Dear Sheldon Brown, Editor, Ventura Breeze,
Planting trees is the most effective and aesthetic way to restore soil, reduce heat islands and air pollution, and pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. If the VC2040 General Plan sets a goal to plant and maintain a million trees by 2030, what is the goal for the city of Ventura? Ventura City’s Tree Committee can partner with a proposed new Ventura County Tree Committee to assure success and ecological benefits from planting trees. At one point in the 1980’s there were less than two dozen condors. The hatching of the 1000th California Condor chick tells a story, that if we work together—such as planting a million trees this decade—our county will be better for decades to come.
Patrick Makiri
Breeze
Let Ventura Lead on All-Electric New Homes
The housing shortage is a major priority. With the solution of building more homes is an opportunity to design homes for transition away from natural gas that risks explosions, pollutes air, and accelerates the pace of global climate change. Replacing natural gas with electricity in single family homes can reduce a homeowner’s carbon footprint as much as 90%! Ventura can make sure that no new homes have the added expense of gas connections. New home construction costs are an average $6,000 less with no gas connection. There are efficient all-electric options for heating, water heating, and cooking. Operating and other costs for the new all-electric home owner will be $130 to $540 less per year with better air quality and zero risk of fires or explosions.
Homes with solar, battery storage, and smart circuit breakers can shed load during peak high-priced hours and assure flexible, economical backup power in a black-out. The city can also require new homes to cut water use in half with tankless on-demand water heaters, rain collection and gray water for the garden and various equipment and strategies promoted by the city’s Sustainable Ventura.
We immediately need to ask the County Supervisors to assure that the Ventura County General Plan Update requires zero-emission, all-electric, water conservation design for all new construction. The city doesn’t need to wait for a General Plan Update. Santa Rosa and Berkeley just banned gas connections in new home construction. Make Ventura the first city in the county to accelerate the transition to safe, sustainable, less expensive housing by passing such an ordinance now.
Jan Dietrick
Ventura Breeze
RE: Ventura Moments: We Are So Very (Very) Lucky.
Reading the pretentious, tumid article in the July 3rd issue with passive amusement, I couldn’t help but wonder if the writer, was living in a dream world or, perhaps, referring to Ventura pre-1980.
“It could be argued that our lives are a vacation, with work, chores and errands thrown in.” Non arguable however, is that engaging in these endeavors is severely blemished by the appalling, ever-increasing traffic melee one faces every day of the week.
Ventura’s “Planning” Commission seems specifically focused on lining the coffers with real estate dollars. Have we not noticed the plethora of new condominiums under construction? And when this new housing attracts newcomers to taste of our “kaleidoscopic culture and simple pleasures”, traffic, congestion will’ exponentially, increase. Not to mention straining our critical water supply during drought periods. Ventura’s goal: “If there’s an open piece of ground, build on it!”
“people who want to see Ventura stay the special place it is.” Indeed.
R.J. Quirk
Ventura
Dear Mr. Brown,
Strong pesticide regulation should be part of the Ventura County 2040 General Plan. There has been little effort at the state or federal level to prohibit the use of pesticides such as chlorpyrifos, which has been proven to cause brain damage in children.
There is no reason to expose farm workers, their families, or the public to these dangerous chemicals. The county should take the lead on this issue, since there is a lack of impetus from state and federal agencies.
Farmers can control pests naturally by using biologically integrated pest control methods. Doing so would ensure the safety of our food supply, as well as ensuring the health and safety of farm workers and their families.
Kristen Kessler
It’s hard to lose a mother-in-law. In fact it’s almost impossible.
~ W.C. Fields
