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Bee readers react to rooftop solar news, homelessness plans and Trump’s 2024 campaign

Car salesmen

Republicans win the House of Representatives majority. What changes will Californians see?” (sacbee.com, Nov. 18)

After all their political ads about crime in the streets and inflation, the new “in charge” Republican Congress announces that its priority will be investigating Hunter Biden and President Joe Biden’s administration. I can’t help equating this with the bait-and-switch tactics used by some unscrupulous car salesmen.

The American people have spoken. They want them to concentrate on kitchen table issues. Is it too much to ask that they actually listen?

Once, Congress was cooperative. It wasn’t, “I’m voting against this bill that will help my community because I don’t want the other party to look good.” This is exactly what we have now, and I, for one, am sick of it!

Rosalie Wohlfromm

Auburn

Conflicting accounts

Newsom meets with California officials about homelessness,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 19)

For Sacramento residents, this headline offered some hope — perhaps Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Darrell Steinberg had finally come to a meeting of the minds on an approach to dealing with chronic homelessness issues locally as well as throughout the state. The $1 billion in state funding the governor has been holding in abeyance would finally be released to localities dealing with this never-ending problem.

A reader’s hope was short-lived, however, as the article documented the following two wildly conflicting bits of information: The city and county said in their proposal that the “homeless population would increase by 71% from 2020 to 2024.” Not correct, according to Steinberg, who said governments would instead “reduce the total number of unhoused people by at least 15% over the next two years.”

How can Sacramento address this confounding problem when our representatives can’t even project realistic homelessness numbers in the foreseeable future?

Bill Motmans

Sacramento

Opinion

Solar for all

“California proposes friendlier reforms for rooftop solar incentives,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 10)

Californians need to take action now to save rooftop solar. The California Public Utilities Commission has consistently been in the pocket of big utility companies such as Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Southern California Edison. They’re trying to make it unaffordable to add rooftop solar by drastically reducing the energy credit you get when you sell your energy back to the utility.

Rooftop solar is a very important resource that all Californians should have, but the utility companies think otherwise. We need to remind our governor and the PUC that this resource actually saved California from massive power outages during the heat wave in September. Rooftop solar should be part of the governor’s plan to achieve a carbon-free economy.

Gregory Fite

Hayward

Plea to Newsom

“California proposes friendlier reforms for rooftop solar incentives,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 10)

The new proposed decision released by the California Public Utilities Commission slashes consumer credits for roof and ground-mount solar by 75% and is out of step with California’s clean energy objectives. Over 2,000 schools, 1,000 farms, 300 apartment buildings and 1 million homes are powered directly by the sun in California, along with over 400 new consumers adopting solar daily. This profit grab by the utilities brings this progress to a halt.

The sun belongs to everyone. If this decision is passed as proposed, solar would become

unaffordable for millions of working families, schools and businesses. Furthermore, this would directly ruin every small, locally owned solar business, threatening over 100,000 jobs.

The PUC plans to meet on Dec. 15 to decide the fate of solar in California. We ask Gov. Gavin Newsom to stand up against this draconian proposal.

Abe Emard

CEO, NewGen Energy

Loomis

Pelosi’s legacy

CA pols react to Nancy Pelosi’s decision to step down,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 19)

Nancy Pelosi is a trailblazer. A fierce advocate for California and our entire country, she was fearless in the face of impeachments and insurrection. Her legacy will live on with our next generation of leaders.

Paul Bacon

Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Held accountable

CA pols react to Donald Trump’s presidential announcement,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 16)

To date, Donald Trump, his team of oligarchs and their allies in Congress have not been charged or arrested for crimes associated with planning, encouraging or participating in the government stoppage, riot and insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. But they should be held accountable.

If federal officials get away without being charged, this will lead to further abuses of the law, oaths of office and the U.S. Constitution. This will fracture our international image, leading other countries to believe that in the United States, the politically powerful are above the law. That would embolden our enemies and force our friends to worry about our future as a democracy.

Felix Smith

Carmichael

Food for thought

CA pols react to Donald Trump’s presidential announcement,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 16)

The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: “(n)o person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

Trump was elected president in 2016 and has spent years proclaiming that he was elected president in 2020.

If he believes what he says, then he is ineligible to be president again and may have filed false papers. Alternately, by announcing his bid for 2024, Trump admits that he did not win the 2020 election. And to the extent that he made sworn statements claiming to have won in 2020, he may now be a perjurer.

Andrew Kershen

Sacramento