READER FEEDBACK

ELECTRIC CAR DOUBTS

“This electric idea will be great for certain people not connected to mass transit. Mass transit has always been the answer and will always be the answer to moving thousands of people efficiently. Autonomous trucks — good luck with the security. Truck hijacking will go up. How about electric cars at an apartment complex? Get extension cords to charge up. The reality is this is a rich person’s fun-to-have car. That’s who has purchased them to date. Almost every electric car owner I have spoken with today owns a gas-powered vehicle to travel places in. These projections are crazy. It is all about supply and demand. Today there’s no big demand.” — Comment on Chris Tomlinson column about the progress of automated and electric vehicles

WAGE THEFT ISSUE

“Criminals dealing with criminals, and nobody sees that something would go wrong? Really?” — Comment on Ileana Najarro story about day workers being victims of wage theft following Hurricane Harvey

NOT SO SPECIAL

“If one is smart enough to earn it, they are smart enough to invest it. Diversify. Don’t be greedy. Don’t be stupid. Don’t think you or your ‘adviser’ are special.” — Comment on L.M. Sixel story about an investment adviser sentenced to prison

COAL PLANT CLOSURES

“That is good news in getting rid of the worst sources of putting more carbon into the atmosphere.” — Comment on Ryan Handy’s story about Vistra energy shutting three coalfired plants and laying off hundreds of workers

AUTOMATION WORRIES

My last plant manager (he was younger than myself, but now we are both retired) told me we are in the last generation to work in chemical plants. Before I left, the computer control system had taught me that the computer looks at variables many times faster than I could look at each variable. One computer control engineer told me that someday my plant would start up and shut down in full automatic. I doubt that and would not want to be within 5 miles of such a thing. — Comment on Chris Tomlinson column about the importance of workers learning to use technology in their jobs