Transmission line boondoggle

To the editor:

Your editorial of November 6 hit the nail on the head. It should be read nation wide. You have spoken for a huge quantity of backyards owned by sound minds.

Not every protest in America reflects purely self-interest. But when a large number of citizens and groups question and protest a public undertaking, we not only are exercising freedom of speech, we are exercising citizens’ rights and responsibility. It took 30 years to convince Uncle Sam that the geology was unfit for Tocks Island Dam, so don’t give up on this more recent “transmission line” boondoggle.

Cutting the elongated monster into small parts for public meetings that were without public comment periods or records of same, the power companies along the PPL power-line route might have convinced a few unsuspecting citizens that it was a business-as-usual program. Most of us do not have time to track down a project that is longer than the Mississippi River. But now questions have been asked how the National Interest Electricity Transmission Corridors became such emergencies that they can overrule the Constitution and several of our nation’s public laws, and bulldoze over laws in the states through which they pass.

Does a good citizen “just look the other way?” Or should we demand from our state utility commissions and our elected representatives that something that smells like a major boondoggle should be fumigated and clear the air before it is too late?

The billions spent on this expensive red herring is money unavailable for developing and connecting vastly more sustainable and otherwise preferable alternative energies. The massive tree-cutting alone will affect global warming; cutting across the entirely natural Delaware Water Gap will permanently fracture its 40-mile paradise.

The concept of smaller, geographically manageable power-making, using natural resources at hand within the 50 states, promises to build a more dependable power grid across all of America, separable by power source but grid-joined according to security issues.

Drill, drill, drill

To the editor:

I congratulate The River Reporter for the fine article in the October 23 issue, “DEP wants drilling ‘myths’ put to rest.” Finally some straight answers to the questions that actually matter. Is our water safe? If chemicals are used are they containable? The answers seem to be a resounding “yes.”

Energy availability is the bedrock of our capitalist free market democracy. If Joe Biden says it’s patriotic to pay higher taxes, I counter with it’s unpatriotic to block the lifeblood of our economy, energy. Tree hugging liberals and socialists will never be satisfied with drilling safeguards. There is risk in any venture. A vibrant economy and high standard of living is worth the risk. For those of you who disagree, turn off your electricity now, so as to get used to the blackouts that will surely come if your short-sighted, self-absorbed, feel-good, I-gotta-save-the-planet views prevail.

Time for some real national security

To the editor:

I trust Barack Obama’s transition team is planning the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. However, if he really stands for change, he will also end our occupation of Afghanistan. Obama’s proposals to increase the size of the Army and Marines by 92,000 troops and to send additional soldiers to Afghanistan demonstrate that even he has failed to internalize the true lessons of Vietnam and Iraq.

Afghanistan, now the world’s single largest producer of opium, is effectively a narco-state controlled by warlords and corrupt government officials. The Afghan people face a humanitarian crisis with no relief in sight. The Taliban and Al Qaeda are mounting larger and more sophisticated attacks. A draft report by American intelligence agencies concludes that the situation in Afghanistan is “in a downward spiral.” The top British commander in Afghanistan recently stated that the war against the Taliban cannot be won. Pakistani militants continue to pour across the border.

A troop surge will not change this catastrophe. As Andrew Bacevich argues in “The Limits of Power,” we don’t need a bigger military, only a more modest foreign policy.

It’s time to redefine our national security in terms of actually protecting Americans. We need quality affordable health care, energy independence, economic stability and responsible fiscal policies so we can get our house in order. If Obama is serious about fighting terrorism, then he needs to finally broker a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. This would do more to enhance global stability and our own national security than any military offensive in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran or Syria. We would then be in a stronger position to find a regional political solution to the Afghan-Pakistani-Indian conflicts so we can provide the humanitarian assistance the Afghan people so desperately need and deserve.

Rebuilding together

To the editor:

The caller asked: “Did you like the way the election turned out?” I asked, “Did you?” The person responded, “No, I didn’t.” Then, before the click of the phone hanging up: “I don’t think we should have elected a n***** for President.”

Her statement highlights a deep, festering wound in our country. But I was inspired by John McCain and Barack Obama’s respectful, hopeful messages as they vowed to work together. I would like to use President-elect Obama’s words to reply to my mystery caller and hope we can talk again. She has my number.

“I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it has been done in America for 221 years—block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand…

“So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other.

“Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

“We do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, ‘We are not enemies, but friends... though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.’ And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn—I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.”

I ask the caller, will you please join me in listening carefully and respectfully as we search for common ground?