The power plant in Glen Canyon Dam generates electricity for about about 5 million people in seven states. Hydropower turbines within the dam might have to be shut off if water levels behind the dam in Lake Powell drop further.
Transitioning to renewables
Re: the Jan. 10 article “Pumped storage hydropower a scam.”
The author states that energy is in surplus at night and then water is pumped uphill to save for daytime demand. That was true 20 years ago, the opposite is true now. Solar and wind have created daytime surpluses, and the peak demand is now between 4 and 10 p.m. when the sun goes down, thus the need for energy storage.
The defeat of the Storm King Mountain project, cited in the response, had nothing to do with the “energy wastefulness” of the project. That case was rightfully decided on scenic, historical and recreational grounds. It was the wrong place for pumped hydro.
According to the U.S. Dept. of Energy, today, pumped hydro provides 93% of the stored energy capacity in the U.S. That’s 550 gigawatt-hours of power. That’s not a “scam”. A great deal more is needed if we expect to transition away from fossil fuels toward renewables.
People are also reading…
Loring Green
Foothills
Death of Principal Dan Marburger
I was saddened to hear Principal Dan Marburger passed away. He put himself in harm’s way to save students from a teenage mass murderer. I thought as I read the article about this Iowa Principal “I hope his heroism brings change.” Murders in our school happen with frightening regularity. We have done very little to protect our children and ourselves. Do we want guns to be available to teenagers? Do we want automatic weapons accessible to individuals who are seriously mentally ill? Do we want people with minds that hate to have access to weapons that spew bullets 500 to 1000 a minute?
I believe people of goodwill would say no. Yet our legislators appear resistant and placate us with their words of “thoughts and prayers. “ We need elected officials to provide actions that produce change.
Daniel McDonnell
Foothills
Kudos to Weaver and Rappaport
Re: the Jan. 27 article “Hear no, see no, speak no emissions.”
Kudos to Garrett Weaver and Rick Rappaport for an excellent op-ed on the mind-binding prohibition against measuring greenhouse gas emissions.
In Alice in Wonderland, Alice asks the Cheshire Cat for directions: ‘Would you tell me, please, which is the way to go from here?’ ‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to’ says the cat. ‘I don’t much care where …’ says Alice. ‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ says the cat. That sums it up.
Reducing damage from climate changing gases requires measuring where those gases are emitted. Once that happens the problem can be addressed. Until that happens, obfuscation and denial will rule. Please, no more magicians telling us to “look at the shiny object, not my right hand.” Knowledge is power. State law must be changed so that decisions are made from knowledge.
Mike Carran
East side
Education
Tom Horne is an evil man. His policies are from the Middle Ages of education. His imagination is limited to a barn yard. Consider the Federal court ruling from 2018 that found him of breaking the Unites States constitution for his personal ambitions. The ruling found Horne used racial animus to dissolve TUSD’s Mexican American studies program. A program that was very successful. I know this because I worked at Tucson High and witnessed the students’ joy and saw academic identity ignited by the program and teachers.
Horne says he is looking for programs that work. Mr. Horne wouldn’t know an effective program if he was in bed with it. (But that’s another issue). I am not surprised his Schools Hotline was a bust. I just wish I could hear some of the prank calls. This is a perfect example of a trumped-up problem. Students deserve much better leaders.
Chris Rubio-Goldsmith
Midtown
UA and Robbins
Re: the Jan. 28 article “Prominent Tucsonans back UA president.”
In this article Mike Myers doubted that John Arnold serving as CFO is a conflict of interest.
It is a conflict, though I agree not because Arnold reports to Robbins, but because Robbins reported to Arnold (and all of ABOR). It’s a conflict because Arnold is on the ABOR that approved Robbins’s spending and strategic plans; the “trajectory” set by Robbins was overseen by ABOR. It’s a conflict because Arnold could have been complicit in financial mismanagement, and his CFO role would allow him to cover that up: to squelch truth-telling. I am not saying that’s what happened, but as long as the possibility exists that one fox oversaw which hens to take from the henhouse, and is now responsible for reporting the number of missing hens, a conflict of interest exists.
I welcome Hobbs’ request that Arnold step down, and to open the process to audit. Only the guilty are afraid of the truth, right?
Keith Maggert
Midtown
UA baseball
The Chicago Cubs start a lot of games at 3 p.m. Most are sellouts. Commodity traders arrive after the market closes at 2 p.m. Other fans enjoy the daytime warmth and get home in time for dinner. The Arizona baseball team plays too many games at night. When the heat builds in May, night games are great. Before then it gets cold when the sun goes down. Might as well be in Chicago. A big part of the 2024 schedule still is TBA. Here’s hoping new athletic director Mike Candrea puts a chunk of them in the afternoon. Most stream on television, so the Pac-12 Network isn’t a factor. Even if attendance doesn’t climb the volume of concession sales probably will. So would the goodwill. Baseball is great to watch when the weather is nice.
Walter Ramsley
East side
Another Trump hate letter
Did anyone watch Face The Nation with Oklahoma Senator James Lankford? The question? “Trump was ordered to pay $83m to a person that a jury found he defamed after a separate jury found he sexually assaulted her. Does it give you any pause about him returning to office?”
James Lankford: “It doesn’t “ Well there you have it. Two words that sum up how every Republican feels. It doesn’t matter what Trump does. Steal nuclear secrets and brag about it to golf cronies? Who cares. Try to overturn an election? ho-hum. Profit off the presidency? Big deal. Cuddle up to despots and weaken our allies? No biggie. E. Jean Carroll? Look over there — a squirrel! Trump gets a free pass for anything and everything, so long as they can cling to power
As for the MAGA ground troops — forget about them. they’re lost forever. nothing Dear Leader ever does is wrong. that’s how being in a cult works.
Terry Louck
East side
2nd request, ABOR please retire Dr. Robbins
Re: the April 19, 2023 article “UA’s Robert Robbins needs to retire.”
I had a guest column printed on April 19, 2023, in the Arizona Daily Star asking for Dr. Robert Robbins to be retired.
In that column I had pointed out that before closing on buying Ashford University in December 2020 there was an Aug. 12, 2020, letter from U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown and Dick Durbin to Dr. Robbins that in 2014 Ashford paid a $7.25 million fine to the state of Iowa for consumer fraud.
The letter also pointed out in 2016 Ashford was ordered to pay $30 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for deceptive acts and practices and there were investigations by the state of Massachusetts, the US Department of Education and the Department of Veteran Affairs.
The Senators were concerned that it was a risk to tax-paying Arizonans to buy a “predatory for-profit college”.
It’s nice a group of local bigshots back Dr. Robbins, but if one of their own employees did such a thing that employee would certainly be fired.
Matt Somers
Midtown
Here is a solution
Do not allow anyone into the United States unless it is done legally according to the existing laws. To suggest that we can solve the problems of the Central and South American countries is ludicrous. VP Harris was assigned the task of evaluating and solving root problems in those countries and not unsurprisingly, has failed miserably, if she even tried. Money to these countries does little for the people who need the help, but certainly lines the pockets of those in charge. It is time to wake up and see that some things will not change unless the citizens of the individual countries want and can make those changes.
Loyal M. Johnson Jr.
Oro Valley
Following the law
Re: the Jan. 30 letter “World in chaos under Biden.”
The writer from Green Valley would apparently like Biden to bomb the heck out of Iran, resulting in the entire Middle East blowing up! The countries in the Middle East need to solve their own problems, and are trying to do so with help from the Biden Administration, but not controlled by, which would do nothing but result in resentment. And as for the border, the Senate has worked on a bipartisan solution for the Border, but Trump and the Republicans in the House (including our own Juan Ciscomani) have declared it dead on arrival. Republicans have no interest in fixing the border, they just want to use it for their own cynical political ends, and have publicly said as much! So don’t you DARE criticize Biden for wanting to find peaceful solutions in the world and treat migrants humanely by following the Rule of Law. Trump and Republicans have no interest in following the law: their only interest is sowing chaos! Juan Ciscomani, a true MAGA, must go!
Nancy Atherton
Foothills
The very definition of irony
Voters, when you send the clowns to the House of Representatives, you get a circus. Right now, the House is busy voting for Articles of Impeachment against the Homeland Security Secretary for not securing the border. At the same time, they are refusing to take up a bi-partisan bill from the Senate that would secure the border. Does anyone see the irony here? After all, Trump wants to run on the border issue to make President Biden look bad. Since when does Trump get to influence national policy?
Mary Zimmerman
SaddleBrooke
Re: What if
Re: the Jan. 31 letter “What if?”
The writer wonders what if Trump got elected and solved all the world’s problems, what would his critics think? Being in that group, I would think great! However, we’re talking about someone whose sole focus is himself. Someone who made no attempt to solve any of the nation’s problems when he was in office. Someone who is such a simpleton he thinks a physical barrier can solve the border problem. Someone who is so deluded he has convinced himself he won the last election. So this critic isn’t holding his breath waiting for Trump to do something right. And oh by the way, Biden’s economy is the envy of the rest of the world.
Dave Bertagnoli
West side
Address change
Let’s change the address of the White House to 1776 Pennsylvania Avenue for obvious reasons.
Wiliam Wolfe
Northeast side
Interconnections of power, politics and academics
Arizona Board of Regents members are appointed by the governor; members are usually politically important or in a web of interrelated relationships; these public and private leaders share associations on bank boards, governmental commissions, private companies, etc. No matter how well meaning, along with the university administration these influential private and public leaders on the local and state levels can leverage and direct sizable capital investments; a related example, for years university foundations have been used on behalf of key private connected associates to have banks flow-through money to build private businesses while greatly reducing public tax burdens. This relationship has also encouraged several local big business entities to support the current administrative leadership. The faculties and students in all disciplines and programs are completely dependent on the coordinated private and public powers to not overplay politics and favoritism without assuring that the financial books are balanced. It is good to see that this process is in full view and those responsible for its correction are hard at work.
Dr. R. D. Packard, Professor Emeritus
Oro Valley
Follow these steps to easily submit a letter to the editor or guest opinion to the Arizona Daily Star.
