Toll Road Terrorists: Opponents or Developers and Supervisors?

The Orange County Transportation Commission’s Washington lobbyist has it backwards (“OCTC Stands Behind Report on Tollway,” Feb. 12). He equated the Environmental Protection Agency’s criticism of the environmental impact report of the San Joaquin Tollroad with a Scud, and what is needed to fight it is a Patriot missile.

The real terrorists and tyrants in this case are the Transportation Commission, Board of Supervisors and developers, whose money buys the hearts and minds of the first two. Democracy and the interests of the public are being sacrificed to put money in developers’ pockets and power into the hands of their politicians.

The tollways will induce more growth, producing more congestion and more air pollution while they destroy the little wildlife and natural, open spaces that remain. Future generations will never have a chance to experience what used to make Orange County unique.

If our politicians were true patriots, they would recognize that the days of mindlessly gobbling up the environment are over, and they would pioneer long-term solutions to congestion, air pollution and dependence on fossil fuel: mass transit and intelligent community planning.

If growth that depends on the automobile continues, Orange County will be indistinguishable from Los Angeles. Thank God the EPA has enough guts to stand up to the powers of development that rule Orange County. But the paid lobbyists could easily win this one, since the bought influence of public officials by developers goes all the way to the top.

EVA FRIEDMAN, Irvine