Congratulations to the Fayette County Commission for standing up for home rule in the face-off against GRTA/ARC (“Fayette to GRTA: Nuts,” The Citizen, Wednesday, June 14).

We can fix our own problems without state or federal funds, and should set about it by finding ways to control growth and limit density, turn available green space into recreational settings, and find innovative solutions to transportation problems.

With regards to transportation, we should immediately get behind a plan for a rail commuter operation using the CSX tracks and connecting Peachtree City with downtown. A shuttle bus could connect the commuter train with the airport and [MARTA]. Anyone familiar with the Caltrain connecting San Jose-San Francisco, with shuttle buses to the major airports, can vouch for the efficiency of such a system.

To put money up front for such a venture, however, which ARC and the U.S. Department of Transportation are demanding, is nonsense. If the project is implemented, correctly, it will go a long way toward paying for itself.

With regards to the the EPA finding of pollution in Fayette (non-attainment), it should be obvious to even the logically challanged EPA that our problem is drift from the airport, and not county-generated pollutants. Nevertheless, U.S. Reps. Mac Collins and John Linder have initiated legislation to halt EPA actions against clean air violations until the Supreme Court rules on the validity of the EPA standards.

This should give us a head start in finding local solutions. The EPA's record in such proceedings is 0-1 and their ability to use facts and logic in presenting their case demonstrates that although they may look like America, they can't reason like America. With opposition like the Clinton-Gore EPA, and allies like Mac Collins, John Linder and the Fayette Commissioners, I like our chances.

William Fielder
Peachtree City

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