Congratulations and thanks to the Dartmouth Sustainability Task Force and President Phil Hanlon for their well-thought-out decision to get off oil and bypass the false allure of natural gas in favor of increased building and distribution efficiency and renewables, as reported in the Sunday Valley News (“Dartmouth Plans to Cut Oil Reliance,” April 23).
Much of the natural gas consumed in the Northeast comes from fracking, which is responsible for large amounts of methane leakage in the extraction and distribution process. Methane is 25 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Therefore, the leakage of methane makes the use of natural gas as harmful to the climate as oil and coal. I believe that efficiency and using renewables will save the college money over switching to natural gas and will be much better for the planet.
I hope all Hanover voters will follow Dartmouth’s lead and support the 100 percent renewables by 2050 resolution at your upcoming Town Meeting, and that all Hanover and Lebanon residents and businesses will reject the shortsighted natural gas plan being proposed by Liberty Utilities. The project may be good for the developers, but will be bad for the local economy and the global environment.
Bob Walker
Thetford Center
Reading the April 21 Valley News, I found Sydney Lea’s response to Lorraine Zigman’s letter about panther sightings very insulting to her. I shall explain a few facts.
There have been many sightings over the years of panthers in Vermont. One such occasion was around 1957, when my mom and three of my siblings saw one beside Liberty Hill Road leading to our house in Pittsfield, Vt.
Then, in 1968, shortly after returning home from the military, I was riding a motor bike, also in Pittsfield, with a friend named Gus Willey. We went through a gate above a meadow and there in front of us, no more than 30 feet away, was a panther. It looked exactly as do those from the West we see on TV: tawny in color, with a long tail.
There have been many sightings over the years of panthers in this state. I’m sure they are just passing through.
W.B. Fisk Sr.
Post Mills
Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact to date has stated that President Trump tells the total truth 16 percent of the time and that 69 percent of the time his statements range from mostly false to “pants on fire” (16 percent). How can anyone not be concerned about this?
He claims that there was “massive voter fraud” in New Hampshire and this was, of course, rated “pants on fire” since there is no proof at all of this, as with most of his claims. Evidently Rep. Al Baldasaro, of Londonderry, and Gov. Chris Sununu agree with Trump. Remember, Baldasaro was the man who called for the execution of Hillary Clinton for treason and said gun control is not necessary because if you want to kill someone you can just use a knife.
Sununu has said that huge amounts of people from Massachusetts stream across our border to vote in our elections (another “pants on fire”).
Like redistricting, tightening voter ID laws is for the purpose of suppressing the ability of poor, immigrant Americans and college students from voting. Why? Because they overwhelmingly vote Democratic. Period. Call your representatives and tell them what poll workers will already tell you. The system works fine, and we should be proud of it.
Roger McWilliams
Hanover
I’m wondering what the protesters demanding President Trump’s tax returns expect to find. After all, your tax return forms don’t show the source of the funds, just the amounts. He doesn’t do his own taxes; he has lawyers and accountants to do that. Do the protesters expect to find a line that says “Bribe from Russia”?
Only once did I have to file a full 1040 form. When my aunt died, I was administrator of her estate and there was a very small amount that went to me. I had to file a full 1040 and three different schedules — about 12 pages minimum. I never knew numbers could be massaged in so many ways to ensure the government extracted all it could.
Since he’s involved with many businesses, his return will run several hundred pages. There will be profits, losses, gains, write-offs, taxable income, non-taxable income and credits. Chances are 99 percent of the protesters won’t be able to comprehend all that data as a lot of it is esoteric, determined by a twisted and overly complicated Internal Revenue code.
The president has never been found to have violated the Internal Revenue code or federal tax law. If there were times he didn’t pay taxes, that was certainly legitimate, as losses can be written off.
The tax code is not a wealth tax, it is an income tax, and if you lose more than you make, it is totally legitimate, legal and moral to be able to write that off. If not, many smaller businesses would go out of business in their first couple of years.
Patrick O’Connor
Weathersfield
This week is National Volunteer Week and the White River Junction VA Medical Center is using the opportunity to thank volunteers who give back to veterans every day at local VA medical facilities throughout Vermont and New Hampshire.
Here at White River Junction VA, approximately 300 volunteers provided more than 41,000 hours of service to veterans this past year. These volunteers show up with arms wide open for tasks that range from driving veterans to their appointments, providing directions throughout the medical facility, answering telephones, providing clerical assistance, singing in the hospice choir or holding a veteran’s hand at their bedside to keep them from being alone during trying times.
I encourage all of your readers to not only thank a volunteer today, but to listen to their stories, and think about joining the ranks of these remarkable people.
White River Junction VA thanks the volunteers who make such a difference in our veterans lives.
Karen CampbellChief, voluntary serviceWhite River Junction VA Medical Center
White River Junction
Presumably, a country funds its military to help keep the country intact and thriving. Why else would a nation support a military force?
President Donald Trump seems to have another idea — to decimate our country’s domestic programs (which presumably are key to our national health and welfare) to engorge an already bloated military to no clear purpose. How can starving — maiming — the country he’s supposed to protect possibly serve it?
Starving and draining the country he was elected to serve and protect is what kleptocrats do. If this act of suicidal misdirection indicates anything, it’s that the U.S. sorely needs the voices of many more women in its halls of government.
Nan Bourne
Woodstock