Your Opinions
Desalination
EDITOR: The topic of a desalination plant keeps cropping up so I thought I would share my perspective after living for two years in a country that used desalinated water. Some things to think about:
Look up desalination plant images on the internet. Is this the kind of building you would want taking up space on our beautiful headlands? This building is designed for an industrial function, it is not attractive. I could see locating a desal plant somewhere out of sight, but not in the middle of our ocean property.
Desal water tastes funny. This water might work well for bathrooms and laundry, but you will probably not want this coming out of your taps. Homeowners will probably want to install water filtration/purifying systems in their homes for use in the kitchen.
Funny tasting water also means that when you go out to eat, you will no longer want a glass of tap water with your meal, which means you must buy a bottle of water. Restaurants/fast food places, of course, will not give bottles away for free and will mark up the price. This can significantly add to your restaurant bill if you are a family or a large group.
All of this bottled water means one thing — plastic bottles everywhere! Does Mendocino County have the means to deal with all of this added recycling and trash pickup? Believe me, the plastic bottles were a huge problem. Not only did they litter roads, parks, towns, they were also floating in the ocean.
Desalination may eventually be inevitable, but let’s think about the location of such an industry and the practical aspects of switching over. While the points I observed may not be how desalination will play out in California, we should be aware of some of the potential downsides.
— Mary Linklater, Fort Bragg
Perilous times
EDITOR: Last Friday the United States Senate disgraced itself as the jury in the impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump. They failed to ensure a fair trial by not allowing relevant documentation and witness testimonies. In any court in our country, a trial must have witnesses and documentation. Thus the impeachment trial was a sham.
Regardless of one’s political affiliation, we should all be horrified by the majority of senators’ refusal to hear National Security Advisor John Bolton and other eyewitnesses to Trump’s decision to pressure the new president of Ukraine to perform his personal political agenda.
The failure to conduct a fair trial orchestrated by majority leader Mitch McConnell and the resultant acquittal of President Trump realistically prevents any oversight of the executive branch of government by Congress from now on, thereby eliminating the balance of power that has existed since the Constitution was written in 1787.
These are perilous times that require all of us to become active citizens, especially in this election year. Double your vote. Personally help friends and relatives register to vote online (https:// covr.sos.ca.gov). The deadline to vote in the primary in California is Feb. 18. Help new voters with their ballot and make sure they vote.
— Susan Nutter, Fort Bragg