Homeless need city services

Re: “Come in from the cold, we pleaded — A band of volunteers offers rides to unsheltered souls hiding in plain sight on a frigid night,” by Andrew McGregor, Tuesday Opinion.

With up to six inches of snow set to fall in Dallas this week, our homeless are the most vulnerable, but they are not receiving the support they need from the city. While McGregor and the KP Roadies are performing an invaluable public service by driving around to find local unsheltered people and offering a night in the Oak Lawn United Methodist Church shelter, this opinion piece should raise questions about why our local government is not able to provide these services.

Almost 4,000 people are estimated to experience homelessness on any given night in Dallas and Collin counties, and with the rate of deaths due to cold more than doubling in the last 25 years, we must do more to protect our unhoused from the incoming winter weather.

Additional funding must immediately be allocated to the Dallas Office of Homeless Solutions and similar programs throughout Dallas-Fort Worth, especially during inclement weather periods, to allow for more comprehensive services.

Brayden Soffa, Wylie

Grieving with orca mother

Re: “Whale’s grief signals bigger tragedy ahead — Scientists say dangers to dwindling species are many and varied,” Tuesday news story.

Thanks for making me cry. The tale of the orca mother Tahlequah and her grief over her daughter’s death broke my heart.

The fate of Tahlequah and her species is beyond dire, and we cannot repair the damage we have wrought. When the orcas are extinct, literally eons of evolution will disappear because of our mistakes. There are no do-overs, no divine intervention. Extinction is permanently forever.

I note with despair the cruel irony that our climate cataclysm is so perilous and dire that one of the earth’s largest creatures is the canary in our coal mine. Like I said, thanks for making me cry.

Jon Caswell, Dallas/Lake Highlands

Encourage renewables

Re: “Renewables may face more regulation — GOP bills would lead to increased oversight, could raise energy costs,” Saturday news story.

While it’s laudable to cite environmental and safety concerns for large scale solar and wind projects, these bills seem calculated to suppress renewables in Texas. Tuesday (Jan. 7) at noon, over 38% of Texas energy is being generated by wind and solar, according to ERCOT.

We need more encouragement, not less, and there are other ways to harness renewables. My 30 residential panels have annually generated 15 megawatts of power for the past five years. What we need on the table are bills to require net metering from Texas utilities, which would ensure each homeowner gets the full cost benefit of the power they produce.

We also need incentives for home builders to construct solar-friendly homes with adequate south-facing roofs so that a homeowner gets immediate benefit from this clean, productive technology.

Solar panel installation on commercial structures should be incentivized as well. Millions of square feet of warehouse and manufacturing roof space are ripe for installing solar panels and would bring an immediate benefit to business owners, our energy security and our environment.

Richard Jernigan, McKinney

Fossil fuel firms alarmed

Some fossil fuel companies are just now realizing that they are in a competition with a “new” product that is much better in many ways: it’s less expensive; there’s an inexhaustible supply; it has lower capital costs; it’s creating lots of new jobs and economic growth; it doesn’t cause health problems because it doesn’t emit polluting particles that are harmful to human health; and when combined with batteries, it provides a much less expensive way to provide dispatchable power.

Of course they are becoming alarmed at the exponential growth of renewable energy in Texas. The companies that do not have a transition strategy to renewables will suffer greatly.

Why should Texas legislators protect companies that will not (or cannot) adapt to a changing marketplace? Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, says that his proposed legislation is “not aimed at slowing down renewables.”

If the true purpose of the proposed HB 553 is to protect wildlife, ensure that all facilities are permitted and operate in the best interest of Texas taxpayers, then why not include fossil fuel development in the legislation? There are plenty of methane-leaking, abandoned wells that need to be capped off.

Georgeann Elliott Moss, Sunnyvale

Cold Cotton Bowl of 1979

Re: “A look back at instances where Dallas-area sports were impacted by inclement weather,” Dallas Morning News online story.

If your records go back that far (instead of just the last two or three decades), you should have mentioned the Cotton Bowl game played over New Year’s Day in 1979. There was an ice storm in Dallas which really caused problems for the game, and the city.

The University of Houston played, but unfortunately my memory at age 87 prevents me from remembering their opponent; it may have been Notre Dame. Anyway, Houston was ahead until the last minute or minutes when they were defeated.

There surely was a story about the conditions and havoc they caused. My fiancé and I had to travel from Oak Lawn to Lake Highlands (on East Northwest Highway) very slowly and watch out for dangerous drivers. We had them back then, too.

Cynthia R. Gudgel, Denison

Carter’s goal of service

I so love the video clips of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter dancing. They speak to me about the quest for harmony by this man who appears to have had the goal of service rather than personal acclaim. May these reflections on his life inspire us to return to the true definition of greatness. Those who are elected to public office would be wise to take heed.

Linda Johnston Arage, Waxahachie

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