Housing and the Environment

* Re “The Case of the Environmental Overachievers,” June 25.

I was intrigued by Gideon Kanner’s contention that NIMBY environmentalists are selfishly trying to protect the habitats of certain endangered species and thus creating an impending housing shortage leading California to economic disaster. I too find fault with these so-called environmentalists--mainly, “What took you so long?” Forget the spineflower and the arroyo toad. What about the hundreds of now-extinct species we will never know? What about our once pristine ocean and our air so thick you can pour it over pancakes? What about a geological megalopolis from San Diego to Santa Barbara so heavy with over-development, that if California ever falls into the ocean, it won’t be from an earthquake but from the sheer weight of our human experience.

Kanner states that whether we like it or not, in the coming years we will have to address the enormously difficult problem of providing new housing. Hey, why should we have all the fun? With over 32 million people here already, it is time to let places like Iowa have a shot. If our state’s economy is so dependent on bulldozing the last vestiges of California’s natural beauty, then we have a broken system. Besides, what good is a job if you must spend three hours in gridlock to get there? I have lived in California all of my life, and when it comes to slowing the malignancy of urban sprawl, I have seen boards of supervisors, city councils and countless planning commissions fail to do what one toad can do.

Oh, and Mr. Kanner: You still use that tired old term “NIMBY” (not in my backyard). If you look around, you will see that most developers stopped building backyards about five years ago.

MARK McCLOUD

Newhall

* If fighting to preserve my community’s quality of life from the byproducts of overdevelopment--increased traffic, crowded schools, environmental pollution, etc.--makes me an “elitist,” then I wear the label with pride.

And if it takes the nearly extinct San Fernando spineflower to control density, I thank God every day for this transparent excuse that is stifling construction.

MARCIA RONKA

Calabasas