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As cases surge, odd
time to celebrate COVID
Robert Pearl chose an odd time to write a celebratory column about COVID. (“Endemic COVID-19: Cause for celebration, not consternation,” Page A13, Dec. 26)
As the Bay Area enters the steep slope of the Omicron wave’s epidemic curve that will undoubtedly result in much illness and disruption, Pearl awkwardly asks, “So, why doesn’t the pending transition from pandemic to endemic fell like great news?”
Perhaps if he had waited a month or two when we may be on the steep downward slope of Omicron’s epidemic curve, as many experts have suggested based on what has been reported in South Africa, the first nation to experience the new variant, his column would have more relevance.
Irvin Dawid
Burlingame
DOJ must do more
to go after Jan. 6 rioters
Despite this being the holiday season, I write with dismay over what seems, from a vantage point outside the U.S. Department of Justice, to be only incremental and insufficient prosecution against citizens – domestic terrorists – who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2020, with the purpose of interrupting the business of Congress in confirming a duly elected president, as prescribed by the Constitution.
I’d like some explanation or rationale from the DOJ as to why more vigorous prosecutions and sentencings have not been the results of that office’s in-depth investigations.
I’m educated enough to know that sedition and treason against the United States were once punishable by firing squad. I also know that were the Jan 6 “stormers” any other race, creed or political leaning, they would have been stopped before they claimed the vast live media coverage and inflicted the damage that they did.
Brian Shea
Oakland
Columns from right, left
lost in haze of fallacies
Columnists Victor Davis Hanson and Marc Thiessen see violent rioters (not peaceful protesters), snatch-and-grab flash mobs (not checkout optional shoppers), and woke professors and teachers inculcating Marxist tropes in college and high school classes (not dedicated educators pointing out that U.S. history is far from perfect).
Columnist Lorraine Ali sees “coup plotters,” “emboldened vigilantes,” “asymmetric media” and “hard-right cabals” (not patriotic citizens exercising their constitutional rights). She also sees the downfall of the print media as caused by evil venture capitalists (not by advertisers fleeing en masse to the web).
Are there no columnists willing to discuss the contents in the glass and how they might be improved and not whether its contents are sufficient or insufficient? The amount of ad hominem, “straw man” and “hasty generalization” fallacies committed in recent op-eds would keep a critical thinking class occupied indefinitely. To paraphrase Ms. Ali, “swift and forceful change” is needed — in op-ed columnists.
Harold Mantle
Walnut Creek
PUC plan will leave
little incentive for solar
The editorial “Rooftop solar program robs from the poor” (Page A6, Dec. 22) fails to recognize that PG&E is a publicly traded company that has a legal obligation to make a profit for their owners many of whom are less needy than your article refers to.
The truth is if the PUC goes along once again with PG&E’s request, there will be little incentive for anyone to install solar, not to mention punishment for those who did. Don’t forget that PG&E has a very reduced capital expenditure in that the need for new power generation is greatly reduced by solar. They knew this, and that’s why they put in the incentives to begin with.
Instead of curtailing new installations, why not incentivize the installation of more. Eventually, the prices will come down so that everyone will be able to afford it.
Lee Egherman
Los Gatos
Decentralize the grid
for energy equity
Regarding “Rooftop solar program robs from the poor,” (Page A6, Dec. 22) I agree the equity issues need to be addressed, but there seems to be a simple way to do that. As a soon-to-be solar system owner, I think it’s a mistake to increase connection fees and decrease the compensation for upstream power. I think people who can afford the capital are going to invest in batteries and bigger solar systems, and then just disconnect from the grid. That will make the equity issue worse, and further decrease the revenue going to the utility.
I’m not a power systems expert, but it seems obvious that we need to go toward a more decentralized grid as the cost of generation and storage continues to fall. The CPUC should be pushing utilities in this direction, not rubber-stamping their plans. Large central generation requires expensive and dangerous transmission lines. We need to change direction.
Tim Vachon
Sunnyvale
Source: www.mercurynews.com