Letters: Candidates want to nix EPA

Regarding "Primary could end internal GOP fight" [News, April 23], do you remember having a choice of leaded or unleaded gasoline? Or buying the pesticide with the higher percentage of DDT? Or wearing a radium "glow in the dark" wristwatch?

It wasn't that long ago that industrial wastewater polluted our rivers, automobile gas emissions poisoned our air, factory smokestacks spewed carcinogens into our atmosphere, and we were using lead paint in our bedrooms.

Currently, there are presidential candidates -- Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich -- vowing to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency. What do you think the "greed is good" corporate chief executives would do without EPA restraints? History indicates it would be an environmental nightmare.

Unfortunately, people will follow and vote for candidates who propose these ideas. Their votes, which make no sense, have replaced decisions made with common sense.

In recent years, voters have made choices on one issue they support, to the detriment of issues that directly affect their lives. We are guilty of surrendering to the 30-second sound bite.