Beached whales, wind power, book bans, LIRR problems, and gun rights

Beached whales and offshore wind power

Your March 2 cover headline asks, “Are sea mammals at risk?” Yes, from severe climate warming caused by fossil fuel burning. Yet your article elevates fears about the obvious solution: offshore wind power [“Wind and whales: Offshore projects raise issues,” News].

I have studied whales on Long Island and from Alaska to Argentina, and I love these magnificent animals. I have been watching the North Atlantic right whale driven to near extinction as it flees its normal habitat for cooler waters, and humpback whales seeking food near shore.

There is no evidence that offshore wind farms, which have been operated and studied worldwide since 1991, physically harm whales. Scary-sounding “incidental takes” include temporary mammal movements.

Of the whale necropsies on beaches this season, 40% showed injuries consistent with ship strikes or fishing gear entanglement. All recent Long Island whales necropsied showed evidence of vessel strikes. Our waters are increasingly trafficked with large freighters, the most likely vessels to cause harm.

These whale deaths are part of the unusual mortality event that was declared on the East Coast in 2016, before offshore wind was explored.

We need offshore wind to free us from fracked gas. The state must get those turbines spinning.
 — Douglas Schmid, Northport

The writer is a board member of the Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island.

 The article on the whales found on the beaches of Long Island and New Jersey was disappointing. If there is even a remote chance that the wind farms are having a negative effect on our ocean wildlife, we need to stop them — immediately.

After all the recent whale deaths, I emailed federal, state and local leaders asking them to halt wind farms until further research is done. I received generic responses that did not even address my concern.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said multiple times that there is no definitive evidence linking wind farms and whale deaths.

But they possibly may be linked. I want cleaner energy but not at the expense of our wildlife.
 — Virginia Matney,  Atlantic Beach

Book bans and text tweaks are different

The March 4 Cartoon Roundup [Opinion] included a panel from Rick McKee labeled “Bookworms.” Caterpillars are shown munching on a book titled “Books I Don’t Agree With.” Those from the political right are banning books while those on the left seek “woke” changes.

This is a false equivalence. The bans are instigated by governments and amount to an abridgement of free speech. The word substitutions are done by publishers in works to which they own the rights, an exercise of free will in response to their desire to effectively sell their products in a changing market. The essence of free enterprise in a capitalist society is hardly the same thing as repression of speech.

 — Hank Stone, East Patchogue

LIRR shuttles could have avoided chaos

All the scheduling and crowding problems the Long Island Rail Road is facing now because of the East Side Access project could have been avoided [“No shortage of ideas for LIRR’s new woes,” Letters, March 5].

The LIRR should have begun the plan by using only frequent shuttle trains from Jamaica to Grand Central Madison and not touching existing schedules. If people wanted to go to the east side of Manhattan rather than Penn Station, they simply would change at Jamaica.

The LIRR could have kept this plan for about six months until it determined the actual Grand Central numbers and only then adjusted existing schedules to fit reality.

 — Michael J. Moonitz, Massapequa

Blame the criminals, not the gun owners

I have no dog in the fight to remove Rep. George Santos from Congress since I do not live in his district. The 3rd Congressional District residents can vote him out within two years unless the House moves against him first. Readers lashed out at the “national gun” bill, co-sponsored by Santos [“  ‘National gun’ bill is repulsive, and worse,” Letters, March  2].

I found even more interesting, though, the reactions of some folks who used their First Amendment freedom to bash the Second Amendment freedom of their fellow citizens [“Gun controversy rears its head once more,” Letters, Feb. 13]. Millions of Americans exercise their right to arms every day in lawful ways and should not be punished for the horrible acts of criminals and deranged persons.

Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas said something that is relevant to all this: “The liberties of none are safe unless the liberties of all are protected.” I think Douglas was absolutely correct.
 — James G. Collins, Floral Park