Ouch! What has happened to my electric bill! Letters

Note to readers:

Deadline for submitting letters related to the Nov. 8 election is Nov. 1. Please keep letters to 300 words or less. Thank you.

Ouch! What has happened to my electric bill!

Oct. 11 — To the Editor:

Not many months ago, the rate for electric power was just over 10 cents per kwh where I live.  Now it is over 22 cents.  Eversource has informed the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) that commercial rates could be close to 49 cents in January.

The rate increases are a direct result of the increased cost of natural gas. What amazes me is, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), we only generate 25% of our power from natural gas.  Could this be right?  25% of our power driving a potentially 500% increase in rates?  Yup, the PUC found sufficient evidence that the market price of gas warranted the rate increase.

Well, maybe it is just this one wacky year of exorbitant prices, but we have nuclear and renewables aplenty to fall back on, right?  New Hampshire does produce over half of its power from Seabrook, but Seabrook is over 30 years old and the basic design is probably over 50 years old.  Hmmm.

Okay, but aren’t we awash in solar, wind, and hydro?  Hardly.  Only 7% of our power comes from hydro dams that average over 80 years in age (N.H. Municipal Association), and wind blows in at only 3%, while solar is a sad 1% (EIA.)

Now we all agree that we need to do something about greenhouse gas emissions, right?  No, well please speak with one of your fisherman, farmer, or ski operator friends about the impact they are experiencing from the changing climate.  And shouldn’t we be planning to replace these aging power sources with a diverse mixture of new generation production that doesn’t pollute?  You might think so.

Looks like we are all set for the future!  Unfortunately, that just isn’t the case.  So why is that?  The most important single fact is that when New Hampshire has been governed by Republicans, they have acted like they were looking into the future using a mirror and discovered the fuels of the past century.  Might it have something to do with the very substantial flow of fossil fuel funds into their campaigns?  Who’s to say?  Whatever the reason, these decisions have put us in a pickle.

This need not, and should not, be the case.  All of our neighboring states are aggressively implementing renewable energy, investing in energy efficiency, and electric vehicle charging infrastructures.  They will be benefiting from knowing they are doing their part for the environment while also benefiting from fixed costs for power, lowering dependence on the importation of power and fuel, ensuring EV driving tourists will not choose other destinations (50% of new vehicles will be EVs by 2030 - McKinsey) while creating numerous good paying local jobs in the process.

New Hampshire’s path forward is in your hands.  We can follow our current path paved by special interests, or we can choose a path for which your children will be forever grateful.  If you want the latter, act accordingly and vote Democratic this November.

Bill Baber

Dover

Send your letter to the editor: Email to opinion@seacoastonline.com

Warning signals from Iran about the danger of theocracy

Nov. 11 — To the Editor:

While most international attention has been focused on Ukraine, events in Iran are worth watching. Protests against theocracy in which a ruling orthodoxy imposes their views on the rest of the nation are entering their second month.

Meanwhile, here at home a rising Christian Nationalist movement seeks to eliminate the separation of Church and State enshrined in the Constitution, with significant success. The Supreme Court has in the past decade bit by bit eroded that principal, capped by the recent Dobbs decision allowing states to adopt one religion’s view of when life begins and impose that religious view on all their citizens.

Iran sends us a warning signal of what happens when religion takes hold of government. While not so apparent here in Portsmouth, nationwide this threat to our freedom is increasingly embraced by the Republican Party; overtly or by acquiescence makes no difference. Help vote them out of office from the governor on down.

Jeffrey Cooper

Portsmouth

Vote for New Hampshire values and interests. Vote Republican.

Oct. 11 — To the Editor:

Politics can be confusing — particularly when the candidate has tens of millions of dollars to spend on advertising which conflates actions taken years ago as governor, and “go nowhere” bills designed to offer political cover for vulnerable incumbents who provide unpopular votes.

Let’s note some simple truths:

1. Sen. Maggie Hassan (like her vulnerable peers in Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia) has been called upon to provide the 50th decisive vote on multiple pieces of legislation which constitute the Biden / Pelosi / Schumer agenda. Much of this legislation passed; that which did not was thanks to Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Krysten Sinema of Arizona.

2. Sen. Hassan voted for budgets resulting in trillion-dollar deficits and a national debt which now exceeds $31 trillion. These deficits contribute directly to the “40-year high” inflation which is ravaging family budgets and to a looming recession.

3. This administration and Congress, with Sen. Hassan’s key votes, has deliberately destroyed American energy independence to force a transition to a “green” energy future, with no effective plan for the interim.

4. Sen. Hassan has voted to substantially increase the role of government in society by initiating universal public education for 3- and 4 year-olds; expanding Medicare to include hearing, dental, and vision; establishing paid family leave; and heavily subsidizing (only union-organized) electric vehicle manufacturers and battery companies – to be enabled by billions of dollars of tax increases, 87,000 more IRS agents, and hundreds of billions in deficits.

5. Sen. Hassan has voted to impose federal requirements on elections which would facilitate “vote harvesting” by providing all registered voters with mail-in ballots, extending the voting period, allowing partisans to gather the ballots from target constituencies, and prohibiting voter identification requirements.

6. Sen. Hassan voted for a $1.2 trillion broad-ranging and politicized “infrastructure” bill. Showing her lack of clout, New Hampshire ranked 50th among the states in gathering the pork for roads.

7. This administration and Congress have overseen millions of illegal immigrants cross an open border with Mexico, an accompanying epidemic of drug deaths, and an explosion of crime.

8.  Sen. Schumer has bragged that, if Democrats are returned to power in the House and Senate, there is more to come.

Vote for New Hampshire values and interests. Vote Republican.

Bill Bowen

Portsmouth

For the sake of our children, vote for Bolduc and Leavitt

Oct. 12 — To the Editor:

Just before Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe’s recent defeat in Virginia for governor, he declared, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what to teach”.  Mild-mannered Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin defeated McAuliffe, because independent voters realized that they were being told to mind their own business, when in fact their children are their own business. Women especially were shocked to hear what was being said quietly and privately about what is to be taught to their most precious possessions, their children.

Following this defeat, The National School Boards Association in a letter to the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security labeled these parents as bad people and should be treated as terrorists.  Oh boy, that woke up the mama bears.  AGs, lawmakers, parent advocacy groups, saw this act of weaponization of the government to send the FBI out to arrest parents for exercising their right to free speech a travesty.  This started kickback from Nicole Neily of the group Parents Defending Education to stop these activists going against their  parental rights.

Parents of New Hampshire, please vote against Hassan, Pappas, and other Democrats who stood in silence. When they have power over our children, they then have all the power. Vote Karoline Leavitt for Congress, and Don Bolduc for U.S. Senate, and do it for your children. Vladimir Lenin said it best, “Give me your children for 8 years and they will be Bolshevik for life.” Also Stalin said, “Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at who it is aimed.”

Mark Schlieper  

Rye

Ooh! Scary immigrants! Be very afraid!

Oct. 12 — To the Editor:

Ooh! Scary immigrants! Be very afraid!

Or so the dishonest and misleading full-page ad in today’s Fosters would have you believe. It’s classic propaganda and misdirection, straight out of Joseph Goebbels playlist. Meanwhile, while you are distracted they quietly take away your rights (like the right to bodily autonomy if you are a woman, and the right to vote if you are a person of color), give your tax money to the already wealthy (tax cuts for the rich), and plot to overturn fair elections.

Look around. Do you see hordes of criminal immigrants driving around in Cadillacs, accosting people on the street? Do you see Sen. Maggie Hassan standing on a corner throwing money at them? No? Didn’t think so. What you DO see is property taxes going up because Gov. Chris Sununu gave your public education money away to religious schools, electricity rates going up because Gov. Sununu vetoed net-metering, Republican candidates promising to not respect the outcome of an election unless they win (talk about hating America!), and Republicans in Congress promising (not threatening, promising!) to eliminate Social Security and Medicare if they regain power.

But don’t pay attention to that! Look over there! Scary immigrants!

That full-page ad was paid for by a group calling itself “Citizens for Sanity.” Cute name. A more appropriate one would be “Citizens for Thinking New Hampshire Voters are Stupid.”

I’m betting they’re wrong.

Jim Mastro

Dover

If you value democracy, do not vote for election deniers

Oct. 12 — To The Editor:

Our government has thrived with two parties of differing political views, but in agreement on the fundamentals of our democracy: the rule of law, the will of the people and peaceful transitions of power based on the outcome of fair elections.

In the past, after the election, even while squabbling like siblings, our elected officials stayed in the family, listening  to and respecting each other enough to find workable outcomes to the country’s problems. The Republican Party has tossed that concept in the garbage.

The 2020 election was vetted over and over again in state after state by both Democratic and Republican election officials and the courts.  It was a fair election and represented the will of the people. The people who are promoting the idea that it was fraudulent are disregarding the choice of the citizens and trying to seize power illegally.  In doing so, they are endangering our democracy.

To quote Eugene Robinson, “A party that believes only in elections it wins cannot be trusted with power.”

Though I understand how difficult it is for loyal members of either party to vote for the other one, there are times when loyalty to country must take precedence over party.  I believe this is one of them. It is time to exercise our freedom of thought to do what is right for the country and our democracy by not voting for, or at least withholding our vote from, any candidate who is an election denier.

Cynthia Muse

Rye

Columnist's criticism of Don Bolduc only reveals his bias

Oct. 10 — To the Editor:

I would think, that based on his commentary over time, that Don Kerr might well reside on the liberal side of the aisle  Given his writings, I would never come close to thinking that Kerr would be supportive of any candidate having an “R” before his name, particularly Gen. Bolduc. I believe that Kerr is being dishonest by stating so. Apparently, Kerr’s chief gripe with Bolduc is that he, a patriot, attempted to overturn the 2020 election. It is my opinion that there was cause to look into the election tallies given some of the many stories that were circulating regarding possible improprieties at the polls. One only has to look at Illinois, particularly Chicago, in the 1960 presidential election which tipped the scale in JFK’s favor. Things do happen in elections, even though it was highly unlikely that the election would have been overturned.

I’m trying not to beat the proverbial dead horse here, but was Kerr so indignant about the debunked Russian investigation? Is he outraged by the weaponization of the US Justice Department by the Democrats. These are real events that could spell disaster for this democracy. Calling for recounts of votes does not rise to the bar of such a threat. While we’re at it, I wonder what Kerr’s thoughts are concerning Hunter’s laptop and the media censorship of that story. And please don’t tell me that 50 intel types signed letters stating the laptop was Russian disinformation. No intel type, worth a grain of salt, would sign off on such rubbish and, once the Republicans assume control of the House, it is imperative that these individuals appear before appropriate investigative committees.

Dan Hurley 

Dover

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Ouch! What has happened to my electric bill! Letters