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Sun is the key to
state’s energy future
Re: “California’s economy needs renewable energy” (Page A8, Feb. 4).
Letter-writer Thomas Redfern touts Scotland for having 113% renewable energy. That’s easy for Scotland because it’s in one of the windiest places on the planet for powering wind generators. But Scotland still has to have a nuclear power plant for when there’s no wind.
California’s equivalent to Scotland’s wind is the sun. There are thousands of acres of unusable land accessible to the Western grid on which to set up solar farms. Eventually, affordable batteries will be developed to store energy for nighttime use, but until then we can maintain our existing natural gas plants or build nuclear power for “always on” energy.
We need only tide ourselves over about 40 years to when we will have virtually unbounded energy from nuclear fusion, the power of the sun.
Ed Kahl
Woodside
PG&E, CPUC are
bad energy actors
Re: “PG&E customers bristle at increase in rates” (Page A1, Feb. 3).
Of course people are upset. Being forced to pay for an undergrounding project that will take years to finish with likely cost overruns necessitating further rate hikes down the line is infuriating.
Instead of opting for a more efficient, cost-effective program to insulate bare wires, replace poles and upgrade circuitry, one that balances safety and economics, the utility chose, yet again, to prioritize profit over responsibility to its customers.
Some of people’s collective outrage should be reserved for the California Public Utilities Commission, however. The way it caved to PG&E, despite anguished pleas from the public, was disgraceful.
Perhaps someone should buy the members of the Board of Directors of PG&E and the commissioners of the CPUC a nice and very big basket. In my opinion, they are all deplorables who belong in it.
Jennifer Normoyle
Hillsborough
Biden needs a better
VP on his team
Re: “Biden should step aside — but how?” (Page A7, Feb. 13).
Will Rogers said, “I am a member of no organized political party. I am a Democrat.” Mr. Douthat’s editorial suggests that President Biden should announce that he is stepping down at the Democratic National Convention and let the convention pick his successor. Very scary. Giving Donald Trump any chance of winning is the greatest threat in my lifetime.
I would sleep better voting for Biden if I had confidence that his vice president was ready to become president. I can’t say that about Vice President Harris. Picking another VP would be less risky though it would be painful for many. Sen. Amy Klobuchar for VP would be a better choice than changing the presidential candidate. She is experienced, knowledgeable, likable and a very good debater. She would trounce any MAGA VP candidate on the Republican ticket. All in all, this is a better gamble than throwing the party into last-minute chaos.
Dave Riggs
Aptos
Trump’s hyporcrisy
extends to courts
Re: “Trump says he warned NATO: Pay in or he’d tell Russia to ‘do whatever the hell they want’” (Page A7, Feb. 7).
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In the subject article, Donald Trump was quoted as saying “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them (Russia) to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay.” Ask yourself: What president or statesman tips his hand to an adversary?
Secondly, Trump had been involved with over 3,500 lawsuits up to 2016, and a large number of those involve Trump companies refusing to pay for services/goods. Clearly Trump himself uses nonpayment as a standard business practice.
Finally, Trump professes that all of his current lawsuits are witch hunts, but U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks dismissed a past Trump lawsuit filed against his former rival Hillary Clinton and said Trump’s allegations were “political grievances masquerading as legal claims.” Clearly, he loves the courts when it suits him.
Daniel Lee
San Jose