Energy: Does city see dollar signs?
The current “energy crisis” has been created by politicians and environmental zealots. They don’t believe in the age-old expression, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” There needs to be changes, upgrades and new technology to energy generation and distribution, but don’t plunge California into third-world status with the radical proposals being put forth.
Who was overseeing the development of the current electrical grid? Who allowed bare wires to transmit high-voltage electricity? Who regulates the electricity generators, suppliers and distributors? Who prevented controlled burns? Who prohibited brush clearance and removal of trees killed by the bark beetles? Who has basically eliminated nuclear power generation in California? Who has prevented any new hydroelectric production? Who is advocating more wind generation that kills thousands of birds and bats a year? Who wants to eliminate natural gas-fired electricity generation in California?
The answer to all these is politicians and environmental fanatics. While they advocate more electric vehicles, they tell the public not to use their appliances from 4 to 9 p.m. The want more batteries, which are made of non-renewable toxic materials that are hazardous waste when they are discarded. They required Edison to install millions of dollars of batteries to store wind and solar energy because those sources are unreliable, and that money could have been used to upgrade and maintain its distribution system.
The city of Santa Barbara wants to be part of a renewable energy group and have Edison distribute the electricity the city buys. That energy will be transmitted over the very lines they criticize. Who will set the rates? Will the city ration it, like it does water? Tier one is very limited amount at a fair price. Tier two penalizes the user by charging almost four times as much as tier one. Does the city see this as a money maker?
All in all, we the consumers will pay the price for the political and environmental hatred of petroleum in any form. Natural gas produces dependable, affordable electricity. Wind and solar are not dependable; the sun sets and there are calms in the wind. Please, people, let’s just say no to the politicians and environmentalists who are determined to make us suffer power shortages and rolling blackouts, and push us into third-world status with their fanaticism.
Herbert Simpkins
Santa Barbara
Thanks to helpful police officers
I want to publicly thank the two outstanding Santa Barbara Police officers who recently helped to diffuse a potentially dangerous escalation at a rental property I own. I know that the Police Department does not intervene with landlord/tenant disputes, but this was between two roommates who were out of control.
Officers Washington and Powell met me at the property (thanks to dispatch) and helped me to impress upon the tenants that they needed to correct their behaviors or they would be evicted. I could not have done this by myself, and the officers were invaluable with their calm demeanor, knowledge of tenant issues and skillful handling of this potentially dangerous situation.
Please remember that the officers put their lives on the line every day for us. So thank a cop when you see one.
Anne Hurst Rojas
Santa Barbara
What are the charges?
In his letter of Nov. 17, Robert Baruch itemized the charges against Richard Nixon in his 1974 impeachment. He then jumped quickly to the conclusion that “This precedent makes it crystal clear that Donald Trump should be impeached.” What the writer failed to do was cite a single reason for Mr. Trump’s impeachment. He’s not alone; the two career diplomats testifying in the congressional hearings, Mr. Kent and Mr. Taylor, were speechless when asked to provide a charge that would justify such action. For once there was total silence in Congress, but only for a moment.
Make no mistake, there will be an impeachment in the House and a subsequent trial in the Senate. The Democrats have expressed a desire to impeach Mr. Trump since before his inauguration and are desperate to do so, knowing that they can’t defeat him at the ballot box, nor on the issues. The show trial that the Democrats are currently conducting is merely an attempt to increase their chances for success in the 2020 election.
In fact, their best chance for electoral success of any kind is to cooperate with Republicans in passing laws that benefit the nation involving such areas as infrastructure, immigration and trade. Let’s hope the Democrats can, quoting the letter writer, “grow spines and put the country ahead of their own political interests.”
Roger Sloan
Santa Barbara
Who will have the courage?
Last week was a week to remember, when patriotic Americans, serving our government and our military and our citizens, courageously stood up to the president and testified in Congress as witnesses on behalf of the nation they love and respect.
The events reminded me of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s famous speech to the West Point cadets in 1962:
“Duty, honor, country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.”
I was so inspired by MacArthur’s words at the time that shortly after, when I was on active military duty, I framed the speech and placed it on my living room wall.
President Trump’s threatening responses to those witnesses, who spoke up for our government and the democratic principles it stands for, are also worth noting. MacArthur had something to say to naysayers like him as well:
“The unbelievers will say they are but words, but a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. Every pedant, every demagogue, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and, I am sorry to say, some others of an entirely different character, will try to downgrade them even to the extent of mockery and ridicule.”
At the moment, as our Congress searches for the truth regarding our president, I cannot find any better words to describe the first week of public impeachment hearings than those three: duty, honor, country. May God continue to bless this great nation.
Bernie Schaeffer
Goleta
A message must be sent
George Zwerdling’s op-ed, “Smart Politics, Foolish Precedent” (Voices, Nov. 17) stated that impeachment is not the way to govern, and that Congress instead should pass a resolution condemning the president’s actions in the Ukraine matter. As Mr. Zwerdling points out, “Mr. Trump’s actions, at least as alleged, are worse than Mr. Clinton’s.”
Nice to hear. I wonder why nearly every Republican representative finds it so hard to voice the same in public. Let’s not fool ourselves. Had Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election and made overtures to the Ukrainians to investigate the Trumps in the run-up to the 2020 election, we’d be witnessing a very different response from Republicans in Congress. And that is where Mr. Zwerdling’s congressional resolution idea falls short.
It would mean very little if a resolution condemning Mr. Trump’s actions were passed with only the Democrats supporting it. We can discuss the merits on whether impeachment is the best way to proceed or not, but for Republicans to not call out the president on this matter and, I might add, all his other inexcusable and inappropriate actions (e.g., tweeting while the former Ukrainian ambassador was testifying) is astounding.
I thought the party of Reagan had a decent moral compass and strong spine, but apparently they now have neither. I can accept the fact that impeachment may not be the best option. But how does a congressional resolution condemning the president’s actions with little or no support from Republicans send a message to this president who believes he can do no wrong?
John Ummel
Santa Barbara
