Democracy dies in darkness - and it’s getting very dark in NC | Opinion

Public records

Regarding “NC lawmakers are chosen by the people, but the people can’t see all that they’re doing,” (Jan. 10):

Thank you for the excellent reporting regarding the latest tools our legislature is using to create a more powerful, secretive state by passing a law where they can legally refuse public access to any of their records. Now, we can plainly see how N.C. lawmakers can — and will — refuse to be transparent about public records, without any ramifications. Democracy dies in darkness, whether it’s a darkness created by the state, federal or local government. We the people must band together and vote these people out.

Roy Friedland, Greensboro

Buc-ee’s

Regarding “Buc-ee’s is coming to North Carolina. Council approves travel center for key interstate,” (Jan. 11):

The writer is Riverkeeper at Haw River Assembly.

I am encouraged by the tenacity of our community members to stay well into the early hours of the morning to speak out against The Buc-ee’s project. Though the Mebane City Council has approved these initial permits, we will continue to push Buc-ee’s to follow through on its promises for environmental safeguards. This company has much work to do to build trust in this community, and it can start by going beyond bare minimum requirements to protect our communities and our water quality.

Emily Sutton, Durham

Raleigh council

I urge the Raleigh City Council to pass a resolution in support of a ceasefire in Gaza. They may ask themselves why this concerns them. There is a large Arab community in Raleigh, one that City Council is neglecting by not passing a ceasefire resolution. A ceasefire resolution would show the world that the Raleigh City Council stands against evil no matter where it is. Let Gaza live. Ceasefire now!

Jessica Navarro-Luviano, Cary

Duke’s plan

Regarding “A troubling drop in rooftop solar power is coming to North Carolina,” (Jan. 5 Opinion):

Thank you Ned Barnett for this column. I do not understand why the N.C. Utilities Commission approved Duke Energy’s methane dependent business plan. Methane contributes to rapid temperature rise — decreasing its use is a practical solution. America’s fossil fuel industry’s rapacious desire for profits is dooming the planet. It is beyond time to redistribute that pot of gold via conservation and supporting renewables.

Leslie Fiddler, Durham

Rooftop solar

The N.C. Utilities Commission seems to be listening only to Duke Energy and ignoring the future energy/environmental needs of the state.

Duke says it needs to build 30 more gas-fired generating plants in the next few years to meet the growing energy demand. These plants will commit us to high carbon emissions for the next 30 years or so, making it impossible to meet carbon reduction goals for the state..

Meantime, Duke had the N.C. Utilities Commission change the rules for net metering making it less attractive for homeowners to install rooftop solar. If we instead encouraged more solar so that it matched the generation of the 30 gas fired plants, homeowners would bear the capital costs. All Duke would need to provide would be investment in more storage technology.

What am I missing here?

Ron Madl, Cary

Give Biden credit

Ramesh Ponnuru’s Jan. 7 Opinion piece reprinted in the N&O said that President Biden hasn’t delivered on his central campaign message in 2020 — to bring a return to calm after Donald Trump’s term. Instead, Ponnuru said, we’ve witnessed two wars and the highest inflation in decades.

But Biden has brought a return to calm. I certainly would not want to return to the daily stomach-churning feelings I had whenever Trump acted illegally or uttered his constant stream of lies, name-calling and words of disrespect toward women, asylum seekers and international leaders.

The two wars Ponnuru cites are the results of actions taken by Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu, and the inflation we experienced (which has largely subsided due to Biden administration’s policies) was primarily the result of economic disruptions caused the pandemic, which Trump tended to ignore.

Let’s give credit where credit is due.

Michael Rakouskas, Burlington