Monday’s Letters to the Editor

Hold the water

EDITOR: As a new resident of Sonoma County, and longtime water conservationist, it made me happy to see signs announcing, “Drought Is Here.” Imagine my surprise to find that two restaurants I went to brought water without being asked. At one place it was ice water, in both places the 16-ounce glasses were full. The mind reels at the thought that restaurants are serving every customer a tall glass of water or, worse, ice water, without being asked.

This is especially infuriating as most of that water is being poured down the drain. While water is a renewable resource, it is also finite. All the water we have is all the water we’re ever going to have. We have an obligation to ourselves and our descendants to use it wisely.

KETA HODGSON

Santa Rosa

Living in fire-prone areas

EDITOR: Are our political representatives brave enough to follow the science and take the actions most needed to limit wildfire damage to homes and communities? Jim Hinch asked these questions in the Oct. 17 Forum section (“State wildfire dilemma: Managing forests or folk?”).

The majority of scientists agree with Hinch that “if the goal is protecting lives and homes, funds will be redirected primarily toward fireproofing communities with stricter regulations and targeted prescribed burns, and lawmakers will find the courage to limit development in at-risk areas and enable higher-density building elsewhere. Firefighting will remain a priority, and mechanical thinning will be used sparingly to prepare especially dense forests for prescribed burning.”

Together, the federal government and California will spend $2 billion this year on forest management, most of it thinning trees and work out in the forests, when the real problem is that too many folks live in forests that are, according to scientists, going to burn anyway. Homes already there need to be “hardened” to withstand the fiery embers from wildfire.

Will our politicians be brave enough to limit development in areas that are prone to wildfire, and will they use much of that allocated money to help homeowners harden their homes? We shall see.

CHARLES S. LITTLE

Forest Unlimited

Nuclear power dangers

EDITOR: Columnist Jonah Goldberg is once again doing his convincing impersonation of an idiot. He says “humanity can survive climate change” and goes on to tout the nuclear power industry as one solution (“Nuclear power must be part of climate debate,” Thursday). He notes how few have died from the Fukushima nuclear reactor accident 10 years ago, but he ignores the fact that there are an estimated 900 tons of melted nuclear fuel for which there is no clear plan for disposal. Optimistic clean up estimates are 30-40 years, but the water (now radioactive) used to cool this still-active fuel has filled storage tanks and plans are to start releasing it into the ocean. Local fishermen are opposed.

Radioactive halibut, anyone?

RICHARD EVANS

Sebastopol

Bound by nature’s laws

EDITOR: Arrogance is our demise. We do not control our environment, it controls us. The laws of nature are not ours to define. We are subject to whatever nature does. To think a mortal human being can devise his own outcome is just plain stupid. What has happened to reason and regard to one another? Life is not forever. If you think otherwise, whatever!

J.W. HALE

Petaluma

Value of diesel generators

EDITOR: Alarmist commentaries based on an 18-month-old study condemn utility regulators and misrepresent the role that diesel generators play in shoring up California‘s power grid (“Clear air of diesel powering state shadow grid,” Oct. 8). With the study’s noted limitations, such as carbon dioxide “values reflect orders of magnitude approximations,” the claims made about diesel generators are questionable.

The diesel industry is proud of the role it plays in securitizing the engine of society, safeguarding critical systems and mitigating the loss of life that can happen when these systems fail.

Due to cost, reliability, availability and significant operational limitations of other options, diesel generators remain the gold standard necessary to maintain the electrical system and mitigate the potentially disastrous effects of outages. Tremendous gains in efficiency and adoption of state-of-the-art emissions technologies drastically reduce impacts when the units are operating.

The recent growth in backup generators is the direct result of society’s eroding confidence in the capabilities of the grid, exacerbated by inconsistencies in energy policy and the available options to achieve policy goals while maintaining a reliable and affordable system.

Many Californians are benefiting from these backup power systems, not complaining about them.

ALLEN SCHAEFFER

Executive director, Diesel Technology Forum

Sloppy work on set

EDITOR: While working on location on “13 Reasons Why,” I was impressed by the rigorous safety measures taken where gunfire was concerned. On the location of “Rust,” there was obviously a lot of sloppy work being done. Even if you have 12 jobs, if one of them has the potential to kill people it ought to take priority (“Attorneys: ‘Rust’ armorer blames unsafe workplace,” Saturday). How long does it take to spin a barrel and examine bullets? And what in God’s name were any live rounds doing there? In the end, that last question might be the most important.

BRIAN NARELLE

Rohnert Park

You can send letters to the editor to letters@pressdemocrat.com.