Letters: Newsom’s recent veto slows move to cheap, green power

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Newsom’s veto slows
move to cheap power

Re: “Gov. Newsom could have made electricity cheaper and greener” (Page A12, Nov. 30).

Gov. Newsom’s veto of the virtual power plants bill slows progress for making electricity more affordable for Californians.

We now have vastly improved technologies for generating electricity. We no longer need as much centralized power generation, yet it is still the planning model used by PG&E and the other investor-owned utilities (IOUs). Instead, the IOUs should be leading the effort to grow local electricity generation through solar panels, wind turbines and batteries. Microgrids should be the main method of distribution, and costly transmission lines should be minimized. These new technologies are now among the cheapest methods of delivering electricity to ratepayers.

Political extremists, with help from fossil fuel companies and social media, have lessened the effectiveness of climate change as a rallying issue. Political emphasis on energy affordability, rather than climate change, would better serve efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

Rob Hogue
Menlo Park

Property tax jump
hurts real families

Re: “Inherited properties shouldn’t get tax breaks” (Page A6, Dec. 5).

A recent letter regarding tax breaks on inherited property gives a wry comment that anyone who inherits property “should be thankful for their good fortune and leave it at that.”

But that is one side of the coin. I worked very hard for over 50 years, saving all I could, spending nothing on specialty coffees or tattoos, but investing and giving responsibly. I would like my Bay Area home, worth well over $1 million because of time and inflation, to pass to my special-needs daughter for a residence and continued care.

But she won’t be able to pay the current taxes on our family home; she’ll have to move out to who knows where. I cannot give her something that is clearly mine. After all our other struggles, I’m having trouble mustering the courage to tell her, “Be thankful for your good fortune and leave it at that.”

Norman Thomas Watts
Menlo Park

Bike lane vote shows
city is planning for future

Re: “South Bay city opts to add bike lanes at cost of parking, after heated marathon meeting” (Dec. 4).

In approving safe bike lanes on Hollenbeck, the Sunnyvale City Council showed vision and courage in actually implementing numerous long-standing city policies.

When creating these policies, previous councils were acknowledging the necessity of fundamental change. Multiple policies were adopted over many years to provide safe options for those who cannot drive, including lower-income people and children. Multiple councils developed policies to prepare for the mobility of an increasing population by prioritizing streets for transportation over parking and encouraging transportation modes that use less space on our finite roadways. And previous councils created policies to reduce our contribution to global warming by providing safe and sustainable transportation choices, thus reducing our dependence on cars, and lowering vehicle (car) miles traveled.

We cannot meet our goals without change. The council considered the needs and safety of the entire community, current and future. They led toward a safer, more equitable and more sustainable future.

Barbara Fukumoto
Sunnyvale

Voters should send
Trump enablers packing

One thing you can say about Donald Trump and his minions is that they are consistent. They continue to be angry, spiteful, racist, combative and self-righteous.

Daily, this administration destroys another scientific or academic truth; caters to the wealthy; punishes the poor; denies the need for universal health care; rounds up and incarcerates or deports people using military tactics; rudely and dangerously overreacts to any challenge; defies long-standing international law, and the list goes on. It’s fatiguing to face the morning news, wondering what new travesty awaits us.

This is not normal behavior, and elected representatives who are supposed to safeguard our republic have opted for power over honesty and rationality. We must vote resoundingly to oust them and reclaim our country.

Claudia Parker
San Jose

Administration badly
mishandles drug fight

Currently, America has a draft dodger and a warrior wannabe commanding the most powerful military in the world.

Based on alleged intelligence, they are killing noncombatants from Venezuela. Harken back to March 1968, My Lai, Vietnam, or the “shock and awe” of George Bush. The operation isn’t deterring the boats. They keep coming out. Why aren’t they captured and interrogated for real intelligence?

The system needs to be held accountable, and the participants dealt with accordingly.

George Badger
Soquel

DOJ pushes losing case
with James and Comey

Re: “James, Comey are not in the clear yet” (Page A7, Dec. 2).

The criminal cases against James Comey and Letitia James were dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning they can be refiled. However, refiling is complicated: for Comey, the statute of limitations may have expired, and for both, a properly appointed prosecutor must bring the case forward. The “public message” from Donald Trump to Attorney General Pam Bondi is a central issue in the legal fallout.

A judge dismissed the cases because the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, was found to lack the legal authority to bring the indictments. For a new case to proceed, a U.S. attorney must be appointed according to the law, which requires Senate confirmation.

While the cases could be appealed or refiled, legal experts suggest the chances of success on appeal are not guaranteed, and it’s possible the government will lose.

Mohan Raj
San Jose