01/31 What you’re saying: Don Evans, Amanda Ashley, Patrick Deegan, and P.Y. Smith

Angst and grief

Regarding the news story, Residents bring their fears, tears and pleas to Chapel Hill development hearing (Jan 26)

Has Chapel Hill ever displaced an entire neighborhood to make way for a development? Lotta angst and grief sparked by a developer who admitted he was planning to flip the development afterward. In other words, the Chape Hill residents would be displaced by a developer who has no intention of being a part of the community.

Chapel Hill’s price

Regarding the news story, Residents bring their fears, tears and pleas to Chapel Hill development hearing (Jan 26)

This issue and this project brings into stark focus, more so than any other that I can recall, what price Chapel Hill has set for its soul. Choose wisely.

A spiritual battle

Regarding Paul Scott’s My View column “Can the Black Panther save Durham?” (Jan. 28)

It is true: change begins with us, but if we have not been changed by Jesus, our change amounts to nothing. Better schools is not the answer. Our choice of president is not the answer. Being in the right neighborhood is not the answer.

We will never fix “this” problem until we realize that we are not fighting against “flesh and blood” but against “principalities of darkness.” We must stop trying to fix a spiritual battle with bandages and crutches. Our money and selected people is not the answer. Jesus is the answer. He, alone, is our Saviour.

True vitality

President Trump signed an executive order last year and recently unveiled a plan to open millions of acres of water in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans to offshore drilling. While his promise is to provide economic security with an abundance of energy for years to come, these actions endanger the economic and environmental prosperity and future of every coastal town in the United States.

Oil rigs release tons of chemicals and oil into the ocean, including mercury, arsenic, and radioactive materials, endangering public health and harming the fishing industry. Beyond these issues, there are significant risks of leakage or explosions, as seen with the Deepwater Horizon rig in 2010 which released over 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, killed 11 workers, and destroyed beaches, wildlife, and tourism. The cleanup effort cost over $8 billion, and yet 6 million to 10 million gallons of oil still lay in the depths of the ocean.

Instead, money needs to be invested in clean, renewable energy, which creates more jobs than offshore drilling, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. This is the true path to economic vitality and energy security for future generations.

This story was originally published January 31, 2018 at 6:00 AM with the headline "01/31 What you’re saying: Don Evans, Amanda Ashley, Patrick Deegan, and P.Y. Smith."