Battery moratoriums, clean energy, sea-level rise, feral cats, Kamala Harris' image

Opposing sides on battery moratoriums

Long Island towns considering moratoriums on battery energy storage system facilities are weighing them with the wrong scale [“Latest battery moratorium push,” Our Towns, July 24].

Electric bike and electric scooter fires can result from low-quality lithium batteries not meeting safety standards, stored in homes and commercial spaces. The FDNY has frequently responded to these dangerous fires.

But utility-scale battery storage is different. These batteries are housed in facilities built with high safety standards. None of the three battery storage fires that have occurred in the state has caused injuries or environmental harm.

We must push ahead with clean, renewable energy, but doing so without battery storage systems to leverage it is not a good deal for Long Islanders.

— Karen Higgins, Massapequa Park

Kudos to the officials in the towns of Smithtown, Southampton, Southold, Babylon, Huntington and Oyster Bay for putting the health and safety of their residents first, implementing pauses in the construction of dangerous lithium battery storage facilities.

Shame on Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico and the town board for not following their lead. Is Brookhaven putting money made from these sites ahead of the health and safety of firefighters and residents, including schoolchildren, in the proposed site areas?

— Mark Galligan, Holbrook

LI’s GOP must pay heed to real issues

Although the torch has been passed, the tactics that the Republican Party has used to turn Long Island into the reddest part of a blue state persist [“ ‘Grand young party’ emerges on Long Island,” Opinion, July 25].

The GOP has gaslighted Long Islanders with issues like illegal immigration and crime and ignored Long Island’s real, pressing issues — climate change and sea-level rise.

The only crime most Long Islanders really need to fear is drunk driving. And climate-change deniers do real damage.

Fifteen years ago, sea-level rise forced me to replace my old dock that was always under water at high tide with a dock 10 inches higher. The new dock is now routinely threatened. It will only get worse unless we do something now.

Another one to two feet of sea-level rise that is predicted for the coming 20 years would be terrible, but if we do nothing, could it rise more than 10 feet? Climate action is needed now.

— Frederick M. Stanley, Mattituck

To all the naysayers out there, yes, our planet is getting warmer, and it has been warming and cooling for millions of years [“Clean energy is the way to go,” Letters, July 28].

The last ice age ended around 19,000 years ago because of global warming by the sun, not from fossil fuels. Our orbit around the sun moves. When we are closer, we warm up; further away, we cool down, thus the ice age.

The bottom line: Even if we eliminate fossil fuels, Earth will still keep warming until we approach the next ice age despite some evidence suggesting that the next ice age may be averted.

— Robert Gardner, Blue Point

Feral cats a nuisance in my neighborhood

My neighborhood has been invaded by feral cats that roam freely, using my yard as their litter box, spraying my plants, digging in my gardens, and stalking and feeding on birds coming to my feeders [“Feral cat has case of rabies in Cedarhurst,” News, July 27].

I have been awakened at night with howling cat fights and their encounters with raccoons.

Although I commend folks who worry about feral cats and buy them food, I wish it wasn’t happening in my neighborhood.

To move them away, I have tried costly solar sound machines, chicken wire, fences, mulch and pebbles, all to no avail. Scattering lemons, limes, onions and scents that they supposedly do not care for does not work, either. And my dog? They couldn’t care less about him.

I wonder if these kind-hearted folks consider the effects that feral cats have on the neighborhoods where they feed them.

It is stressful watching birds being stalked and killed. And it’s so annoying to step in cat poop while gardening, or smelling cat urine on shrubs and plants.

— Terry Bachmann, Holtsville

New image of Harris would be temporary

Cathy Young says Vice President Kamala Harris should craft a new image of herself for the presidential campaign, more toward the center [“Harris crafting a ‘tough cop’ image,” Opinion, June 26].

This move would be shifting away from the progressive left actions she has displayed during her career as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and her current role as vice president.

In Harris’ own words, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” Once elected, she would likely return to her left-leaning ways of governing.

— John Malesko, Shirley