Solar energy
Ensure solar panel safety, quality
Florida is the Sunshine State, and it makes perfect sense to realize its full potential for clean, renewable solar energy.
In fact, the Tampa Bay region alone is expected to see the installation of tens of thousands of commercial-grade solar panels in the next few years — including current and recently announced projects at Tampa International Airport and Lockheed Martin.
But Florida also has had more than its share of major hurricanes. The loss of life and property has been horrific enough without also having to worry about 50-pound solar guillotines spinning through the air. Yes, current Florida building code has wind load requirements. But as technology develops, we should try to improve current standards and save lives.
And it just isn't the building code that needs reviewing.
• Who is responsible for inspections to determine proper installation, and how consistent will the training be for these inspectors?
• How will we audit these solar farms to ensure that Florida's blistering sun and severe thunderstorms haven't compromised safety over many years?
• With so many manufacturers, including in China, what quality control guarantees are there for the solar panels to resist hurricane-force winds?
Safety, high installation standards and excellent inspection protocols are especially important in a state that seems to have had more than its fair share of charlatan contractors and business owners willing to cut corners on safety.
Mike Kersmarki, Tampa
Show horse found slaughtered | Oct. 27
Bill would outlaw slaughter
The abduction and slaughter of grand prix jumper Phedras de Blondel in Palmetto is an outrage, and we hope the perpetrator of this cruelty will be found and held responsible. But we also hope this heartbreaking incident serves as motivation to protect thousands of other American horses from suffering a similar fate.
It's unacceptable that each year more than 100,000 American horses are legally shipped across the border to Mexico and Canada to be slaughtered for human consumption. Just as Phedras was a healthy, happy athlete and companion, the majority of horses shipped to slaughter could also lead productive lives if given the chance. The horses snatched up at auction are most often the larger, heavier horses that will bring in more money per pound, not the skinny, sick horses. They are former show horses, racehorses and beloved pets who were never intended to wind up on a dinner plate.
The slaughter pipeline is an undignified end for our companions that deserve so much better. That's why Congress must pass the Safeguard American Food Exports Act to outlaw the slaughter of American horses anywhere, whether on U.S. soil or abroad.
Holly Gann, Humane Society of the United States, Washington, D.C.
Bill tackles VA's dysfunction, abuses Oct. 20
Higher demands put on VA
Sen. Marco Rubio's opinion regarding the alleged "dysfunction and incompetence" of the Department of Veterans Affairs' health care system failed to mention some important facts.
Could some of the shortcomings be simply the result of having been overwhelmed by large numbers of returning veterans from our entanglements in foreign wars, such as in Iraq and Afghanistan, who needed medical help? This also explains long waiting periods.
As a U.S. Army veteran, I know I can't speak for everyone, but my personal experience with two VA medical facilities — the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville, N.C., as well as the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center in Bay Pines, Pinellas County — has been an excellent one for which I am very grateful.
Kurt Ortmann, Bradenton
Bear hunt starts with a bang | Oct. 25
Protect natural Florida
The man in your photo with the dead bears waited "20 years to be able to kill a bear in Florida."
I waited all my life to see one. I had a summer job at Yellowstone National Park. Didn't see a bear. I hung out near a rural Florida landfill. No bear. I camped regularly, and glimpsed one dead bear on the roadside near Fort Lauderdale.
Finally, I encountered one in a national forest. We approached each other on a trail and the bear saw me and deviated first. That was such a thrill — meeting one in his habitat. I can no longer go into the forest and feel any encounter is safe anymore given that the bears know we are not their friends.
We wonder with outrage at the school shootings and rampant killings, but it is well known that for those who kill animals, it is not such a big step to take a gun to another person.
Sounds like the first bear killed was a mother still nursing. Maybe the state can hold a bake sale if it needs money and quit selling the resources it is entrusted to protect.
Louise Raterman, Tampa
The problem with polling Oct. 25, Perspective
Still a long way to go
As a former political pollster, I was impressed with the depth of Sunday's Perspective piece by Jon Greenberg. One observation should be added: Super Tuesday is more than four months off. In today's world of instantaneous media, that's a long time.
Park Chapman, Spring Hill