Opposition to extra officers is misguided

Re: “Oakland getting influx of officers” (Page A1, Feb. 7).

Cat Brooks, director of the Anti Police-Terror Project, is concerned that the influx of police will result in police violence.

So, Gov. Newsom is wrong. The NAACP is wrong. The Oakland Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Thao and the Oakland Police Officers Association are all wrong in their support of the surge.

Does her organization respond to 911 calls?

— Nick Venuto, San Leandro

Kalb's broad experience is right for state Senate

Regarding state Senate District 7, when looking at the backgrounds and policy accomplishments of the candidates, I am convinced that Dan Kalb has the strongest record, hands-on experience and relevant skills.

On top of his extensive record locally, Kalb developed state legislation on complex climate policy, built coalitions to get bills passed, and engaged in the rough-and-tumble state legislative process in Sacramento for 10 years before holding office.

As a local councilmember, he got tens of millions of dollars earmarked for affordable housing, strengthened our public ethics commission, kept public libraries open (and won an award for that), created a partnership that helps keep kids in school, and recently supported comprehensive legislation that will help reduce crime. And Kalb is the only candidate in this race with a deep environmental background similar to that of state Sen. Nancy Skinner. Vote Kalb for state Senate.

— Don Link, Oakland

Support bill to pull plug on utility tax

Re: “`Trailer bills' allow state policies with little input from public” (Page A6, Feb. 8).

Being green just got harder after a provision in the budget trailer bill passed by the California Legislature in 2022 (AB 205) levies a new monthly fixed charge (aka, Utility Tax) on all investor-owned utilities' (IOUs) residential customers.

Ratepayers of IOUs (i.e., PG&E) and even CCAs (Community Choice Aggregation) could be on the hook for a monthly utility tax ranging from $30 to $70 per month if their proposed tax increase is approved by the California Public Utilities Commission in June.

Turning off the lights, using energy-efficient appliances or installing solar panels would all be discouraged by the tax. To stop this utility handout, legislators just introduced AB 1999 to repeal the Utility Tax provision in AB 205.

Call your assemblymember and senator to support AB 1999. It's never too late to be green.

— Rene Wise, Fremont

CO2 capture is tried and true plan

Re: “Montezuma wetlands CO2 plan is dangerous” (Page A7, Feb. 8).

Responding to Mr. Bhakta's guest commentary, virtually every statement is incorrect.

He states carbon storage “has never worked in the real world.” It is working in 40 sites worldwide and has for years. His claim that “most CCS projects have been total failures” is false. He's referring to an article by Bruce Robertson who states a CO2 project “failure” is a project that “underperformed against their designed capacities.” Projects are approved for a maximum injection capacity; injecting less is a typical project design. According to Bradford Hager, of MIT's Earth Resources Laboratory “keeping the CO2 underground once it's injected is relatively simple — you just need to inject it carefully and put it in the right place.”

I could go on but suffice it to say that Mr. Bhakta has an agenda.

— Bob Nunn, Brentwood