One needs only glance at a few headlines to discover that the dominant political idea in Utah these days is fight the federal government. Keep them from harming Utahns.
This lens is usually applied to issues such as federal lands or health-care policy. I would like to see it applied to a different issue: whether the U.S. should permanently end nuclear weapons testing.
Anyone who has lived in Utah for very long knows that sad legacy of the thousands of our state's residents who grew sick and died because the federal government cared so little about Utahns they repeatedly exploded nuclear weapons just west of here.
Thanks to a recent op-ed ("No need for nuclear weapons testing," My View, April 11), now we know that the nation's best scientists agree we no longer need nuclear weapons testing to keep America safe. It's great news. Let's ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and make sure that future generations of Utahns too aren't sickened by the federal government.
Elliott S. Hansen
Salt Lake City