Taxing, mandating our way to Envirotopia
To the editor:
Jeffrey Leonard's commentary of Jan. 16 ("To move energy policy forward, cut subsidies") proposes that President Obama lead us down the road to Envirotopia by cutting all energy subsidies and letting energy sources compete in the market. What a great, bipartisan idea.
Without taxpayer generosity, we wouldn't have those bird-shredding windmills or water-guzzling solar generators decorating the landscape. We wouldn't be burning our own food supply as ethanol in our gas tanks. We wouldn't waste big bucks in the form of "massive tax expenditures" (really?) favoring oil production. You would think a self-described green-and-clean energy investor would call for more, not less, subsidizing.
Sure enough, here comes the wolf disguised as one of us ignorant sheep. Mr. Leonard allows we can have green power -- at a price everyone loves -- if only government will lend its heavy hand.
Investing heavily in long-term research, determining winners and losers, among green fantasies. Making sure natural gas is produced "responsibly." Further mandating (forcing) utilities to buy wind and solar power. Further restricting coal use to drive its price skyward.
And should you think the government isn't doing enough to impede oil exploration and production, Mr. Leonard suggests "some form of tariff" will fix that. Here comes that $14-a-gallon gas!
The basic reason for the lack of clean energy: It's not cost-competitive in a free market. What Mr. Leonard proposes is that government make it so by driving the cost of the competitor's product so high no one will -- or can -- buy it. What we have here is yet another attempt to repeal the law of supply and demand by government fiat. Democrats have been at it for 75 years with little success.
Make no mistake: Clean, cost-effective energy is necessary in the long run. Technology will evolve, developed by private-sector firms risking their own capital in hopes of profits. Not by government fiat.
However, Envirotopia is a way off. We live in the real world. A world where we can drive our cars to work, take our kids to visit grandparents over the holidays and live in air-conditioned comfort. Now we're told doom is imminent from all manner of noxious stuff in the air, based on fiddled statistics and discredited computer programs.
They're telling us to forget the real world. They're telling us to forget what America is.
PHILIP WATERMAN
LAS VEGAS
Not a plan
To the editor:
After four years of the worthless Jim Gibbons, I was hopeful that our new governor would provide much-needed leadership and solutions to the many problems Nevada faces.
However, after reviewing Gov. Brian Sandoval's State of the State address, I am very disappointed in his plan to balance the budget. I have come to the conclusion that he is yet another Jim Gibbons, although he does seem to have a better personality.
If this is Gov. Sandoval's Plan A, we are in for four more years of hurt.
Patricia Ducharme
Henderson
On the right track
To the editor:
Gov. Brian Sandoval's budget ideas have all the unions and the Democrats up in arms.
Anytime you have those two groups from the "me, me, me" and "gimme, gimme more" side upset with your actions, you're on the right track.
Good going, Gov. Sandoval.
Harry Kirchoff
Henderson
What about a lottery?
To the editor:
I would like to wish our new governor the best in his quest to turn around Nevada's financial condition, but I am angered when I see that he proposes more snips, cuts and slashes to our education system.
What angers me even more are the politicians and casino owners who have for the past decade blocked efforts to create a state lottery that would benefit our education system and add to state coffers. The argument by some casino moguls that they would lose profits is moot since they have ushered most of the high-roller Asians out of the state and into the Macau casinos.
Does the cliche "Hindsight is 20/20" fit?
Joe Schaerer
Las Vegas
Horse problem
To the editor:
The Bureau of Land Management is charged with managing the nation's wild horses and burros and has received a $64 million annual budget to do so. Despite this charge, and the vast sums of money it has, BLM admits in its own publications that there are currently 12,000 more horses and burros than can exist in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses.
The problem is particularly acute in the Cold Creek area, south of Indian Springs, where the number of horses has simply skyrocketed. Not only do these animals destroy habitat, foul water sources and drive other ungulates from water or feed, they are a hazard of the highest degree on the road to Cold Creek.
If you've ever driven the road, you know what I mean. The horses enjoy walking on the asphalt going to and from their water supply, particularly in the winter months when the black pavement is warmer than the surrounding soil. However, with herds of horses wandering up and down a dimly lit highway, someone is going to get killed. Try dodging black horses on a black road on a black night.
Tracy Truman
Las Vegas
