Letters to the editor – Sunday (6-22-08)

Published 12:00 am Friday, June 20, 2008

Scalia may be emotional, but he’s right on detainees
Regarding David Kaye’s “Detainee Case” article on the June 18 editorial page, in my researched opinion, Justice Scalia may be wrong in getting emotional with his statement(s). However, the root of what he’s saying is true. The Constitution of the United States is for the United States’ citizens.
If there is a question of foreigners committing acts of aggression against the United States, then there is a doctrine for them. It’s called International Law, and please, why is everyone forgetting about the Geneva Convention? We participated in it for just these reasons.
So terrorists are not included in the Constitution, Scalia is right, and they are governed by the laws of war and the Geneva Convention rulings.
ó Jennifer Moreau
Salisbury
Vote for clean energy
Emerging clean energy industries, such as wind and solar power, are not only taking steps toward solving global warming and America’s energy problems.
They’re creating good jobs that help the economy and our environment.
We should be making investments in clean energy so green innovations can make an even bigger difference in stopping global warming, cleaning up our air, and building the kind of economy that future generations can rely on.
Yet Congress has to act now to deliver on the promise of a new energy future. Big Oil and its friends on Capitol Hill have been blocking the extension of critical clean energy incentives. If these expire, an estimated $19 billion in clean energy projects will be canceled, and America would lose more than 116,000 clean energy jobs.
With today’s economy, threats to the environment, and dependence on foreign oil, the worst thing we could do would be to impose a crippling tax increase on the fast-growing clean energy industry.
For the second time in as many weeks, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr voted to block the extension of these crucial clean energy investments. We urge Senators Dole and Burr to vote to extend the clean energy tax credits the next time the issue comes up.
ó Margaret Hartzell
Raleigh
Hartzell is the field organizer for Environment North Carolina. For information, visit www.environmentnorthcarolina.org.