Sunday's letters: Campaign cash fouls environment

Defend our waters against the polluters | Dec. 2, commentary

Election cash fouls environment

This article clearly shows how vital it is to protect our waterways — as well as land, air and other natural resources — from polluters. The loopholes created in the Clean Water Act by polluters can subvert and destroy even the best-planned laws.

There is also a danger from our elected representatives in Congress who approved House Bill 5078, which aims to destroy rules that the Environmental Protection Agency proposed to eliminate loopholes in the Clean Water Act.

It's unbelievable that the Republicans in control of the House would even consider a bill that would allow pollution of our waterways, but when you consider the millions of dollars that polluters donated to Republican campaigns, it becomes clear that we now have two enemies to battle: the polluters and the Republicans who support them.

Mike Quartucci, Zephyrhills

Drowning deaths

Supervision and safety

There's nothing more heartbreaking than the death of a child, especially when the death is preventable. So far this year in Florida, there have been 49 drownings of children younger than 15 in a pool or spa. And while there weren't any in the month of November, there were four in the month of October, a month when many people assume swim season — and the dangers that go with it — are over.

Sadly, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death involving children ages 1-4 in the United States. Swimming can and should be a fun, lifelong activity if layers of protection are put into place and proper safety steps are followed by parents and children.

Parents should always supervise their children in or near the water, teach them to stay away from pool and spa drains, and make sure their children learn how to swim. Parents should also know CPR and basic water safety skills. I urge parents and kids to visit PoolSafely.gov and take our pledge to be safer — not just during the summer, but all year round.

Elliot F. Kaye, chairman, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Bethesda, Md.

It's time to stop being the chumps | Nov. 30, John Romano column, Not mad at Duke? Then pay attention | Nov. 30, Robert Trigaux column

Powerful interests cash in

Thanks for these powerful and hard-hitting columns. As your writers cogently note, Florida's Public Service Commission is failing to adequately represent Florida consumers.

It is outrageous that Florida power companies want to charge consumers to build new natural gas-fired power plants after charging consumers billions to finance nuclear power projects that will never be built. Now the Florida Public Service Commission has given utility companies almost everything they asked for by approving lower energy-efficiency standards. For Florida consumers, this amounts to serial ratemaking abuse.

AARP believes utility companies should get a fair return on their investment. But in Florida, powerful utilities interests already make handsome returns on their government-sanctioned monopoly. Ordinary Floridians 50 and over can only dream of getting similar rates.

AARP Florida will keep fighting in the 2015 Legislature to stop unfair utility rate hikes, so you can keep more of the money you've earned. Call your legislators and urge them to hold both utility companies and regulators accountable for fair, effective utility rates and regulation.

If lawmakers won't act, then Floridians should consider proposing and adopting a constitutional amendment restoring fairness to utility regulation.

Jeff Johnson, Florida state director, AARP, St. Petersburg

Solar shortage

As the "Sunshine State," why isn't Florida leading the nation and the rest of the world in solar energy production? Why did state regulators approve proposals "to terminate solar rebate programs by the end of 2015"?

Instead of spending billions of customer dollars on nuclear power plants, millions on natural gas exploration in Oklahoma, and billions on fossil fuel power plants that pollute the environment and contribute to global warming, why aren't Duke Energy and the rest of Florida's power companies concentrating on solar — a clean, renewable energy source that is available in our state just for the taking?

In 2007 in Andalusia, Spain, they built an 11-megawatt solar power tower that cost 35 million euros and produces 6.3 million euros of electricity per year. This solar power plant paid for itself in 5.5 years.

Why can't Floridians do that and more?

Doug Haskitt, St. Petersburg

Iran talks to continue | Nov. 25

Support U.S. diplomacy

On Nov. 21, a delegation of six Quaker constituents from Florida met with the staff of Sen. Marco Rubio in Washington. Our request to him:

We understand your doubt about the efficacy of negotiations and diplomacy with Iran, but we would ask that you more deeply consider the constructive possibilities that exist and can be achieved through such engagement.

The United States and Iran have 30 years of silence and enmity to overcome, and yet we are engaged in sustained and high-level diplomacy that is advancing our goal of a multiyear agreement to guard against a nuclear-armed Iran and another war. We know that diplomacy and negotiation require time, patience and dogged determination and believe that those currently engaged in negotiations on our behalf are capable of securing such an agreement.

We also ask that you consider supporting the people of Iran, who ultimately hold the key to a change in their government. We hold a concern for the citizens of Iran, most of whom are young people who seek to engage with us on a level that their government is opposed to. We saw in the election of the current Iranian president a clear effort by the people of Iran to tell their government they want a constructive relationship with our country.

Karen Putney, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Tampa