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Investing in science is
investing in innovation
My science journey began here in San Mateo County, inspired by the beauty of our regional parks, our local educators and STEM opportunities. Today, with support from the National Science Foundation, I study how oyster genetics influence environmental resilience. This research aids conservation and supports a $186 million aquaculture industry.
But this work is at risk. The presidential budget proposes cutting 57% from NSF and 40% from the National Institutes of Health. A Forbes analysis found cuts will result in a $9.2 billion annual net loss.
Opportunities for young scientists are also vanishing. Internships have been canceled, and federal fellowships like the Graduate Research Fellowship have dropped to half their previous levels. Colleagues have lost job offers, education, and years of work due to canceled grants.
Science drives innovation and economic growth, but it needs your help. Please contact your representatives and advocate for continued investment in science.
Camille Rumberger
Hillsborough
Homebuyers deserve
to have more choices
Re: “State bill pausing local building codes forfeits climate progress” (Page A6, July 1).
The authors claim that local requirements for electrification benefit the climate, but provide no evidence that this is true. Our cities do not exist in a hermetically sealed environment. The change in local carbon emissions, relative to carbon emissions worldwide, is unmeasurably small. Local requirements to limit emissions simply represent moral posturing.
The authors claim that “thousands of Palo Alto and San Jose residents enjoy lower energy costs and healthier air quality, thanks to their all-electric homes.” Air within houses may be better when electric appliances replace gas ones and, if reduced costs accrue from electrification, most homeowners, without regulatory mandates, would choose it when shopping for new appliances. If all-electric residences cost less, why would buyers not choose them on their own?
There certainly may be benefits to individuals who choose electric appliances over gas, but people should have the freedom to decide what works best for them.
Richard Mamelok
Palo Alto
Immigration crackdown
threatens nation’s soul
Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda is creating fear and chaos across America. Talented students are rejecting U.S. universities, choosing countries that offer a warmer welcome. Immigrants already here are terrified — afraid to go to work, school or even seek medical care.
This fear has real economic costs. Farms are losing essential workers, businesses are struggling and the economy is faltering. Entire communities are suffering as a result of policies rooted in cruelty, not common sense.
While working families face this crisis, Trump’s billionaire allies continue to profit — a reverse Robin Hood scheme where the rich grow richer and the rest are left behind.
America was built by immigrants. We should be welcoming talent and labor that fuels our economy, not driving it away with fear. If this agenda continues, the biggest loss won’t be immigration — it will be the soul of the nation itself.
Jag Singh
Los Altos
Senate gives in to fear
by passing tax bill
Re: “Spending, tax cut bill passes” (Page A1, July 2).
The Senate’s passage of Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” symbolizes our country’s transformation from traditional faith in our political leaders into an administration of fear.
GOP members of Congress surely knew that accumulating national debt and loss of critical government services are contrary to the interests of their constituents and our country at large, but they voted for the bill anyway out of fear, fear that they would be primaried out if they voted otherwise.
Unless we act and vote otherwise, we are slowly but surely becoming a country united in fear as “We the People” are primaried out.
David Cain
Los Altos
To solve gas crisis,
allow more imports
Seems like our legislators in Sacramento usually can’t find ways to solve some of the state’s simplest problems, some of which they created.
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Obviously, California is not completely ready to get off fossil fuels. And until that time comes we need to stop penalizing (and antagonizing) the few remaining refineries we have before we are in a fuel crisis. Thanks to our state elected reps, it’s no wonder we are up to $1.40 per gallon higher than the national average.
When in a gas and diesel crisis, we need to remove the obstacles of importing fuel from out-of-state refineries until the crisis calms down. Simple enough?
Bruce Krutel
El Granada