Environment, Police reform, Roads, Tunnels, Bernie and Donald

Someone please explain this

1. If I clean up my business pollution, the state turns around and sells my “cleanup credits” to another dirty business that has not cleaned up its act. The pollution remains the same. How does this carbon credit idea clean up pollution?

2.We already have two canals always full of water going to Los Angeles, taking water out of the Sacramento River and its tributaries. How does two 30-foot tunnels taking out more water help the environment?

3. There were 96 million black plastic balls poured into a lake in the Los Angeles area. The balls heat up with the sun, slowly rotating so the wet side is in the sunlight and evaporating water off the ball, further heating the water and increasing evaporation. How does this save water?

Time to restore trust with AB 953

Re “California reforms should be just a start” (Editorials, Aug. 13): Indeed, California’s steps toward reducing law enforcement abuse are important, but not enough. In addition to use-of-force incidents, we need to collect and make public basic information about police stops, searches and seizures.

California still does not collect or make available information about who the police stop, frisk or even shoot. Assembly Bill 953, by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, would help root out biased policing by collecting empirical data on police stops.

Stick with gas tax for now

Re “Groups to submit road-funding plan” (The Buzz, Aug. 10): There are many ways to provide needed funds to repair our roads. Increasing the gasoline tax is the simplest way to go right now, but it hurts the poor. And there are issues and unsolved problems with a mileage-based fee.

For now, let’s continue with the pilot program on mileage-based fees while we add enough gasoline taxes to make up the shortfall.

In the future, when cars are twice as fuel-efficient, we will have to find other ways to pay for the roads. How to aid the low-income segment without increasing taxes is a challenge.

Tunnels an expensive disaster

Re “Farms weigh project risks” (Page 1A, Aug. 9): Heard of Boston’s Big Dig, Seattle’s Big Dig, the Oakland-Bay Bridge?

Did any of them come in near the original budget? Do they work as promised? Google them if you’re not certain. You could spend a great deal less building reservoirs and catch basins to capture water than what it’ll cost to destroy the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta just to end up with the same amount of water you get now.

Worried about earthquakes? Stop fracking. Want cleaner water before it flows through the Delta, as nature requires? Build an above-ground pipe around it. Want to help the Delta and still get water? Build a conveyance system on the western side.

Why Bernie and Donald?

Re “Crowds build along with enthusiasm for Sanders” (Page 2B, Aug. 12): You wonder why Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are surging in the polls.

To me, the answer is simple. I’m tired of Democrats throwing laws, regulations and money at every dissatisfied individual or conglomerate loud enough to be heard. I’d go Republican if they didn’t insert their conservative religious views into all aspects of their platform.

So, what’s left? Bernie and Donald.

This story was originally published August 16, 2015 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Environment, Police reform, Roads, Tunnels, Bernie and Donald."