Letters to the Editor: Hey Orange County, you recently elected a pro-oil Republican to Congress

To the editor: Reading one horrible story after another about the ecological disaster unfolding on our coastline and in our wetlands due to yet another “leak” or “spill,” I see that Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Seal Beach) has sent a letter to President Biden requesting federal disaster assistance.

Has anyone bothered to view her official government website? As of Wednesday, the photo she uses to illustrate her “Energy and Environment” section shows an oil platform blocking out the setting sun on the ocean.

Steel needs to be held accountable for her reckless support of the Trump agenda, which includes more offshore drilling. Disaster assistance is a temporary Band-Aid for an environmental calamity that will kill marine life for decades.

Michael J. Harley, Laguna Niguel

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To the editor: This oil spill is taxing on people who are bad at math.

The current spill is the equivalent to about 10 swimming pools of oil. It should hardly elicit the nonstop handwringing by The Times or a headline about oil ruining another coastline.

Raw petroleum is an organic compound and can be dealt with with some effort. The coastline will not be ruined.

Robert Rex, Calabasas

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To the editor: This oil spill is not the first one to have spoiled our coastline, and it probably will not be the last. We must ask ourselves why this keeps happening.

Is it because we continue to buy cars and trucks that burn gasoline? Is it because we purchase goods from around the world and elect people who don’t care about the environment? If yes, we deserve some of the blame.

If we are truly disgusted by this spill, we should look to ourselves to solve the problem. We need to become responsible consumers and elect politicians who care about the environment and are not beholden to big corporations.

We all must do are part to protect the planet from becoming inhospitable to all living things.

Linda Shabsin, Diamond Bar

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To the editor: Seeing the front-page photograph on Tuesday of the cleanup crews in Huntington Beach instantly reminded me of the beautiful painting “The Gleaners,” by Jean Francois Millet.

How very different our world is today.

Arlene Roupinian, Rancho Palos Verdes