Letters: Street name | Publish costs | Elect board | Rooftop solar | Profound threat

Re: “ ” (Page B1, Jan. 10). I enthusiastically endorse Sal Pizarro’s suggestion that a portion of Ridder Park Drive be renamed Gary Richards Drive. I learned so much from Mr. Roadshow and sorely miss him every time I flip the first section to Page 2. Re: “ ” (Page A6, Jan. 10). I agree with Michael McWalters’ suggestion that CPUC members be elected by the public.

In order to make that change meaningful I believe that utilities should be required to publish the price of their product; dollars per kilowatt hour for electricity, dollars per therms of natural gas and dollars per gallon of potable water. CPUC members should then be required to explain and resolve large differences in these costs between communities.

Ideally, such a system should be required nationwide so Californians can see how much more they pay for products. Gasoline prices that are required to be made public nationwide show a glaring difference between California and the rest of the United States. Re: “ ” (Page A6, Jan. 10). Reading Michael McWalters’ comments on the CPUC, I agree with his assessment of their appointment by the governor.

This is long overdue to have the commission elected and not appointed, hoping to remove the donation factor with its biased approach. We need help with the rising cost of utilities. Re: “ ” (Page A1, Jan. 10). If the new rules for rooftop solar systems merely switched solar from being profitable in seven to 11 years, that shouldn’t collapse the market for them.

These systems come with 25 year warranties and are installed on homes with 30 year mortgages. They are built to last, are profitable for homeowners in the long run, increase the resale value of homes, and are a benefit to the power grid in general. As cities build more housing for growing populations, and as people seek to electrify everything from cars to stoves to gardening equipment, we’re going to need more electricity to meet these growing demands.

Rooftop solar is not disrupting desert ecosystems or requiring large transmission lines through fire prone forests; it is literally producing the energy where it will be used. We need to revise the rules so the incentives align with our needs and continue to promote rooftop solar. Re: “ ” (Page A1, Jan.

10). The juxtaposition of six stories in the San Jose Mercury News on Jan. 10 highlights the urgency needed to address the growing climate crisis. “Planet inched closer to ‘scorched Earth'” reveals the undeniable fact that the earth is warming, and that the rate is accelerating. “ ” (Page A1) shows that vested interests in the power industry, with the connivance of the California Public Utilities Commission, care more for their guaranteed profit margins than for the well being of their customers.

“ ” (Page A2) provides a typical example of the extreme weather brought by climate change, while “ ,” (Page A2) citing upstream snow melt followed by heavy rain, emphasizes the global nature of the crisis. In the Opinion Section, “ ” (Page A6) and in Local, “ ” (Page B3) underline current costs associated with delayed action, and portend the rising future costs predicted by the insurance industry..