Transit: Small Improvements Needed
Thanks to Mark Roessler for an insightful piece on high-speed rail. His recommendation is spot on— rebuilding our local bus routes will provide the supporting infrastructure needed to make high-speed rail a viable form of mass transportation. That kind of focus—on a thousand small improvements—is what made Toyota a great car company (before its recent troubles). It can work for bus and rail, too.
Here is one example of a small but needed improvement: I live in Shelburne Falls and work in Greenfield. The Franklin Regional Transit Authority bus that picks up in Shelburne Falls arrives in downtown Greenfield at 8:40 a.m. and leaves at 4:25 p.m. That’s not quite enough of an interval to work an eight-hour day and then walk over to catch the bus. Almost, but not quite.
A minor adjustment in the schedule would make bus commuting possible for working people and also accommodate the schedule’s primary purpose: to carry school choice, charter and private school students to school. As the schedule stands now, the bus travels nearly empty between Shelburne Falls and Greenfield on the return trip, and I drive to work. A $3 round-trip bus ride is a good deal these days for a 20-mile commute. Others in Shelburne Falls might think so, too.
That’s how we get to high speed rail—one little change at a time.
Andrew Baker
Shelburne Falls
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Japan’s Nuclear Disaster Preventable
One of the most upsetting parts of the tragedy in Japan is that although the earthquake was not preventable, the nuclear accident at the Daiichi plant was.
Since the 1970s, components of the General Electric Mark 1 reactor there have come under criticism—first in the ’70s by the Atomic Energy Commission, which said the containment system held unacceptable safety risks and should be discontinued, and then in the ’80s in a Nuclear Regulatory Commission memo which stated that the containment system had a 90 percent chance of bursting if the fuel rods were to overheat and melt in an accident.
The Mark 1 reactor, by the way, is the same as the one at Vermont Yankee which just received permission from the NRC to operate another 20 years over its original design guidelines.
The Japanese public had repeatedly been assured that the plant was safe and protected in the event of an earthquake or a tsunami. But after the earthquake, it was revealed that the planning had overlooked the possibility of a 9.0 earthquake by preparing only for a 7.5.
Also the backup generators which would cool the plant in an emergency were in the basement, rendered unreachable by the flooding of the tsunami. It is hard to believe that anyone preparing for an emergency involving flooding would place backup generators in the basement.
To support nuclear power, you must also support the risks involved—risks clearly shown in studies following the nuclear accident in Chernobyl. That accident rendered large amounts of land uninhabitable for millennia and created skyrocketing incidences of thyroid cancer and thyroid disease, particularly among young children.
When statistics quote the low cost of nuclear energy, they forget to factor in the high cost to public health, safety and the environment.
Amelia Shea
Peterborough, N.H.
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Thanking “the Little People”
This letter is a thank-you for all “the little people.” We, the wealthy elite, really appreciate all you are doing for us, and of course a special, special thanks to all you Tea Partiers, Republican voters and Faux News watchers. You do so much to make our profits bigger—we mean, our world better. Like fighting and dying in our wars. We wish we could be there on the front lines with you, but amassing billions isn’t easy. We must be constantly vigilant. We will continue to keep you posted whenever there is a threat to our oil supplies—we mean, to liberty.
We didn’t really mean to tank the world economy, but thanks for bailing us out, suckers. Just don’t even think about us paying any more taxes. We have multiple luxury homes and yachts to maintain. Where would you little people be without us? We are so glad your concerns are about corporate America rather than the working class.
We would be remiss in not thanking you for supporting our Republican puppets—er, politicians, as they always vote for our interests while cutting and gutting yours. So thanks for not paying attention or staying informed and only listening to one news source like Faux News. Just because all our corporate lackeys—we mean reporters—make millions doesn’t mean they’re not telling the truth. Just because they are always on the side of tax cuts for billionaires; deregulation of pesky safety rules for nuclear plants, offshore drilling and coal mines; privatization of everything; union busting; whatever the war du jour is; cutting Social Security, Medicare, unemployment benefits and anything that doesn’t benefit the wealthy—all that doesn’t mean they aren’t thinking of you, on the way to the bank with huge checks from us. So thanks. We will keep you in our portfolios, er, hearts.
Amanda Plais
Greenfield
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Government Should Not Block Cannabis Research
Does the federal government even want to know about cannabis? [You wonder] after seeing the Drug Enforcement Agency overturn a decision from its administrative judge to let [UMass professor] Lyle Craker, who has a Ph.D. in agronomy and plant genetics, grow a restrictive amount of cannabis to study. Currently the only place to be allowed by the federal government to grow and study cannabis is the University of Mississippi. UM also produces medical marijuana for four remaining federal patients. That’s right: a federal medical marijuana program, started in the late ’70s, was closed (due to a jump in the number of AIDs patients in the ’80s) because too many people needed medical marijuana and the government acted out rashly in 1992.
Why does the government say that “we do not have enough research,” only to deny research? We should want to know everything about something we are afraid of, beneficial, harmful or otherwise. It feels as though the federal government is treating our brightest minds like children trying to bypass the child safety lock below the kitchen sink. What if we never let Nikola Tesla or Benjamin Franklin experiment with electricity? Would we be writing in longhand on paper by lamplight?
One state alone might fold under federal pressure, but a [group] of states [may] provide protection from prosecution. Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island all have medical cannabis programs programs and New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut are all looking to pass such programs. Maine and Vermont also have hemp industries. Maine and Massachusetts have both decriminalized cannabis and Vermont, Connecticut and Rhode Island all are proposing to decriminalize cannabis. Connecticut and Massachusetts are proposing to tax and regulate recreational sale of cannabis. The New England states should, collectively, allow New England scientists to grow a restricted amount of marijuana to conduct their studies. You can contact your officials by going to http://capwiz.com/norml2/home/ and selecting the state that you live in.
Tyler Colford
Jacksonville, Vt.
Correction: In the caption on the photo with the article “Sarno Wins Legal Scuffle With Club Owners,” March 10, 2011, we incorrectly identified Springfield political consultant Tony Cignoli as A. J. Cignoli. He is A. L. Cignoli.
