Education

Overdue Shutdown of the Indian Point Nuclear Plant


To the Editor:

Re “Nuclear Plant’s Shutdown Means More Fossil Fuel in New York” (news article, April 13):

New York State is making good on its promise to replace the aging, unsafe Indian Point nuclear plant with clean energy. Gains in energy efficiency and renewable power over the last decade already exceed the plant’s total annual output, with much more to come.

We can expect year-to-year changes given fluctuations in energy demand and prices. But the overall trend in New York is clear: Clean energy is here to stay, and emissions reductions are on track to reach the state’s ambitious climate goals.

Closing this dangerous plant is overdue. Over the years Indian Point has experienced reactor structure problems with the potential for structural failure, as well as leaks, fires and unplanned shutdowns.

For the 20 million people who live within 50 miles of it, Indian Point’s long-planned closure ends a risky chapter.

Paul Gallay
Kit Kennedy
Mr. Gallay is president of Riverkeeper and Ms. Kennedy is senior director, climate and clean energy program, at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

To the Editor:

Re “The Next Level in Office Amenities: Mustangs” (Square Feet, Business, April 14):

Not surprisingly, companies at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center in Nevada, including Tesla, are wooing prospective employees by promising spectacular views of wild horses. In a state where livestock outnumbers wild horses by at least 10 to 1, the 47,000 remaining wild horses symbolize a pioneer spirit that is quintessentially American.

Nevertheless, the federal Bureau of Land Management continues to spend more than $60 million a year in an endless cycle of removing horses from the range (which typically involves stampeding the horses by helicopter) and holding them in government-run corrals.

The bureau would be wise to look more closely at successful public-private partnerships, including leveraging the resources of companies that care about stewardship, to manage these herds. Humane fertility control methods, like the porcine zona pellucida immuno-contraceptive vaccine, can effectively curb population growth while substantially lowering the costs for taxpayers.

Joanna Grossman
Washington
The writer is equine program manager for the Animal Welfare Institute.

To the Editor:

Re “My Son’s Yeshiva Is Breaking the Law” (Opinion video, nytimes.com, April 7):

Those who have rejected Orthodox Jewish practice have become the most vocal critics of Orthodox Jewish education. More important are the voices of the parents in New York State who each year choose yeshiva education for more than 165,000 children.

We are very proud of their professional success. Many run businesses, while others become entrepreneurs, executives or teachers. Yeshiva graduates have created jobs for tens of thousands of New Yorkers, and tens of thousands of yeshiva graduates have built their homes and raised their families in New York. That is success.

Our critics are not satisfied, but that is because what concerns them is not our literacy but our way of life.

(Rabbi) David Niederman
Brooklyn
The writer is president of United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn.



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