10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 5, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com PEOPLE POWER So good to see that Weekly reporters have not just sat on their asses and presumed “protest fatigue” and “a nation exhausted,” like so many other lazy news outlets (including some local ones), but instead have found The People rising up at every corner. I’ve been heartened to read of the Aquarium workers unionizing; Natividad physicians fighting to reinstate their union brother; protests of Trump’s inauguration; “know your rights” workshops for immigrants; the 1,000-person MLK Jr. march; public demands for investigations into and cleanup of the Vistra battery fire; and the “die-in” by farmworkers and their allies protesting the racist policies of the State that allow our communities to continue to be poisoned by a pesticide banned in 40 countries. And 2025 is just starting. It’s a fight, and it will likely get harder, and I’m pleased at least one local media source is paying attention. Mark Weller | Salinas Note: Weller is campaign director at Californians for Pesticide Reform. FIRED UP I absolutely agree that the fire at Vistra’s Moss Landing battery storage facility requires a rethink about replacement of those batteries and any expansion elsewhere (“Yes, we need safeguards—but we also need battery storage technology,” Jan. 23-29). However, that discussion should recognize that the batteries which caught fire were early generation grid scale batteries from LG Energy which are based upon NickelManganese-Cobalt (NMC) chemistry. This battery chemistry is prone to thermal runaway unless properly managed, and LG Energy has the worst reputation for properly manufacturing and managing NMC batteries. Few companies still use NMC chemistry for grid-scale batteries because there is a much safer, longer-lasting, and cheaper alternative based upon Lithium-Iron-Phosphate (LFP) chemistry. LFP batteries are not prone to thermal runaway because they operate at lower voltages and their electrolytes are far less volatile. Aengus Jeffers | Monterey Lithium-ion battery manufacturing defects cannot be detected and cause battery fires. Until these problems can be resolved, all battery storage systems should be shut down for both financial and safety reasons and for grid reliability. Donna Gilmore | via web Good report, and needed (“When disaster strikes, who should we believe?,” posted Jan. 22). In general, we know that we can not fly with lithium batteries in our aircraft. Think asbestos, tetraethyline (lead) in aviation and automotive fuels. Oh, and lead in housepaint. Even red dye #2! It took decades to discover the tragic effects of these chemicals. Your writing does a good job to inform and get the general public active. Leslie Rice | Garden Grove There is absolutely no doubt that something toxic was in the air that Thursday night and the next day. It may have been held close to the coast by the heavy marine layer. But it was there. Would be interested to know what the “safe” limits are for human exposure. Will bet you a pizza that those limits are set by people who have never been exposed to toxins in the air. Curt Chaffee | Seaside IMMIGRATION REFORM I can understand why there is a sense of dispiritness and resignation among Democrats, because I too feel defeated with Trump’s election (“The second Trump administration is beginning. The fear is already here,” Jan. 16-22). However, I also believe in our laws, and our laws stipulate you must have authority to enter our country legally. Our elected officials created this mess by not enforcing our laws, and by allowing undocumented people into our country with access to benefits that were paid for by taxpayers thereby eliminating or reducing programs for law-abiding taxpaying citizens, people were bound to get fed up and angry and elect someone like Trump. I get it that we need foreign workers to work in the agriculture, hospitality and service industry, but our elected officials need to find a bipartisan solution to our immigration problem. Other countries manage foreign worker programs, so why can’t we? I am not optimistic about the next four years. Maybe people will feel the effects of Trump’s mass deportations and finally do something to fix our immigration issue. Tiffinie Meyer | Seaside FOOT WORK Thanks to Pam Marino for bringing to our attention Walk Every Street PG, and kudos to founders Ashley Edge and Amy Burkman (“A new group in Pacific Grove seeks to walk every street while building community,” Jan. 23-29). As Edge said, “You can drive all you want but to really know a place, you need to walk it.” That’s similarly true for people who bike vs. drive. We encourage walking groups to consider including “walk audits” to identify for cities where infrastructure improvements are needed. As highlighted in the Resources section on bikemonterey. org, AARP teamed up with the League of American Bicyclists to create bike audit toolkits, in English and Spanish, and AARP has a walk audit toolkits too. Anyone can do a walk or bike audit. In fact, the best are done by people with varying perspectives and mobility needs. Mari Lynch | Highway 68 corridor Note: Lynch is founder of Bicycling Monterey. UP STAGE Thanks for highlighting this weekend’s performances of two Samuel Beckett plays at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts (“Two actors from either coast bring two of Samuel Beckett’s one-act plays to the same stage,” Jan. 23-29). They were both excellent. It’s another example of the amazing variety of programs available at this jewel of a local venue: These Beckett plays and other theater in the Cherry’s intimate auditorium, local jazz ensembles, music from near and far, art exhibits of all sorts, youth programs, poetry, a sculpture garden, and delightful receptions. Roberta Myers | Monterey LETTERS • COMMENTSOPINION Submit letters to the editor to letters@montereycountynow.com. Please keep your letter to 150 words or less; subject to editing for space. Please include your full name, contact information and city you live in.
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