- How About Hydrogen?
- Doubling Down Could Lead To Bigger, More Dangerous Protests
- Trump’s Ballroom Will Be A Monument To Greed And Excess
- At 6, When There Were No Vaccines, I Survived Measles And Complications
- Smart Train Should Not Be Called ‘Clean’ Transportation
HOW ABOUT HYDROGEN?
Editor:
Six tons of hydrogen are being produced every day at the K2 Pure Solutions facility in Pittsburg. Hydrogen is a byproduct from making bleach-type chemicals. The hydrogen is currently vented to the air — unused, wasted. K2 plans to transition from venting hydrogen to distributing it to the Northern California market in 2026. The opportunity to have readily available hydrogen fuel for automobiles in Sonoma County is finally here.
There is only one hydrogen fueling station north of the Golden Gate, and it’s located in Mill Valley. There are none in Sonoma County. We need hydrogen fueling stations. Currently Toyota, Hyundai and Honda produce hydrogen-fueled automobiles, and BMW is slated for mass production for 2028.
Benefits of a hydrogen-fueled automobiles include zero tailpipe emissions, rapid refueling (three to five minutes), extended driving range (the 2026 Toyota Mirage is rated for 402 miles), cold weather resistance and hydrogen is twice as efficient than combustion engines.
The Board of Supervisors is required to provide administrative, expedited review for hydrogen fueling station permits to streamline their construction. Is Sonoma County going to take advantage of the available hydrogen and promote one of the most efficient and climate-friendly modes of transportation?
Norman Vachon
Windsor
DOUBLING DOWN COULD LEAD TO BIGGER, MORE DANGEROUS PROTESTS
Editor:
What is happening in Minnesota and elsewhere with ICE feels like a runaway train heading toward disaster. It is clear from polls that a significant portion of the populace disagrees with how the administration is going about finding undocumented immigrants and removing them from the country. A lot of people didn’t agree with that project in the first place, and now even some of those who agreed are bothered by the brutal tactics being used.
For this administration to address protests of those tactics by doubling down on its show of force and threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act and bring in the military is dangerous. This is what radicalizes people. Some people will move from “I need my voice heard” to “this government just ignores our voices and wants to silence us — now I want to hurt them and show them I am not powerless.”
You have seen that happen in so many countries where government tries to squash the loyal opposition and the opposition then goes underground and retaliates with violence. We don’t need or want that here. Keep free speech, a free press and the right to assemble openly, and do not allow anyone to take away the right to vote.
Michael Krikorian
Windsor
TRUMP’S BALLROOM WILL BE A MONUMENT TO GREED AND EXCESS
Editor:
No president should be allowed to make sweeping changes to the White House or its grounds. This building is a national monument, not personal property, and the president is a trustee. Paving over the Rose Garden was bad enough, but destruction of the East Wing is an outrage. The planned $400 million ballroom is an obscenity considering how many Americans are struggling just to put food on the table. Such a monument to greed and excess is un-American.
Paul Schumacher
Santa Rosa
AT 6, WHEN THERE WERE NO VACCINES, I SURVIVED MEASLES AND COMPLICATIONS
Editor:
I read that Dr. Kirk Milhoan, chair of the advisory committee on immunization practices, said vaccines for polio and measles should be a matter of choice, rather than mandated. I find this idea dangerous. When I was a child, the polio vaccine was not yet available. Several of my classmates were crippled. Countless others were paralyzed or spent years in iron lungs. Also, at that time there was no measles vaccine. One out of every 1,000 individuals who gets measles also gets encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, which can result in neurological damage or death. At age 6, I was that one in 1,000. After convulsions, a coma and isolation in the hospital I was lucky to survive. I strongly recommend that parents and caregivers have their children vaccinated against these two diseases, and that school districts continue their practice of mandatory vaccinations.
Janet Greene
Cloverdale
SMART TRAIN SHOULD NOT BE CALLED ‘CLEAN’ TRANSPORTATION
Editor,
I love trains. My dad worked for a railroad, so they were a large part of my upbringing. However, after reading the article published Jan. 11 with the headline “SMART tax renewal pitch heads to district board,” I don’t think the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District is very smart at all.
In the article, a supporter of the proposed ballot measure to extend the sales tax paying for SMART appears to misrepresent the service as “clean” public transportation. Those trains run on diesel fuel. SMART also causes daily backups of idling cars in places like downtown San Rafael every time it comes through. There are at least five busy streets with several blocks each of idling, gasoline-powered cars and trucks trying to get where they are headed. This happens especially at high-commute times but also randomly.
We need solid data to show the additional pollution we get that can be attributed to those backups. Also, the petitioners for this were good people, understandably working to get paid for signatures. What should have been made clear in the script they were given is the full truth: The petition allows supporters to put the measure on the ballot at a lower approval threshold. That means the tax proposal no longer requires a supermajority on Election Day.
So if this initiative does make it to the ballot, I suspect it will pass. Then we will all be paying for what sounded like a great idea (clean transportation and less congestion) but hasn’t proven to be so. It’s time to look for other solutions.
Kraemer Winslow
San Rafael
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