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S.J. trail restriping
is a job well done
Kudos to the city of San Jose for restriping the Guadalupe River Trail.
Until now, the trail was very confusing with many unmarked spurs and switchbacks, particularly for people that don’t use the trail often.
Job well done.
Allan Hughes
Willow Glen
Transition from gas
to electric a winner
With climate change being such a pressing concern, the city of San Jose is considering ways to encourage residents to replace their natural gas-powered appliances with efficient electric versions. Why? Because “natural” gas is mostly methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that causes climate change.
If you have a gas stove, water heater, furnace or dryer, you can save our climate by replacing it with an electric version. Electric appliances are more efficient, so you’ll save on utility bills as well as help save the future. And there are additional advantages. Electric appliances are much less likely to emit harmful fumes; electric heat pump furnaces do double duty as air conditioners in the summertime; many professional chefs consider induction cooktops superior to gas stoves.
Combine this with the fact that San Jose’s electricity supply comes mostly from clean sources, and replacing gas with electric is a natural choice.
Jenny Green
San Jose
Keep artificial turf out
of Los Gatos schools
As private yards covered in artificial grass become more common, it’s getting hotter. That’s the “heat island” effect.
In contrast, even though natural landscapes and grass need water, they return it to us with natural air conditioning and oxygen, while capturing carbon and being a hub for ecosystems. Artificial turf, conversely, pollutes the environment from manufacture, to use, to replacement when it’s dumped somewhere. Every added “feature” of essentially unregulated artificial turf adds chemicals that shed microplastics and “forever chemicals” into the environment. Developing children are most vulnerable to the effects of this pollution. Most recently, for the first time, microplastics were found in human blood and lungs.
Why, then, is 65,000 square feet of artificial turf (which requires water for cleaning and cooling) even being considered for our LGUSD elementary/middle school fields at all? Never mind the multimillion-dollar financial lock-in and replacement costs every eight or so years.
Leanne McAuliffe
Los Gatos
Economics driving
conflict in Ukraine
Several weeks after Russia invaded the US-NATO client state Ukraine, reportedly (Washington Post, March 29) about 30% of Russian gas transported to European markets, including to NATO members Germany and Italy, continued to flow through Ukrainian pipelines. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s regime continues to collect transit fees from the Vladimir Putin regime, which Zelenskyy accuses of “war crimes” and “genocide.”
Germany also has canceled Nord Stream 2, which would completely bypass Ukraine, carrying Russian gas to Germany through the Baltic Sea.
The words of President Woodrow Wilson about World War I ring true now as it was true over a hundred years ago, that “the seed of war in the modern world is industrial and commercial rivalry.”
Diane Secor
Campbell
Obama missed chance
to confront Putin
Vladimir Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine are exactly what he did in Syria. He used cluster bombs on civilians, he bombed hospitals, he blocked the supply of food and water to civilians.
These and many more atrocities were found by the UN to be war crimes. Did President Barack Obama ever call Putin a war criminal? My search of the internet didn’t find a single reference to him speaking out. What I did find was Obama’s threats of “not crossing the red line” meant nothing. Syrian President Bashar Assad, with Russia’s collaboration, bombed civilians and their homes. Obama must know that Assad’s Air Force was directed by Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, one of the most ruthless commanders in the war. He is now Putin’s pick to lead the war in Ukraine.
Obama’s reluctance to confront Putin and his brutal general is why there is this horror in Ukraine now.
Ken Colson
San Jose
Source: www.mercurynews.com