Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to [email protected] or sent online at okgazette.com. Include a city of residence and contact number for verification.
Thought police
Our government has no doubt embarked on a program whereby “thought police” can read peoples’ minds.The goal is to jail and/or fine those people who have “politically incorrect” thoughts. I will gladly allow them to know exactly what is on my mind.
“Go to hell, mind your own business and get a life!”
— Mickey McVay
Edmond
Tree damage
I have been taking note of the arboreal damage from Thanksgiving weekend’s 2015 OK Ice Storm and have found that the majority of the damage has been sustained by Bradford pear trees and elms, with the most damage to any particular species being suffered by lacebark, or Chinese, elm (Ulmus parvifolia). In general, the native trees have been doing better than the exotics. Not to say that there hasn’t been damage, just that it is less so.My official question/statement/appeal: Considering the susceptibility of lacebark elm to critical structural failure via ice buildup as periodically found in Oklahoma, why do municipalities (i.e., Oklahoma City, Norman, Stillwater) continue to specifically recommend their planting around parking lots, where their sudden explosion will most likely damage the most expensive property a person owns? Notably, while Oklahoma Forestry Services list lacebark elm as having a fact sheet, it does not specify it as “recommended for planting in urban areas.” (Source: www.forestry.ok.gov/ok-tree-guide)
— David Murray
Norman
Power scheme
OG&E’s star rate increase witness Ashley Brown said Oklahoma’s current policy for net metering is unfair during his testimony in support of the utility monopoly’s proposed rate increases for homeowners with solar or wind systems.Brown said OG&E must take back excess power from customers at the retail rate rather than the wholesale rate.
Maybe in some states, but not in Oklahoma. We can’t sell what is known as distributed energy generated by our solar or wind systems back to OG&E at either retail or wholesale rates, although that would be a great way to encourage renewable energy investment. Instead, net metering only lets us offset energy consumed with energy produced at our homes. Any extra energy is exported for free to the grid, essentially a donation from solar or wind homeowners to OG&E and the company’s full-service ratepayers.
Brown, executive director of Harvard Electricity Policy Group, is misinformed about net metering laws in Oklahoma. Apparently, he frequently testifies against solar and wind development for electricity utility executives who belong to his organization.
I wonder what else he got wrong in his expert testimony intended to convince Oklahoma Corporation Commissioners to let OG&E unfairly raise rates on customers who have invested in wind or solar energy.
— Jackie Gaston
Yukon
Monkey, business
It can be proven that monkeys evolved from humans. All that would be required to do so is to take DNA samples from the executive branch, the Supreme Court and Congress in Washington, D.C.— Ron Sills
Oklahoma City
