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Power lines, not clean
energy, drive cost
Re: “State hits record for clean energy” (Page A1, July 15).
It’s wonderful news that California is already two-thirds of the way toward meeting its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2045.
I strongly disagree with Stanford economist Frank Wolak when he says that clean energy mandates are a big reason that California electricity rates are so high. Not so. In fact, renewable electricity has the lowest cost of all generation methods. The big reason for high electricity rates is the cost of new transmission lines, not clean energy mandates.
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Furthermore, people renting and living in apartment complexes have the same costs for the transmission grid as single-family homeowners. They pay the same generation rates. This misconception about renters is due to misleading statements made by the CPUC when they reduced incentives for solar rooftops. More solar rooftops reduce the need for long transmission lines.
Moving to renewable electricity is growing our supply and providing the least expensive electricity to ratepayers.
Rob Hogue
Menlo Park
Passing bill would be
blow to education
As a mom of two kids and a passionate advocate for educational choice, I’m deeply concerned about the potential impact of Assembly Bill 84 on students and families along the Highway 101 corridor. This bill, if passed, would deal a devastating blow to non-classroom-based and online charter schools, leaving thousands of students without access to the personalized learning environments that have helped them thrive.
For many families in our communities, charter schools have been a lifeline. The bill imposes unnecessary and burdensome regulations on charter schools, forcing many families back into district-run schools that are often overcrowded, underperforming and ill-equipped to meet their children’s needs. For families like mine, this is more than an inconvenience — it’s a crisis.
That’s why I am calling on the Legislature to reject AB 84.
Nicole Conragan
San Martin
Alleged Epstein letter is
crass enough for Trump
So, now Donald Trump is insisting the birthday letter written to Jeffrey Epstein doesn’t sound like him; he’s claiming it’s not his style. Is it too vulgar? No, too incriminating.
Trump is every bit the vulgar guy who would write and draw a letter like that. Remember, he’s the guy who vulgarly bragged about grabbing women.
Trump is a tacky, crude, disgusting man who lies and denies with the best of them. He’s an absolute embarrassment as our president.
Lynda Martinez
San Jose
Arson suspect’s freedom
puts justice in question
Re: “Woman charged with arson in fire that killed 1” (Page B1, July 17).
Why was this suspect still out on the streets? Just within the last year, the suspect has pleaded “no contest” to multiple crimes, including four felonies that had been reduced to misdemeanors in plea deals. She was on probation for some of those charges when the arson occurred.
It is not surprising when social scientists and their pollsters publish data showing that a significant part of our citizenry has lost faith and trust in our civic institutions.
Jeremy Harris
San Jose
Silicon Valley leaders
failed common good
Re: “Liccardo: Democrats need an innovation agenda to win back Silicon Valley tech leaders” (Page A6, July 15).
Silicon Valley’s so-called leaders created the Trump presidency by their massive infusion of money into the political affairs of We the People.
They put Donald Trump in power, and now the Trump administration’s misguided policies are harming Americans and the world, costing leadership in health care, technical leadership, civil rights, economic justice and deaths arising from natural disasters, famine and other catastrophes due to their policies and personal greed.
So if the solution is in Silicon Valley, then it is we, the people of Silicon Valley, who must find the solution because the executives here have singularly failed to promote the common good.
And it is Rep. Sam Liccardo’s colleagues in Congress who must stand up against the brutality of this administration for the advancement of science, industry and human rights.
Alice Schaffer Smith
Palo Alto
Maxwell testimony could
unravel Epstein mess
Re: “Trump won’t recommend special counsel in Epstein investigation” (Page A3, July 18).
I have a great solution to the Epstein issue.
Offer Ghislaine Maxwell a “Get Out of Jail Free” card if she testifies under oath (while hooked up to a lie detector) the names that should or would be on a “Jeffrey Epstein List.” So far, she is the only one in jail for the child sex trafficking and other offenses committed by men.
I’m not suggesting she doesn’t deserve jail time, only that the men who actually sexually abused these young girls should spend appropriate time in jail for their crimes. For most girls and women, sexual abuse causes lifetime trauma, and the punishment should fit the crime.
Lock the men up.
Jane Power
San Jose
