Right to reject wind power plan
While it was a tough call, I believe Gov. Martin O'Malley made the right decision to not allow wind generation in state forests ("Wind farms to be barred," April 12).
We do have an obligation to future generations to protect open space first. Once it's gone, we cannot make any more. But there are other options for renewable power.
Perhaps a better solution to the problem of providing renewable power would lie in a more grassroots approach.
There are already many cell phone towers around the state. So why not provide incentives for their owners to place smaller, less-obtrusive wind generators (like the ones used for private residences or boats) or solar panels on those towers?
If these power generators can at least power the towers themselves, that would reduce demand on the power grid; at best, if they could feed excess power back into the grid, that would provide a net energy benefit.
You can't swallow an elephant in one bite.
A more rational plan would be to build renewable power capacity slowly, and couple that progress with sensible conservation measures.
Craig Herud, AberdeenAny self-styled environmentalist who thinks that destroying trees is a good way to fight global warming has rocks in his or her head.
We should be adding more trees, not clear-cutting the ones we have.
The place for wind farms is in open areas, not in the middle of forests.
Thank goodness the governor had sense enough to reject this foolish proposal.
Katharine W. Rylaarsdam, Baltimore
Enforce standards so kids can learn
After reading The Sun's "Attack highlights 'chronic problem'" (April 13), I'm puzzled by the shock and surprise being expressed over recent instances of school violence.
How can we be surprised that students physically attack teachers when there often is no real penalty for such acts?
And if school administrators don't back teachers in attempting to run an orderly classroom, what message does this send to the students and their families?
Without standards, chaos is the only logical outcome.
Let's reinstall some basic standards for behavior, rigorously enforce them, and then see if the situation gets better.
David Buttner, Baltimore
Blaming victims of school violence
