Opinion: Trump wants to drain the swamp — so he can drill for oil underneath it

To the editor: Hope that a Donald Trump presidency might not prove to be a disaster dims further with every new announcement. Trump’s appointment of Koch Industries lobbyist and climate denier Thomas Pyle to the Energy Department transition team signals that America will be dropping out of the race to lead the world in the green energy industry. (“Trump brings Koch network’s green-energy foes from the fringe to the center of power,” Dec. 5)

Abandoning the industries of the future while clinging to old, outdated technologies is hardly a formula for making America great. Appointing more lobbyists funded by multibillionaires is also not a formula for fixing the rigged political system and standing up for the little guy.

Who knew that “draining the swamp” meant literally destroying wetlands to drill for oil underneath?

Seth Jackson, San Marino

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To the editor: If the Trump Organization learned that more than 190 countries had identified a shortage of hotel rooms as a major problem that needed to be addressed, one would assume that it would pounce on the opportunity to provide a solution by building hotels.

Hopefully, President-elect Trump will understand that the Paris agreement on climate change provides the U.S. with a similar business opportunity.

We can lead by selling the technology to meet the Paris goals, thereby increasing exports and creating excellent jobs for thousands of American workers. Or, we can listen to representatives of the Koch brothers’ machine, who seem poised to infiltrate the next administration and end efforts by the United States to benefit from this coming revolution.

We’ll soon see just how smart of a businessman Trump actually is.

Tom Foran, San Diego

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