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Opposition to extra
officers is misguided
Re: “Oakland getting influx of officers” (Page A1, Feb. 7).
Cat Brooks, director of the Anti Police-Terror Project, is concerned that the influx of police will result in police violence.
So, Gov. Newsom is wrong. The NAACP is wrong. The Oakland Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Thao and the Oakland Police Officers Association are all wrong in their support of the surge.
Does her organization respond to 911 calls?
Nick Venuto
San Leandro
Kalb’s broad experience
is right for state Senate
Regarding our choices for state Senate District 7, when looking at the respective backgrounds and policy accomplishments of the candidates, I am convinced that Dan Kalb has the strongest record, hands-on experience and relevant skills for that job.
On top of his extensive record locally, Kalb developed state legislation on complex climate policy, built coalitions to get bills passed, and engaged in the rough-and-tumble state legislative process in Sacramento for 10 years before holding office.
As a local councilmember, he got tens of millions of dollars earmarked for affordable housing, strengthened our public ethics commission, kept public libraries open (and won an award for that), created a partnership that helps keep kids in school, and recently supported comprehensive legislation that will help reduce crime. And Kalb is the only candidate in this race with a deep environmental background similar to that of state Sen. Nancy Skinner.
Vote Kalb for state Senate.
Don Link
Oakland
Support bill to pull
plug on utility tax
Re: “‘Trailer bills’ allow state policies with little input from public” (Page A6, Feb. 8).
Being green just got harder after a little-known provision in the budget trailer bill passed by the California Legislature in 2022 (AB 205) levies a new monthly fixed charge (aka, Utility Tax) on all investor-owned utilities’ (IOUs) residential customers.
Ratepayers of IOUs (i.e., PG&E) and even CCAs (Community Choice Aggregation) could be on the hook for a monthly utility tax ranging from $30 to $70 per month if their proposed tax increase is approved by the California Public Utilities Commission in June.
Turning off the lights, using energy-efficient appliances or installing solar panels would all be discouraged by the tax.
To stop this utility handout, legislators just introduced AB 1999 to repeal the Utility Tax provision in AB 205.
Call your state assemblymember and senator to support AB 1999.
It’s never too late to be green.
Rene Wise
Fremont
CO2 capture is
tried and true plan
Re: “Montezuma wetlands CO2 plan is dangerous” (Page A7, Feb. 8).
Responding to Mr. Bhakta’s guest commentary on Montezuma CO2 sequestration, virtually every statement he makes is incorrect.
He states carbon storage “has never worked in the real world.” It is working in 40 sites worldwide and has for years. His claim that “most CCS projects have been total failures” is false. He’s referring to an article by financial analyst Bruce Robertson who states a CO2 project “failure” is a project that “underperformed against their designed capacities.” Projects are approved for a maximum injection capacity; injecting less is a typical project design, not a failure. According to Bradford Hager, of MIT’s Earth Resources Laboratory “keeping the CO2 underground once it’s injected is relatively simple — you just need to inject it carefully and put it in the right place.”
I could go on but suffice it to say that Mr. Bhakta has an agenda.
Bob Nunn
Brentwood
Age, wisdom over
entertainment, lies
I am so sick of hearing about Joe Biden’s age.
Has anyone ever heard about the benefit of an elder statesman for starters? And second of all Biden’s cabinet has an average age of 60. His primary top advisers have an average age of 50. And third of all, he listens to them.
In every culture that has lasted thousands of years, the elder statesmen and women were the sage advisers who, through their years of experience and wisdom, guided the younger generations toward well-thought-out actions.
We as a culture have lost the valued respect and advice of our elders: people who have experience and the benefit of a lifetime of negotiating life’s challenges.
We must choose someone who has learned from life rather than someone who exhibits arrested development.
Zoe Simons
Clayton
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Governors’ food aid
refusal is hypocritical
Re: “GOP governors let kids go hungry to spite Biden” (Page A7, Feb. 9).
Interestingly, the governors of the states rejecting Summer Electronic Benefits Transfers for children whose families depend upon school breakfast and lunch are the same governors whose states have the strictest abortion laws in the nation. If people in these states have children, as these governors profess is very important they absolutely do at all costs, shouldn’t they make sure those children are provided with the basic necessities for health?
What hypocrisy.
Shannon Erickson
Walnut Creek
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