Letters to the editor — July 312026

Conley opposes reopening Indian Point

To the Editor:

Mike Lawler, who is running for his third term to represent the 17th Congressional District, is advocating reopening and rebuilding the Indian Point nuclear power reactors. That would reduce carbon emissions, but only if the three natural gas-powered plants that were built to replace the reactors or other such power plants are shut down. 

But once again operating the Indian Point nuclear reactors would bring back fears of a nuclear meltdown accident, particularly for residents who live closest to Indian Point in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties. 

Presumably, the 10-mile evacuation zone around Indian Point would again be established, the warning sirens within the zone would again be tested routinely, evacuation drills would again be carried out, and potassium iodide to protect the thyroid gland from radioactivity would again be distributed. 

In addition, more dangerous high-level radioactive waste would be generated with no long-term plan for disposal so most likely it would be stored at Indian Point along with the dangerous high-level radioactive waste that is now stored there.  

To fight climate change, Mike Lawler’s opponent, Cait Conley, opposes returning the Indian Point nuclear plants to operation and advocates investing in clean energy by expanding federal investments in solar, wind, and geothermal projects. 

Conley’s strategy is clearly aimed at solving the huge problem of providing sufficient electricity while fighting climate change. 

We have the technology for the fight against climate change including battery storage technology, and the costs of solar and onshore wind power have plummeted and are now the cheapest sources of energy for electricity in most regions of the world. 

With Cait Conley representing the 17th District in Congress this country will have a much better chance of reducing emissions sufficiently to fight climate change while maintaining an adequate supply of electricity.

Robert Liebman Mount Kisco

Demands investigation into ICE killings

To the Editor:

On July 13, six days after ICE agents shot and killed father and husband Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on his way to work in Houston, Texas, ICE agents shot and killed 25-year-old father and husband Johan Sebastian Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, in front of his wife and 3-year-old child — marking a surge in deadly immigration enforcement. Lorenzo’s sons want the world to remember their father as a hard-working man — a decent father who raised them with love, devotion and an enduring work ethic. 

The legacy immigrant fathers like Lorenzo and Johan leave behind is self-sacrifice to make their families’ lives better — to make our communities better, and far richer for their presence.

This is the story of immigrant families in America today, and in this very community today, whose lives are under constant threat, attack, and at risk of being disappeared into an inhumane and often deadly detention system. 

We must stand up for the immigrant community right now, with all the tools at our disposal. 

Together, we need to demand that immigrant families can leave their homes without being hunted down, violently detained or killed — though they have committed no crime. Being undocumented in the U.S. is a civil violation, not criminal. 

But this civil infraction, and those protesting in support of immigrant families, are being punished with the death penalty. Cold-blooded execution of fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, loved ones killed in broad daylight, in our towns, on our Streets, in front of our children — in front of their children. 

We demand an independent investigation into these killings; the release of the three men detained with Lorenzo, including his brother; and congressional hearings to demand answers and stop funding until full investigations are concluded.

Marianne Delaney Bedford

Our representative has failed us on healthcare

To the Editor:

For too many New Yorkers, accessing healthcare — a doctor, a specialist, medicine, medical equipment — is a luxury. Each year, how much we pay for healthcare, in premiums, in deductibles, in copays and coinsurance, takes more from what we bring home. All while our doctors grow further out of reach, captured and lost within large corporate systems.  

Congressman Mike Lawler, my representative, has had nearly four years to fight for a more accessible, affordable and effective healthcare system. Instead, he has used his time, pulpit and authority to make it harder for New Yorkers to access a doctor when sick. His deciding vote on President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill has now forced 450,000 New Yorkers off their health plans — making them choose between living uninsured and facing unaffordable premiums — and leaving the rest of us to pay for even more of our system’s costs.

Breaking things is easy. Fixing things is hard. Access to healthcare should not be a privilege in our country of abundance. It should be table stakes. Universal healthcare should be part of an American Dividend for all who have contributed to our economic success — and on whom our future success depends. No child should ever be uninsured in New York. Ever.

New Yorkers deserve representation that leads with vision for what is moral and right and needed; the courage to pick the hard fights; the skill to win them. Because it will be hard.

Structural reform is needed. Not a new public health plan. Not a new study.  Not a return to 2024, as if that was so great. We need more than promises and tokens of change. We have heard enough. We are paying enough. And we are ready for change — starting with our representation.  

Four months, Congressman.

Kevin McAvey Bedford