As proved, protests can effect change
I am a veteran of the 1960s anti-war campus protest movement. There are similarities between violent and peaceful protests then and now. In both cases, violence has no justification. Virtually all protest movements — civil rights, environmental, anti-war, BLM and “Stop the Steal” — have had to deal with co-option by violence-oriented extremists. Those extremists capture headlines, but the movements can continue peacefully to effect social and political change. It happened then and can happen now by forcing citizens to look at what our country is doing and supporting, good and bad, in our name.
The citizenry can influence the politicians and their policies with a heightened awareness of the details. Currently, Gaza is a horror perpetrated in response to a horror.
As Stephen Stills and Buffalo Springfield once sang, " Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.”
KURT OHBERG, ATLANTA
Opening energy markets good step in fossil fuel reduction
When I read the “New EV plant (Hyundai’s Metaplant) (plans) to buy Texas solar” (AJC, May 6), which triggers the opening of the Southeast energy market, I celebrated companies prioritizing decarbonization and the courts prioritizing opening energy markets.
After reading the Southern Co. (SO) argument that wholesale energy markets burden the people, saying their approach protects them, I thought, too slowly. Many SO customers carry the burden of building nuclear plants while their stockholders reap dividends.
How can we reduce costs and dirty power sources?
1. Change utility models from return on equity (ROE) to performance-based regulation (PBR), which prioritizes society goals, not just profit-making [e.g., Illinois].
2. Pass a national carbon cashback, a rising price on oil, gas and coal, with all the revenue returned to the people. This is not a tax, which some voters fear will burden their personal budget. It protects people while preserving choice and incentivizing zero-emission sources.
Reducing fossil fuel pollution depends on leaders becoming clean market stewards.
BOB JAMES, ATLANTA
