Keystone would help this happen and is a bad measure.

Some argue that if we do not use this oil, it will be shipped elsewhere and burned there. However, the atmosphere does not obey national boundaries and if this is done, we, as well as they, will suffer.

Actions should respect morality and not be driven by the short-term profit motive that may lead to current gain by some but suffering of our descendants and those less fortunate living elsewhere.

? RICHARD S. STEIN, Goessmann Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

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Holyoke doesn?t need Walmart store

Everyone who drives south along Northampton Street and continues along Whiting Farms Road towards the Holyoke Mall is well aware that the traffic becomes bumper-to-bumper several times per day, and especially heavily so during the holiday seasons.

Edging along in line in either direction as you wait for lights to change at either end of Whiting Farms Road is not merely frustrating, but most importantly, it is consuming precious time and fuel and spewing carbon.

Traffic studies have shown that when a major business venture, such as Walmart, were to be located in the center of this traffic pattern, the traffic flow would be expected to more than double.

Can you picture the horrendous effect on the ability of emergency vehicles to get through this line-up of cars and trucks on this two-lane road? Even with regulated traffic light changes at all intersections along Whiting Farms Road, first responder emergency vehicles, such as ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks, will be perilously delayed.

Allowing the building of another heavy traffic business to come into the area of a two-lane road has to be seen as ridiculous planning, and it cannot be corrected if it occurs. Expansion of lanes at intersections and usage of traffic lights cannot move cars and trucks away from needed emergency traffic travel. Whiting Farms Road is not a four-lane road. It cannot be effectively used as such without creating horrendous traffic tie-ups. This will not be a traffic inconvenience, it will be a traffic hazard! It is terrifying to think that the city planners may be considering a business such as Walmart to come into the city. There are numerous existing retail businesses that are already providing the same low prices that Walmart does. The low-paying jobs that would be available at Walmart would be readily filled by those already working persons that will be laid off when such businesses as K-Mart, Ocean Sate, the Dollar Stores, and the smaller hardware stores are pressured out of existence.

Walmart stores are available within a few minutes of travel on all sides of Holyoke. As a lifelong resident of Holyoke, I find it tremendously disappointing to see city planners considering this socially irresponsible business to come into Holyoke, and especially to have it located such as to effect a traffic-impediment safety hazard.

? ANTONIO FERREIRA, Holyoke

Source: http://www.masslive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/07/letters_to_the_editor_she_love.html

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