Readers Write (March 17): Driverless cars, DNR, pope, TSA, taxes, injustice

Timothy Taylor imagines a future with driverless cars but makes no mention of the elephant in the room, namely that the age of cheap, abundant fossil fuels is coming to an end ("Not even George Jetson had this," March 17). That means the age of automobile transport is also coming to an end.

Rather than wasting time and energy on schemes that would prolong our reliance on cars and trucks and the enormous infrastructure they depend upon, we should be investing in mass transit, walkable and bikeable cities, and new technologies that don't require massive inputs of nonrenewable energy.

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Driverless cars? Do you mean where you are just a passenger? That's called the bus.

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We already have a large number of driverless cars in use today. The drivers are texting.

I am so sick of the argument included in the editorial opposing Gov. Mark Dayton's proposal for a tax increase on married couples with $250,000 in taxable income ("State still needs sales tax reform," March 15). The Editorial Board claims that such a policy would diminish the state's competitive advantage, but there is no evidence to support that.

It's about time that the state Department of Natural Resources takes a position that reflects views beyond those of hunters, anglers and other consumptive users of resources ("Shift underway in managing resources," March 10).

Dennis Anderson reported that Minnesota and Wisconsin are slow to change and are still rooted in the traditional model, while other states are using a more ecology-based model. He also wrote about the great amount of money hunters have paid into the system, resulting in cleaner air and water.

He made it sound like there were no tax dollars involved in operating the DNR and that it was solely supported by those who consume resources. He should have told readers the exact breakdown.

With due respect to Catholics (which I am not): When the cardinals go into a huddle to pray and discuss, do they really believe God told them, both this time and last time, to pick a pope in his late 70s? I'm sure Pope Francis is a lovely person, but surely God might know of a qualified person who is at least in his 60s.

I think it is hilarious that the Star Tribune's coverage of the new pope jumped to a page with a huge ad for bras. I was reading about the pope's humility, but that life-sized, lacy bra was hard to ignore.

It should be, and probably is, illegal for the Minnesota Department of Revenue to refuse to process my TurboTax paper tax return ("TurboTax safe to use again, state says," March 12). If I filed a return, made out with no assistance, the state would have to process it. There might be errors, but there should not be a categorical refusal to process it.

Let me get this straight: A woman with Parkinson's disease and dementia "accidentally" votes twice and is charged with a felony ("86-year-old St. Peter woman charged with voter fraud," March 7). A boy "accidentally" shoots an arrow that kills another child and there are no charges filed ("No charges filed in Chaska case," March 7.) Somebody please fix this system.