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Letters to the Editor, Feb. 19 Feb 19, 2018 12:00 AM A A Head in the sand The MT Sunday editorial (Feb. 4) argued that Oregon’s Legislature should delay even longer action to address statewide climate pollution. I can’t believe this head-in-the-sand judgment. Our region is flirting with another drought; what is the fire risk going to look like this summer? Devastation from climate chaos is now , not tomorrow, yet our state Legislature has been pitiful in reducing statewide emissions. Voluntary goals enacted in 2007 are failing, yet no appropriate legislative response has been forthcoming. For 10 years, bills such as the current Clean Energy Jobs Bill have been developed and proposed. Ten years! Opponents repeatedly argue "now is not the time," as though they will address it "next year," but they never do. Senate President Peter Courtney has stood as an obstacle to action year after year. If he’s a coach, he’s the opposition coach! It is time for our Legislature to face reality, bite the bullet and act — not more delay. Already money is being thrown into a campaign of lies about the bill. States already enacting climate pollution limits have reduced pollution and grown economically; we should join them. Our representatives could make Oregon a leader in combating climate change and grow economically. Louise Shawkat Ashland Letter was correct Gaither B. Everett's letter, "Redefine DACA" in the Feb. 7 Mail Tribune is absolutely correct! Mary Engelson Medford Commercializing space People have questioned the legitimacy of NASA missions when that money could be better spent here on earth. Does anyone question a tax system that allows super-rich people to literally throw billions of dollars into space? There is something completely perverse about commercializing space, a frontier that we do not understand. We act as if there were some national bragging rights to trashing nature. Are people so terminally dense? There is nowhere in the universe to go, except here. We are destroying the one planet that can support us. We have gone from 'one giant leap for mankind' to the first empty beer can to orbit the sun. Tom Espinosa Medford Brand is critical When we buy a washing machine, the brand tells us about quality, reliability and repair record. Sleazy Harry would like to market his cheap, unreliable, knock-off washing machines as Maytags, but fortunately patent and trademark laws prevent him from doing so. So now we have Republicans who will be running for elective office rightly wondering about their brand. Unfortunately for conservatives, there no longer exists a sane conservative, traditionalist Republican brand. There’s only Trump! From top to bottom, anyone running under the Republican banner should know they have identified themselves as Trumpists and carry that baggage. This means they are campaigning as white supremacists, racists, misogynists, xenophobes, anti-science apologists and defenders of fake news, ignorance and incompetence. This is where they stand unless they loudly and clearly repudiate everything Trump. As Paul Krugman recently wrote: “... the cynical bargain that has been the basis of Republican strategy since Reagan has now turned into a moral trap. And as far as we can tell, no elected Republican — not one — has the strength of character to even attempt an escape.” Not a great candidate banner. Republicans be warned! Your brand is no longer what you would like it to be. Trisha Vigil Medford Letters to the Editor, Feb. 19