Against electric
EDITOR: I want to address the issue in the Reveille newspaper about going all-electric. I stand firmly against it.
Since electricity is often generated with natural gas how does this make it cleaner? I recall as a teen when all the natural gas ads said “cleaner and cheaper.” This has been my experience at least as related to my utility bill. Electricity is much more expensive. My sister had an all-electric home in Newark, CA and they ended up using the fireplace because they could not afford the electricity. They were a young couple with young children later and the income with two working parents was never a match for the utilities. Young people like my son are looking at other states as the expenses here are already out of control.
Solar panels — really? Have they worked out how to recycle them and will they do it? If not, how will they be disposed of and where? Will they be made in a way that does not damage the builder’s city as in China and India? Who will clean the panels yearly for the elderly, disabled and those on limited incomes or even those with children or parents they care for and cannot afford such a luxury. Do the people with panels get the income from extra electricity they might generate? What will they do in a black out for cooking? My gas stove will work.
Please don’t get on a bandwagon because “other cities in Sonoma County” are doing it. Don’t let the electric companies out of fixing and maintaining their gas lines. There is room for both gas and electric as we have now. Who is making out on this plan? Does the city get something besides meeting some “mandate” that might need to be challenged? Why are the taxpayers/ community members being pushed into such a problem packed plan?
Will we be supplied with generators when the electricity is in black out or brown out phase? Seems that if we are promised by the utility company, electricity, they should supply it uninterrupted by any form.
When we have interrupted service we have been too lenient on them. They have gotten away with doing it for years and there must be money involved- there always is.
Perhaps the backyard size wind machines would be best. I saw a TV show about a cylindrical wind converter that cost about $5,000 back a few years and is probably a lot more reasonable now. On Portofino every night we have wind as the temp changes during the night wind with those who want solar might work. Just don’t stop the gas.
Donna Cambra
Cloverdale
Big cats spotted
EDITOR: I grew up in Marin County and later became a wildlife rehabber and a veterinary technician in another state. I’m retired now.
This week I’m in Cloverdale at the Thousand Trails RV Park. In the last 24 hours I’ve spotted two cats. Both were slightly larger than a house cat, their coloring differed from each other. They were in close proximity of each other. One was dark grey with stripes on its tail and legs. At first I was thinking it was a raccoon. It was getting dark outside so it was difficult to see. The second was sitting next to a campsite in broad daylight. It was slightly larger and silver with some dark blotches on its body. Neither time did I have a camera with me. The faces of both of these cats resembled that of a wild cat. I was within 20 feet of both of them. Upon returning to my campsite, I read your article on mountain lions in Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
Elaine Gillis
San Mateo
Questioning climate change
EDITOR: While I share your hope for newspapers (and other media I assume) to be “telling the truth,” I am not sure the liberal/progressive media is up to the task. Let’s look at the recent Reveille article, “County supervisors pass climate resolution.”
What is the “climate emergency”? Thirty years ago we were warned that the Maldive’s (a nation of over 1,100, low-lying islands in the Pacific) would be under water by now. Yet, not a single one of those islands is under water.
Board of Supervisors Chairman David Rabbitt believes, ”Climate change is the most critical issue we face today.” Really? If true, wouldn’t the “1,000 local governments representing 219 million people in 19 countries” be demanding we fast track the construction of nuclear power plants to replace all fossil fuel power plants?
Rabbitt continues by offering our local experience of ”six years of recent droughts, devastating wildfires and severe flooding,”’ as proof of “extreme climate-related events.” Really? All his examples are similar to much more extreme weather events that occurred all around the United States 70 to 120 years ago, long before there was much of an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide.
There is much we don’t know about climate change, but we do know that global warming is far below that predicted by climate models, and that the science is so poor it can’t predict anything useful.
We need less hysteria from Supervisor Lynda “the world is on fire” Hopkins and more facts, relevant context and truth from the media.
James Oglesby
Santa Rosa
