Readers Write: Sustainability, fraud scandals, Biden honors

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Kudos to Pat Hamilton for his pertinent piece “ ‘Drill, baby, drill’ is a dead-end for most states” in Strib Voices Wednesday. I read this right after hearing the horrific news of wildfires in California where at least 10,000 structures have been destroyed and 10 lives have been lost.

Back in the early 2000s, Pat raised my climate awareness at the Science Museum of Minnesota. I had taken my environmental science class from Metro State University there on a field trip where Pat gave us a tour of the Science House. Its roof was covered with a photovoltaic system; it had energy efficient appliances. Now the structure sports a ground source heat pump system. Pat showed us the electric meter: It was running backward! Excess power went to the main museum. My eyes were opened.

In his must-read piece, Pat, who recently retired after 40 years at the Science Museum, advocates for a clean energy economy. This is not political: Red states are benefiting the most from the Inflation Reduction Act, and they lead the nation in solar and wind production.

Judy Helgen, Falcon Heights

The writer is a retired scientist for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

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The tragic wildfires in Los Angeles are showing us that the climate crisis is coming for all of us. No one is safe. But human ignorance, pride and greed are keeping us from doing anything to fight the catastrophe. When will we wake up? Or is it too late already?

Chris Trevis, Lake Elmo

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Regarding the amount of power data centers consume (”Efforts to cut emissions stalled in 2024 as power demand surged,” Jan. 10), why not require a roof full of solar collectors for every data center (perhaps coupled with appropriately sized battery storage)? If additional electrical backup is required, have each center include a propane-fired peaking plant in their construction plans. The cost for both would be the responsibility of the owner. This approach has a number of benefits: It forces some of the upgraded utility costs directly onto the owner and not the existing taxpayer; partially reduces the need for expanded utility line upgrades; reduces some emissions (propane would be less polluting than diesel-fueled backup); helps level the grid and allows the local utility to better plan for future expansion.

Martin Lunde, St. Anthony

The writer is an engineer.

I am writing to second the advice of Lawrence R. Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance (“Returning to good governance in Minnesota will require sustained attention,” Strib Voices, Jan. 7). I have been visiting family in Minneapolis for over a decade, and I have been a resident for 2.5 years. I too believe that what the legislative auditor has concluded is true. Contrition and the promises of improvement are no longer valid responses. Money is allocated and programs that sound beneficial — like efforts to halt community violence — do not result in measurable progress.

As he said, “Before a legislative committee decides on an agency’s new request for funding, Colorado’s state auditor testifies on whether government officials improved oversight and internal controls as recommended by the auditor. The immediacy of these reports puts accountability at the forefront of legislative decisionmaking and, by extension, puts fear into the hearts of agency officials. In Colorado — and not Minnesota — program bosses have a strong incentive to avoid critical audits by establishing strong controls and, if funds are misspent, to bend over backward to demonstrate they made needed corrections.”

The response by those opposing these programs will be to first criticize the failure of oversight, and then refusing to allocate more money. I hope we can return quickly to conditions that prevailed when Minnesota had a national reputation for good governance and rigorous accounting for tax expenditures. What has gone wrong, and how can it be fixed? The auditor has suggested that the solution is stronger oversight and better internal controls. I cannot charge every department with these failures, but as someone who cares about the welfare of Minnesota residents, I expect that changes will be made. If it is a matter of ignorance or lack of personnel, some of the money should go to better training or new staff with better skills. If it is a matter of oversight and internal controls, look to Colorado if a model is needed. This has gone on too long.

Laura Haule, Minneapolis

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In the Jan. 7 opinion section of the Minnesota Star Tribune, Lawrence R. Jacobs and Joseph Tamburino (“Where were our state investigators? It’s not like we don’t have any — or even enough,” Strib Voices) separately set forth some very disappointing comments about the state of governance under the leadership of Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Minnesota is the victim of numerous frauds and abuses in various programs overseen by state agencies totaling hundreds of millions of dollars and still rising. Federal authorities are now in charge of the largest cases. These two state officials did not initiate investigations and, when state auditors reported on the mishandling of funds, they did not initiate either prosecutorial or recovery action. No agency personnel have been reported as dismissed or reprimanded.

Walz’s solution is a new department for additional investigators and auditors with a budget of $39 million. Who will audit the auditors? What are the consequences to perpetrators of the fraud and the state’s negligence in managing funds? And how will citizens know Minnesota leadership is providing trusted stewardship?

The investigative reporting of this glaring mismanagement was not led by the Fourth Estate. Mainstream liberal press and broadcasting media’s focus appears to be “if it bleeds it leads.” Social justice issues trumped reporting on failing state governance. Perhaps this reflects newspaper ownership shifting to the hands of an elite billionaire class. Minnesota readership will decide whether the investigative baton will remain with the Fourth Estate.

Jim Bachman, Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.

Diane Carlson Evans of Buffalo, Minnesota received the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest civilian honor, on Jan. 2 from President Joe Biden. If you want to be inspired by a strong, determined and patriotic woman who served her country with unbelievable hardship as an Army combat nurse and then proceeded to work tirelessly to secure a memorial in the nation’s capital to the women who served without fanfare in Vietnam, then you will want to read her book “Healing Wounds.” You should be warned before you read the book that you will also be disgusted by the roadblocks that she had to overcome to accomplish her goal of getting the Vietnam Women’s Memorial built in Washington, D.C. We can also draw strength from the selfless life of service that Jimmy Carter provided us. One cannot even start to list the endearing credentials of this amazing human being and what he and his equal partner Rosalynn Carter accomplished in their lives. Wow. Rest in peace, Rosalynn and Jimmy!

Chad Mead, Buffalo, Minn.

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So President Biden declared a holiday in honor of the late President Carter. Why doesn’t he follow his line of thinking, then, and stop sending weapons over to Benjamin Netanyahu’s genocidal government? Carter rightly opined that Israel is, in fact, an apartheid state and that the U.S. is the most warlike nation in the world. But our supposedly greatly empathetic president sheds nary a tear for the starving and oppressed Gazans, nor cares at all about all those protesting what is happening as he talks about how great our democracy supposedly is. It is truly appalling that the U.S. is facilitating some of the worst war crimes in history.

Stephanie Sarich, Minnetonka