Jun 22, 2008

Letters

Letters 6.22

Offshore drilling won't help

Dear Editor: In response to Mr. Steve Mims' letter printed in the Wednesday, June 18 edition, I can only thank him and the Daily News for including the addresses of Ms. Pelosi and other elected officials. I plan to write Ms. Pelosi to thank her for voting against a bill that would allow offshore oil drilling.

Anyone who is "tired of paying for the left's opposition to oil, coal" has been living in a dream world. Europeans were paying $4 per gallon 12 years ago. Now they pay around $10 per gallon. Americans are spoiled crybabies.

Offshore drilling would not begin to drop oil prices until 2030, if then. Only oil companies trying to lock up all public land would benefit. And oil companies are not starved for resources; they are not doing as much as they could with the land on which they already hold leases. Much of this is federal land. That is 68 million acres not being put into production.

There are huge resources available to the energy industry; there is no reason to undo protections of our shores and wildlife refuges.

There is much reported about an obesity epidemic in the United States. Maybe the higher gasoline prices will encourage the fatties to get out of their vehicles and re-learn to walk!

Eleanor Buckwalter

Los Altos Hills



Disbelief over beliefs

Dear Editor: Mr. Uberoi in his June 19 letter believes Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's proclamations that his country is not working on a nuclear weapon program, but he does not believe our president, who has strong doubts about these proclamations.

He believes that Iran's participation in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is a guarantee of its good no-aggression intentions, but does not believe that the rumored Israeli nuclear arsenal is for defensive purposes.

He believes that "it is time for more Americans to break their long silence ... and call for immediate halt of aid to Israel," but does not want to believe that the Bush administration and Congress, in their support of Israel, just express the will of the majority of Americans.

Very strange beliefs. Sounds more like wishful thinking.

Vladimir Kaplan

San Mateo



Palo Alto should think blue, too

Dear Editor: California is in a drought, and Palo Alto should heed Gov. Schwarzenegger'swake-up call by aggressively cutting back on water use.

When it comes to water conservation, the Bay Area lags behind other metropolitan areas such as Seattle and Los Angeles. As a city known for a strong environmental ethic, Palo Alto should be a leader in water efficiency and conservation.

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission should reduce diversions from the Tuolumne River. Decreasing reliance on the Tuolumne is critical not only for protecting the health of the river, but also for preparing for the future uncertainty of the Sierra Nevada snowpack as a result of global warming.

Water conservation and efficiency measures are the cheapest, easiest and least destructive ways to meet demand and extend supply.

Steve Broadbent

Palo Alto



The natural order of things

Dear Editor: In arguing against the California Supreme Court's decision on same-sex marriage, Rick Young has made a pretty substantial category error.

The flatness or otherwise of the Earth is a physical attribute, which is totally outside the control of the Supreme Court, or any other appointed body. The restriction of marriage to between a man and a woman is a social construct, and reflects the mores (and often religious edicts) of earlier societies.

Thankfully, societies change. We don't burn people as heretics anymore, and we don't send black people to the back of the bus. As society evolves, it recognizes the commonalties we share, and celebrates our differences, instead of using them as the basis for discrimination and intolerance.

Like it or not, a certain percentage of humans will be born with emotional and sexual attraction for the same sex. This is the "natural order," not the dictates of bronze-age nomads, set down amongst thousands of other rules we now wisely ignore.

Surely an evolved society should recognize this fact of life by affording everyone the right to participate in our cultural (and legal) traditions, no matter where individuals find themselves on the spectrum of sexual orientation.

Pete Cockerell

Palo Alto