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Delta tunnel project
shouldn’t be built
Re: “Newsom tries Hail Mary for Delta tunnel” (Page A7, May 23).
Tom Philp laments the fact that Gov. Newsom has not succeeded in moving the Delta tunnel construction project forward. Philp blames the “regulatory system.”
Like the overbudget high-speed rail project, the Delta tunnel is an exercise in massive spending for infrastructure that does not have sufficient public support. Citizens are not persuaded that the benefits are worth the cost, in dollars and environmental damage.
Philp argues that Southern California deserves to deplete water from Northern California, due to population numbers in the south. That was the rationale for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Water District, for which Philp previously worked, to grab the Owens River over a century ago.
More than 80% of California water is used by agriculture. Now, almond farmers want to deplete the Delta biosphere for profitable exports.
I, for one, am thankful for the regulatory system. Some projects should not be built.
Amelia Marshall
Oakland
San Ramon climate
plan deserves support
Re: “San Ramon has chance to set climate course” (Page A6, May 13).
This letter asks for community support for the proposed Climate Action Plan.
I fully support the actions being taken by San Ramon to lessen their impact on the climate. The cornerstone measure that they’ve based their plan around has its roots in existing legislation and the goals of the Open Space Advisory Committee of San Ramon. This gives the proposed plan pre-existing support, which I think is a wonderful way to ensure that the city follows through. I also appreciate how comprehensive the plan is, and hope that when the day comes to vote on June 10, the city will move forward with the proposed plan.
If they do find issues, I hope they only find that there are more ways San Ramon can limit its climate impact.
Thomas Helgren
San Ramon
Quake will reveal depth
of human arrogance
Re: “Going below the surface” (Page E1, May 25).
The U.S. Geological Survey has been saying for years that a megaquake will destroy a highly urbanized region of California.
Yet leaders have ignored this obvious fact, which is based on sound research, and acted as if California is just like anywhere else, and in the process allowed absurd towers to be built, thinking nothing can destroy them.
These modern-day Towers of Babel will inevitably go down as a reminder of how profoundly arrogant people are.
A.J. Buttacavoli
Walnut Creek
Trump is leading nation
toward totalitarian rule
If you still feel that Donald Trump is leading this country on a good course, consider:
He demands unswerving loyalty to himself. He punishes those who oppose him. He appoints fawning toadies to high positions. He suppresses dissent. He hangs huge posters of himself up on government buildings. He cultivates hatred of “others.”
Friends, when you look at these traits, please ask yourself, “Does this remind me more of George Washington, or of Kim Jong Un?” And ask yourself — would you rather live in a free country or a totalitarian state?
Peter Simcich
El Sobrante
Stand up to Trump’s
assault on democracy
DOGE has recklessly eliminated more than 280,000 federal jobs with more planned, but the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” still raises the debt ceiling.
The administration has gutted FEMA, FDIC and USAID, and dramatically reduced cancer, HIV, bird flu and other critical health research. Donald Trump also has tried to extort mineral rights from Ukraine, separated from our allies while cozying up to Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. He’s made ridiculous overtures to subsume Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal. We witnessed despicable White House ambushes of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the South African president, tried to make any sense of his on-off tariff whims that destabilize the markets, and tracked his assaults on universities, legal firms and reporters who dare ask him pointed questions. He has ignored court orders and made many millions from his crypto coin scheme. Sadly, there’s so much more.
Stand up now or bow later. No Kings Day is June 14.
Barry Brynjulson
Pleasanton
Trump policies reveal
disrespect for military
Re: “Trump delivers address at West Point, stressing new era” (Page A6, May 25).
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In the military, “there has been an aggressive erasure of the valor of Black, female and other groups, down to eliminating and obscuring content honoring those buried at Arlington National Cemetery.” The acts of valor of our countrymen of color have been deleted from government websites, so there is no longer a record of their distinguished service. Brave Black soldiers who sacrificed their lives on the battlefield and are buried in Arlington National Cemetery are having the memories of their valor erased from history.
This despicable act was ordered by a cowardly traitor “who never served in the military and avoided the Vietnam War by citing bone spurs in his foot.”
After this Memorial Day, when we honored those who gave their lives in service to our country, one wonders how we, the American people, can conscience such loathsome disrespect to the memory of those who died protecting our democracy.
Jeanne Kinkella
San Leandro