Readers Write: Trump administration cuts, tariffs, trans athletes

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Upon learning that the Trump administration is considering extreme cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), we in Duluth were immediately alarmed with the possibility of the closure of our own Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division of the U.S. EPA. On March 25, hundreds of area citizens protested any reduction in funding outside the lab in Duluth.

This lab, established in 1970, has been our area’s safeguard against environmental pollution and our reliable source of information on the harmful effects of chemicals introduced into our environment. From identifying asbestos pollution of Lake Superior in the 1970s to research on toxic chemicals such as DDT, PCBs and PFAS, the dedicated scientists at this lab have been working to protect human health and the health of our drinking water.

Our Duluth lab contributes greatly to our local economy as well. In 2021, it brought $15 million in wages, grants and contracts. The loss of jobs and the vital work of the staff would be severely harmful. The 170 personnel currently on staff have worked tirelessly over the years putting public and environmental health at the top of their priorities. Closing this lab would be a terrible attack on science and on all of us.

I urge everyone to speak up and protest any cuts to EPA staff and programs. Our health, now and in the future, depends upon it.

Linda Herron, Duluth

Bob Timmons’ April 5 article in the Outdoors section, “Federal cuts rattle park supporters,” points to concerns about loss of federal funding that supports our national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges and the like.

Our national parks provide respite and recreation for millions of Americans each year and also international guests. They are the go-to places for many American families seeking to explore the grandeur of America. In 2024, the National Park Service reported the highest number of visit in its history — 331,863,358.

But with the Trump administration’s recent cuts, stressed national park budgets and lack of workers will not only affect the experience of visitors but will threaten the long-term vitality of our most precious pristine wilderness areas and ecosystems. Park workers are the caretakers of our national treasures, whether they are fighting fires, clearing trails, removing invasive species or cleaning bathrooms. They are experts in crowd management, keeping visitors and wildlife safe.

I urge readers to contact their members of Congress and remind them of our nation’s long-standing commitment, championed by esteemed leaders from across the political spectrum, to preserve and protect the grand vistas of our parks for the enjoyment of future generations.

Lisa Wersal, Vadnais Heights

One of the latest casualties in the Department of Government Efficiency’s reckless attacks on American life is AmeriCorps, including the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) program. NCCC engages more than 2,000 young Americans in yearlong service terms addressing critical conservation, disaster and community needs nationwide.

Since its creation in 1993, AmeriCorps has been broadly celebrated by Republicans and Democrats alike. AmeriCorps members have been on the ground assisting communities after nearly every major disaster in the last 30 years, including 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the COVID-19 pandemic. AmeriCorps members mentor and teach our nation’s youth, support countless nonprofits and restore and maintain our public lands and trails.

Why would the Trump administration target such a program, whose expenditures are a fraction of 1% of the budget? Likely because they do not like to see Americans of all political stripes and geographic, economic and racial backgrounds coming together to serve our communities, build public infrastructure and foster mutual understanding.

They do not care about the preservation of our wild lands, the quality of our public schools or the strength of civic life. And they would much prefer it if we did not either, so those things will be easier to decimate. AmeriCorps is fundamentally inconsistent with their worldview, where profits and raw power are the only aim.

We must demand that Minnesota’s legislators stand up, save AmeriCorps and defend the public good.

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At least five children and three adults with cholera died in South Sudan during a three-hour walk in blistering heat. They were trying to reach the nearest remaining health facility — now far away, due to the Trump administration’s humanitarian aid cuts (“Cholera deaths blamed on U.S. aid cuts,” April 12).

This story from South Sudan is a precursor of tragedies to come after the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and connects the dots: Innocent, suffering people are dead because of the cuts.

A spokesman for Save the Children said, “The sudden withdrawal of funding that was the key to the survival of vulnerable families and children is going to result in more deaths.” These people — from countries Trump notably disparaged with a choice vulgarity — don’t matter to this administration.

The article states that cholera can be deadly, “but is easily treated with medication that costs pennies.”

You may say we need to take care of our own problems. Yet, while we’ve taken our share of regrettable actions and made some poor choices on the global stage, we’ve generally had leaders who understood that our security is aligned with our international reputation as a purveyor of humanitarian values and as a dependable ally. At 0.3% of the federal budget, the now DOGE-shuttered USAID was an economic bargain.

You may even excuse it as “Trump being Trump.” Well, yes, it is. This kind of heartless inhumanity is what we elected. It is carried out in our name, and it diminishes our collective soul.

Rich Cowles, Eagan

“Democrats disagree on policy role of tariffs” was the headline in the April 15 edition. The takeaway from the article was that once again, Democrats fail to present a unified argument to the public on the president’s tariffs. Let’s face it: Tariffs have been a tool in the economic toolbox throughout U.S. history, sometimes effective and sometimes not. The real question for Democrats and the voting public is not just how they are being enacted but who is enacting them. Barring a national emergency, it is Congress who enacts them and not the president.

In our current situation, the president did declare an emergency, giving him nominal cover to do what he’s done. That said, it’s fair to ask, “What emergency?” Congress has yet to challenge this. Both Republicans and Democrats in the Congress need to assert their role. The world is losing faith in our ability to act prudently, and Congress’ failure to act in this instance as called for in the Constitution adds fuel to this fire.

The letter to the editor prominently featured in the Star Tribune on April 13, “One of us was shut out of sports. Don’t repeat that mistake,” asked for more truth but provided incorrect statements. The claim that the executive order bans transgender athletes from participating in sports is not correct. Consistent with federal Title IX, the executive order requires all athletes to play on sports teams that align with their biological sex. As pointed out in the letter, for decades, biological females, if they have the skill, have played on biological male teams and have retained their female gender expression. Likewise, transgender females/biological males can try out for and, if selected, play on biological male teams and compete against other biological males and retain their female gender expression. I am not aware of any concerns about transgender males/biological females playing on either biological male or biological female sports teams but in either case, they can retain their male gender expression.