Day 2 of Trump 2 and nothing has yet changed

It’s already day two of the second Trump administration. Grocery prices are still too high, the price of gasoline is surging, the war in Ukraine is still raging and the fires in Los Angeles are still burning.

What the heck is going on? I think we’ve been duped. I want my money back.

— Gary Nolan,Aptos

Dems ‘self-destruction’ led to Trump back in power

Afghanistan, Hunter, the border,and an inability to challenge Xi, Putin and Netanyahu signifying a flawed presidency.

Democrats are masters at self-destruction and paving the way for the coronation of King Donald the 1st.

— Michael Keating, Capitola

Hypocrisy of blame game by Trump supporters

A recent letter writer wished to blame the LA fires not on climate change or the 80+ mph Santa Ana winds but instead on government officials, saying we need someone such as Donald Trump to step in and say “You’re FIRED!”

Too bad the letter-writer didn’t feel that way toward government officials when it came to the bungling of the COVID pandemic or for leading his followers into an insurrectionist riot against our very government.

But double standards are very common when it comes to Trump supporters. For instance, claiming immigrants bring crime into this country, but voting for a criminal to be our president.

— Phil Hormel, Scotts Valley

Trump has paid no price for being wrong

As Trump becomes President - once again - and threatens to be a dictator on Day 1, there is a quote that sums up my personal feelings. It’s by Thomas Sowell: “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.”

— Martha Dolciamore, Soquel

Toxic industries: Battery storage, offshore wind

Our Central Coast has two industries that are joined at the hip: electricity storage plants and offshore wind. These well-intended efforts to address environmental issues such as climate change instead are responsible for profound environmental damage. The toxic explosion at Vistra Corp’s Moss Landing plant encapsulates that environmental impact: carcinogenic clouds lingering for days, exposing thousands of our people.

These toxic industries exist because Sacramento politicians promoted them, voting to support them with subsidies and environmental waivers. Why, given that offshore wind has killed thousands of whales in the North Sea and New England (according to government data), not to mention released carcinogenic Bisphenol A into the Atlantic Ocean?

Moss Landing has had four toxic explosive fires in the last five years. Given that level of environmental destruction, let’s demand that our incumbents disclose how much money they have received from offshore wind and Vistra Corp., including PAC money.

— C. Michael Hogan, Monterey

Where was the Coastal Commission?

Here’s the big question I don’t see being asked: where was the Coastal Commission when the decision was made to install one of the world’s largest lithium battery storage plant within a stone’s throw to Elkhorn Slough and our Monterey Bay protected sanctuary in 2020? The Coastal Commission controls to the very inch how close one can build to the shore and every single development decision.

I do understand Vistra is a Texas company that would easily pass muster in Texas. But who bought who to let this be built in California? Justin Cummings, Chairman of the Coastal Committee, what say you along with Jimmy Panetta and John Laird (a passionate environmentalist), our representatives?

— Kim Ruth, Santa Cruz

Editorial references in error on ‘megawatts’

Your “As We See It” of Jan. 19 kept referring to batteries in terms of megawatts. Power plants are rated in terms of megawatts. Batteries do not generate power; they store in and their capacity is rated in terms of kilowatt or megawatt hours.

— Ronnie Lipschutz, Santa Cruz