LETTERS

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Frustrated by driving habits

The person in the lane next to me suddenly decides to change lanes and cut in front of me in order to save a few seconds because the car in front of him is turning. I’m surprised I still have a left front bumper.  

The snow or the rain is blinding, and yet so many people are driving without lights. I flash mine to alert them but to no avail. It’s especially dangerous when the car in front of you is driving without lights on in a whiteout. The no-headlight thing seems to be a pattern with mail delivery trucks, UPS, FedEX and even the cops.

Rolling through stop signs is certainly not a favorite of mine. I see it happening all the time and usually while the other driver has a cell phone in their hand or is looking down at their lap. Beware of the corners near Oryana. Two stop signs, but no one seems to care. There are also the drivers in the parking lot of Meijer. Numerous stop signs, but they don’t stop — they love to speed.

That brings up the speeders. Garfield, South Airport, Eighth Street, Division, U.S. 31, Front and Munson streets, Peninsula Drive, the Parkway — all are favorites, where 35 mph turns into 55 mph.

And it’s not just passenger vehicles on Peninsula Drive. It’s the UPS drivers, the FedEX drivers, the postal delivery drivers, BATA bus drivers, pizza delivery drivers, Jimmy John’s drivers and school buses. That’s right — school buses. Good to know that our children are experiencing an amusement park ride while trying to get home after school.

The little flasher thing they put up giving you your speed is a joke.  Once the drivers are past it — they’re gone. The sign that says the area is patrolled is also a joke.  

I would be remiss if I did not mention tailgating. It’s like a disease, and most people seem to have it. If I am obeying the speed limit, and I have traffic in front of me and next to me — what good does tailgating do except to offer up a dangerous scenario. But no! Somehow the tailgater seems to think his or her tailgating will somehow speed up the process. Front Street between Division and Elmwood is another favorite spot.

Cell phones and driving. I witness people texting all the time. They are driving and texting by using both hands. Somehow they manage to text and steer at the same time. Or, as mentioned before, their eyes are glued to their laps.

And why do they do it? Because they can get away with it!

— Tom Emmott, Traverse City

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Must find solutions on climate

So you’re feeling all green and proud because your roof is covered with black rectangles, your electric bill nets out to zero, and the loan to pay for it is cheaper than your juice bill was (after all the tax credits). Meanwhile, you’re still heating with propane or natural gas, driving in a petroleum-powered vehicle, and depending on the coal-fired stations around the state to make everything work when the sun isn’t shining.

What have you really accomplished?

Consider what it would take to get all the fossil fuels out of your lifestyle, in a way that our resources would allow everyone to do. Most people can’t even do the math. The worst part is, the one way that is actually proved to work is literally unthinkable to most people.

Sweden has done it, for electricity. France has too. Ontario is right behind. “Greens” want all of them to change from what works to what has never been shown to work, anywhere, ever. The greens in Denmark and Germany prefer coal. Coal! Seriously, they do.

If we want actual climate solutions, we have to think things that certain people have been trying to make unthinkable for nigh unto 50 years now, and act on those thoughts. It’s hard. But we have no choice.

It’s time for every environmentalist to see “Pandora’s Promise,” and take it to heart. We are out of time.

— Russ Cage, Williamsburg

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Outstanding forum

The recent “In Our Own Voices ... Living With a Physical Disability” forum, sponsored by the Traverse City Human Rights Commission, was outstanding.

The forum was the most recent of the worthwhile activities of the Human Rights Commission. These activities have included, at the Human Rights Commission’s initiative, the City Commission passing the Equal Rights Ordinance, adopting the Resolution Recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day, and adopting the Resolution Recognizing the Rights of People Experiencing Homelessness.

We can be proud that the Human Rights Commission is doing this proactive work to help make Traverse City a welcoming city.

— Lee Hornberger, Traverse City

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Seek truth on pipeline

The letter writer of “A Michigan standoff, imagined” (Dec. 12 Express), comparing the Dakota Access Pipeline near Standing Rock, N.D., to an imaginary pipeline through Grand Traverse Bay and Peshawbestown, missed the mark on relevance based on truth. Of course, the real subject matter is much more than the writer dared to allow.

The real Dakota Access Pipeline went through a rigorous approval process over several years and many court challenges in federal court and were resolved. The protesters are far more than indians from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation — which is two miles away from the pipeline right of way. 

That’s right, the pipeline right of way is not on indian reservation land, nor is it on ancient burial grounds. The pollution of indian lands from an imagined pipeline leak enforces the eco-terrorist anarchist narrative. The truth is, the indian reservation is upstream from the Cannonball River crossing.

Do you get the idea yet that this is not really about this pipeline per se, or indian lands encroachment, or even the fact that it is a pipeline because there is already another pipeline buried in this approved pipeline right of way — it is gas. The protested pipeline will carry oil. Think maintaining the man-made global warming fraud.

Don’t imagine lies. Seek truth.

— Matthew Schoech, Traverse City