Attack on Sierra Club Unwarranted

Peter Green’s attack on the Sierra Club (“Now Sierra Club Threatens Wetlands,” Dec. 13) is unwarranted and an attempt to deflect recent criticism of the Amigos (de Bolsa Chica). The past efforts of the Amigos are appreciated, but a great many of the members do not support the densities proposed. Density is the issue, and it will cost the city of Huntington Beach $6 million per year in subsidies to pay for spill-over infrastructure improvements and services.

Is there a more sound economic as well as environmental solution? Yes, it is a land transfer. Those of us with the energy to continue to fight this ill-conceived project will take up where the Amigos left off in 1989.

DEBBIE COOK

Huntington Beach

* Peter Green’s comments ring hollow, especially since the Sierra Club did not endorse him in the last Huntington Beach City Council election. The reason for no endorsement? He is on the board of a “wise misuse” group--Californians for Bolsa Chica--organized, according to the group’s chair, by the developer’s public relations representative. Green was elected anyway, mostly on his prior reputation as a protector of Bolsa Chica. However, knowingly or not, he is now a pawn of the developer.

Environmental groups across the nation are being attacked by polluters and land speculators, using partial truths and tactics like those employed by Koll (Real Estate Group). Koll is a member of the National Wetlands Coalition, organized by Washington lobbyists who are working on dismantling the entire Clean Water Act, a law that isn’t strong enough, as we’re losing 800 acres of wetlands each day in this country!

These greed-motivated destroyers of the planet know, by reading opinion polls such as the one released this year by The Times, that the majority of citizens value environmental protections, even to the point that they favor environmental protection over economic development! So they resort to lies and false promises in order to be in tune with the populace.

If we are going to leave a meaningful legacy to future generations, we must search for the complete truth. A new Sierra Club book, War Against the Greens, explains these “wise use” tactics. It’s frightening to see parallels between the book’s examples and what’s happening here in Orange County.

MARCIA HANSCOM

Huntington Beach