Perhaps SB 1339 Could Have Some Positive Aspects
Steve Kozachik's concerns regarding SB 1339 are understandable (Guest Commentary, March 3). However, one might wonder why any regulatory agency should have its rules made by bureaucrats without legislative oversight. In fact, those rules should be reviewed periodically (maybe biennially), perhaps by a committee, followed by the full body. All too often, the bureaucracy's main priority becomes its preservation and expansion.
This chore might also keep the Legislature too busy to get up to some other mischief.
John Cerino
Transmission-Line Project Has No Legit 'Renewable Energy' Claims
Regarding "No Power to the People" (Currents, March 3), I cringed when I saw that the Tucson Weekly repeated SunZia's "renewable energy" marketing myth. Let's get this straight: This project is a transmission line, not a set of renewable-energy generation plants. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has already ruled that the investors have no claim to or control of the transmission rights, due to open-access regulations. Currently, SunZia investment related to wind energy only amounts to 5 percent.
SunZia, and more importantly, their environmental-impact oversight agency (the Bureau of Land Management) have had no basis to make the constantly repeated public claim that this project will primarily carry energy from renewable sources. Nobody knows what kind of energy will ultimately get access to this transmission line. SunZia will keep repeating this renewable-energy hype all through the siting process, but if the line is constructed, the company will be able to say, "Oops, sorry, looks like our hands are tied by the feds. We really wanted this to be a renewable-energy project. Honest!" Those intentions may pave the road to hell for the conservation groups that are currently drinking SunZia's marketing Kool-Aid.
This project needs more public scrutiny, not less. And it needs a whole lot more truth in advertising.
Peter Else
Events Like the Street Fair and Club Crawl® Have Merit Despite Downsides
Reading the article "Brewing Concerns" (Currents, March 10) made me sad, but it also made me chuckle.
The sad part: A Fourth Avenue bar owner can have such a narrow view of business that he doesn't see that any inconvenience of the Street Fair is more than made up for by the real benefits of giving the public a wonderful event and great memories of Fourth Avenue, as well as funding the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association, which does amazing things for Fourth Avenue.
The chuckle part: Those of us in retail cringe when we hear that Club Crawl® is coming, because we know we will have to put up with drunk patrons who don't shop—not so fun! Ironically, Club Crawl® was advertised on the page right next to the article. Despite my cringing, however, it wouldn't occur to me to try to disrupt Club Crawl®. I know folks enjoy Club Crawl®, so I put up with the drunk patrons, hoping they have fun and good memories of Fourth Avenue and downtown, and come back another time to shop.
Trudy Mills, Antigone Books
Views on Our State Leaders
If I am seeing this correctly, we have:
A governor and an attorney general who say the government can't force people to buy insurance, yet they force those same people to buy vehicle insurance.
An attorney general who slams New Yorkers for intruding in our business, yet fails to slam a guy from Utah for imposing himself into a recall of Sheriff Clarence Dupnik.
A governor and legislators who think every untrained, un-background-checked person can carry concealed weapons with high capacity magazines.
A state senator, Al Melvin, who is so anti-American that he resents our First Amendment (reference: his tantrum when he saw the Tucson Weekly distributed at a business).
State Sen. Scott Bundgaard, who claims immunity after allegedly beating his girlfriend.
State Sen. Frank Antenori, who preaches limited government while trying to get into the Most Legislation Introduced Hall of Fame.
The passage of SB 1070, which gave law enforcement the ability to stop and demand papers from anyone, and a governor so weak that she signed away basic rights for political gain.
Does anyone actually believe these people have the courage, integrity or ability to turn our state around? Anyone?
Dave Rollins
Comment From a Reader at TucsonWeekly.com
Regarding "Subterranean Nightmare," Currents, March 10:
But those pipes are historic!
—his own self
Correction
In "Road to Recovery" (Feb. 24), due to an editing error, we reported that Pam Simon grew up on a family farm in Wisconsin. She actually grew up on a farm in the state of Washington.
We apologize for the mistake.
