Letters to the editor for May 6

My coronavirus world

I think the coronavirus is mother nature’s wake-up call to the human race. There are just way, way too many people on this planet and we are destroying everything because of it. So if we don’t do something to control and reduce our numbers, nature will do it for us.

Look, pandemics are not caused by viruses, they are caused by overpopulation. The function of viruses within the world’s ecosystem is to keep populations in check. The real curve we should be trying to flatten is that of human population growth.

Pandemics will only become more common and more lethal in the future unless we find some way to control and hopefully reduce the number of people living on this planet. One good way to do this would be to spend more money worldwide on preventing unwanted pregnancies.

That said, the war we are now fighting against the coronavirus may cause more death within our nation than we lost in Vietnam. Many people will lose parents and grandparents, and some families will lose young ones too. Plus, the economic cost of helping reduce overall mortality will be severe. The coronavirus pandemic we are experiencing may become our defining moment of this century.

But we, as a nation, will get through this current disaster, just like we survived Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks. We are a country of immigrants who know how to fight together. Nothing can break the heart and soul or spirit of Americans. Nothing.

Environmental justice worsened amidst crisis

The coronavirus crisis should be a wake-up call for us to improve our public health system. And yet the Environmental Protection Agency has just stopped the enforcement of many public health and environmental protection measures.

Pollution puts individuals at a higher risk for both chronic and acute disease. Relating this to COVID-19, pre-existing respiratory conditions put you at greater risk for death.

Further, EPA enforcement rollbacks threaten to worsen existing health disparities. There is a breadth of scientific research that shows that low income and minority communities face the brunt of pollution and health effects related to pollution. As we can see from data coming out of Chicago and other major cities, the virus is disproportionately harming black, Latinx and other minority populations. These are the same communities more likely to be harmed by pollution.

Allowing corporations to abuse this pandemic by not following important EPA policies will be harmful to the health of all Americans, and particularly to those who are most at risk.