New Times / Letters to the Editor

Books should not be tossed

Marci Grant - Los Osos

The book sale to benefit SLO library is a much-enjoyed annual event, and the sale that just occurred was no exception. The aftermath of the sale, however, was a disgrace to every cultural and intellectual value a library and its friends should stand for. Tens of thousands of beautiful, wonderful books, tapes, CDs, and videos were tossed into a dumpster. This year even more books than usual were dumped because there was no “buck a bag” clearance, which would help put books into the hands of less affluent readers and reduce leftovers.

 Why was such profligate waste permitted? Was it too much trouble to save leftovers for the next sale, as most libraries do? Was it too much trouble to offer them to schools, to nonprofits, to thrift stores? What about contributing them to the nearby urban poor, or even to foreign users? What are donors to make of the fact their donations fill a dumpster? Why should good cultural material go into a dumpster? What does it say about our library’s “friends” that they do this year after year?

---

Supervisors must reduce dunes pollution

Nell Langford - Pismo Beach

The San Luis Obispo Health Commission took a bold heroic step at its March 8 meeting, regarding the APCD Phase 2 Study.  It passed two motions to advise the Board of Supervisors to do everything possible to stop the health-threatening air pollution from the ODSVRA immediately, and to inform the public about the dangers. Among the actions the BOS can take are:

1. Use its police powers to impose a temporary moratorium on off-roading to protect public health, as authorized by its Planning area (South County) Standards for Pismo State Beach and State Vehicular Recreation Area, and California Coastal permit.

2. Give OHV a 30-day notice that it will discontinue its month-to-month operational agreement regarding county-owned land, the La Grande Tract, which is more than  40 percent of the riding area. If the agreement is discontinued, the OHV will have no access to the rest of the riding area on state land either, since the beach between the two properties is a plover exclosure from March 1 to Sept. 30.

3. Enforce the county’s “buffer area” that begins at Pier Avenue. This will preclude the only access to the ODSVRA for the noisy hoards of fossil-fuel machines that speed down a public beach, through a creek, and through the shoreline ecosystem of a natural preserve.

4. Evacuate residents on the mesa and Oceano Beach where particulate matter surpasses health standards, so that off-roaders can continue to break the dune’s crust upwind of the mesa and drag dust down Pier Avenue.

---

Walsh mistreated animals

Shiloe George - Atascadero

I’m appalled by the article “Gone but not forgotten” (March 4) about Cindy Walsh. I was a volunteer when the animals were seized from her because of her cruelty and helped with their adoption. I also adopted one.

The conditions the animals were removed from were horrendous and caused lifelong damage. Walsh occupied a tiny house with more than 130 animals indoors. Dead dogs were stashed in a freezer. Workers entered wearing hazmat suits and respirators and still couldn’t breathe comfortably. Walls had to be replaced because they had been saturated with urine.

The Walsh dogs required treatment (some were beyond treatment) for rotting mouths, missing eyes (from fighting over food and infection), ear mites and flea infestation, skin ailments (one came in hairless, but the coat came back eventually), malnutrition, fur matted with feces, respiratory issues from breathing urine, and other untreated illnesses. My rescue had ears full of growths that caused perpetual infection and deafness. Many of the animals required surgery aside from spaying/neutering. The birds suffered severe emotional and health issues from deprivation; most were featherless.

 Eric Anderson at the shelter did a great job. Owners are always charged for their impounded pets. Walsh was informed from the beginning of fees that would accrue. Do the DMV or IRS make concessions? Walsh exhausted the system, causing her prisoners to suffer longer. The severe overcrowding at the shelter caused other homeless animals to be euthanized.

---

PFLAG fights gay oppression

Maja Toft - Los Osos

There still exists oppression against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) persons. Local help is available through the Central Coast chapter of PFLAG (parents, family, and friends of lesbians and gays).  We have been helping locally for 19 years. Our mission is three-fold. We support not only GLBT persons, but those who might be struggling with the issue of their son, daughter, relative or friend being GLBT. 

We also educate those in need of understanding GLBT issues. We have many booklets and other materials. They are available at our SLO farmers’ market booth (restarting in March) or by contacting us directly.

Lastly, we advocate for GLBT persons not only by supporting political issues that involve their human rights but by supporting them personally to uphold their legal rights. Anyone who needs help or would like to join us in our efforts for equality should contact Central Coast PFLAG at pflag.slo@gmail.com, or call 801-2186 between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

---

Gays don't deserve to call their unions marriage

Charlee Smith - Templeton

I think many people like myself object to using the term “marriage” to describe the unions being formed by homosexuals. The

English language is already being modified too much. It is looking more like the “Newspeak” of 1984. I don’t mind if the partners of homosexual unions have all the rights and advantages (and disadvantages) of male and female marriages. Just don’t use the word marriage.

So, we need another word. Instead of marriage, I propose “coupling”.  Instead of being married, homosexual partners would be coupled.  Instead of “to marry one another”, they would use “to couple one another”.  I guess gays and lesbians could still use the terms wedding and spouse, but please, don’t use the words “husband” and “wife”.  I think we could all live together in harmony with this.

---

Trees should not be cut for school solar project

Julie Tacker - Los Osos

The Tribune (March 8) published feel-good photos of students from an ornamental horticulture class who hooked up with One Cool Earth at San Luis High School to punch holes for seeds to grow trees in containers until June. Ironically the seedlings will be ready to distribute at just about the same time chainsaws and chippers will be headed to the school to chop down some 150 trees to make room for carport structures that will support solar panels.  
As a consolation for the loss of trees, the steel carport project will be integrated into the children’s curriculum to teach lessons about “green living.” The community should demand an explanation why these solar arrays are not going on the rooftops of gymnasiums, libraries, and classrooms, to avoid the need to cut down so many healthy trees.

There is a clear disconnect between administrators’ concern about dollars and teaching what it really means to be green.

---

There's no reason to change energy consumption

Dean Carlson - Arroyo Grande

It’s a good thing Dave Morrow’s commentary about humans causing climate change “The evidence is clear” (March) was included in the opinion section because it is devoid of facts.  One thing is very clear: The people are tired of this nonsense. Opinion polls reveal that “global warming” is last on the list of public concerns. Belief in anthropogenic global warming is dropping faster than the nighttime temperature in Buffalo. Why? Because the facts don’t support
the theory.

Yes, CO₂ is a green house gas. But more than 96 percent of the CO₂ emissions on Earth come from natural sources, not from man’s activities. And greenhouse gases are a very minor factor in our planet’s heat retention capacity, compared to water vapor. These are facts.  

 It is also a fact that the average global temperature decreased from 1940 to 1975 while the atmospheric CO₂ concentration was increasing. After a brief warming period we are experiencing this same trend now—temperature decreasing while the CO₂ concentration is increasing. If you do read the IPCC reports as Dave suggested you will see that the words “uncertain” and “uncertainty” appear repeatedly. And we are supposed to radically change our use of energy and the world’s economic structure based on this political science?  The IPCC process is a sham meant to provide cover for politicians. It should and likely will be disbanded.

---

Climate-change evidence is real

Walter Reil - Atascadero

The American public and the news media seem dangerously unaware of the overwhelming solid science substantiating global warming and climate change. This is understandable because many Americans have little understanding of science, due in large part to our nation’s inadequate education system, the lack of a science-minded society, deficient parenting, and a serious lack of outreach by the scientific community.

It is normal human nature to deny or criticize things that make us apprehensive. The forecast of significant changes in the Earth’s climate is accurate. And regional “weather” patterns, such as this winter’s extreme cold in much of the nation, have little impact on global, long-term climatic processes. To become better educated about climate science, I recommend beginning with these two excellent sources: the Central Coast Climate Science Education website centralcoastclimatescience.org, and the Feb. 25, 2010 PG&E whitepaper Climate Change for Policymakers and Business Leaders at pgecorp.com/news/press_releases/Release_Archive2010/100225press_release.shtml.

---

Don't be dissuaded by climate-change deniers

Allen Root - San Luis Obispo

We have heard from Matt Kokkonen and others regarding the politics of climate change. Anyone interested in transcending the politics should explore the website climate.org. For a treatise about who might be behind the campaign to confuse the issue, read Climate Cover-Up by James Hoggan, and visit secrets.org. It may come as no surprise that PR firms, think tanks, and their “experts” who deny the climate is changing are some of the same forces that fought to preserve the profits and markets of tobacco companies. Now they are funded by big oil and big coal.
   We all can take steps to break our addiction to hydrocarbons, lighten our footprint, and conserve our planet. Even if the evidence of human-caused climate alteration is a hoax, we will have made the world a better place. Or, we can continue our rampant consumption, pollution, bickering, and give Exxon more record profits.

---

No one is entitled to education

Joanie Brown - San Luis Obispo

 A sign promoting the March 4 National Day of Action to Defend Education contained two statements: Education is a Human Right; and Resist, Mobilize & Transform. The first is false—education is not a human right. We are not born with it, we or our parents earn it!  The second, a trio of commands, is contrary to all things educational. Students, teachers, and administrators are not in school to resist. They are there to accept rules from their higher authorities.

 Who and what must mobilize? What are they mobilizing to attack?  Education is not militant. Transform—what kind of magic are they proposing? Faculty, staff, and students don’t perform magic; they teach and learn.

All Americans “defend education.” The organizers have a winner there, but they distort the noble cause with a confrontational mob.

---