Santos' lack of integrity and natural gas

Santos lacks integrity, so just dismiss him

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy needs to realize that a person’s integrity and honor have no bearing on which political party he or she belongs to [“Santos saga keeps getting worse,” Opinion, Jan. 19]. The honor code I grew up under as a Citadel cadet in South Carolina says one does not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do. McCarthy needs to adopt this code and commence proceedings to remove Rep. George Santos from a position of honor because he defrauded the voters with his lies.

As a retired naval officer and lifelong Republican, I believe this would not be viewed by voters — Republican, Democratic or Independent — as a political action on his part but one of honor.

— Thomas C. Compitello, West Islip

Rep. George Santos has said he will listen to the “142,000” people who voted for him in November. But does he really believe those 142,000 voted for him, or did they vote for the phony background he created?

But there is a simple answer. Resign and run again in a special election. Let’s see how many of those 142,000 will vote for him again.

— Linda Diamond, Levittown

Rep. George Santos fails to understand that the voters in the district elected the man on his resume, and he is not that man. The George Santos on the resume is a hard-working, high-achieving, scholar-athlete and businessman. The real George Santos is just a fraud.

If he had an ounce of integrity, he would resign. Sadly, he does not have even that.

— Jerry Romano, Bellmore

It is time for Nassau County Republican leaders to start a petition among registered voters in Rep. George Santos’ district indicating they have no confidence in him and calling for him to resign immediately.

— Ivan Lisnitzer, Syosset

Rep. George Santos slipped under the wire, and the Democratic Party could not turn out enough support to get its candidate elected. This is what happens when people do not show up to vote, in their own interest, and it has the potential to destroy our democracy.

This lesson should become the new rallying cry of the Democratic Party: “Remember George Santos!”

— Patrick Ehmann, Ronkonkoma

If a large number of people are defrauded into buying a defective drug or automobile, they can sue as a class to have the purchases rescinded and collect damages. So why can’t Nassau County commence a class action on behalf of those who voted for Rep. George Santos to have him removed from office?

— David H. Peirez, Great Neck

I thank Rep. George Santos for reminding us how shameful our political system is. His resume is a master class in fiction writing, his financing is so opaque even accountants can’t understand it, and he campaigned by lying to voters face to face.

Yet, even after his fraud was revealed, he was welcomed by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, desperate for his vote. By shining a spotlight on the hypocrisy of politicians running this country, Santos has done us a tremendous service.

— Stephen M. Picca, Massapequa

Rep. George Santos has been approved to two House committees — Small Business and also Science, Space and Technology. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate for him to have been appointed to the Monkey Business and Science Fiction committees?

— Nili Finger, Port Washington

Using gas will not help our energy transition

Of course, Robert B. Catell thinks we need natural gas “Natural gas will help in our energy transition,” Opinion, Jan. 13]. His entire career has been in the gas industry. The nation’s Christmas deep-freeze electric grid emergency was caused by natural gas constraints. Last year, the Southwest suffered a crisis of the gas and electric grids for the same reason.

These constraints were not caused by governors but by the gas companies themselves. Gas utilities have added new customers, encouraging them to switch from oil to the “safer, cleaner and cheaper” gas, assuming they can build — and bill ratepayers for — infrastructure needed for this expansion.

They have made the United States the No. 1 exporter of liquified natural gas for monetary gain instead of supplying gas to domestic customers.

Meanwhile, several western cities have started requiring new construction to use energy-efficient heat pumps. New York will follow this trend.

If this federal inquiry into the electric grid delves deep enough, it may find the problem is with the gas industry’s failure to “get with the program.”

— Francesca Rheannon, East Hampton

The writer is co-chair of the Climate Reality Project’s Long Island chapter.

It is disquieting that Robert B. Catell is on the advisory committee to the Legislative Commission on the Future of the Long Island Power Authority.

As a gasman, he has loyalty to that industry. His op-ed ignores the mandates of the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which LIPA must follow. It mandates 70% of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2040.

How can he advise the LIPA commission if he believes gas “can play a critical role in supporting our shift to renewable energy” when 2030 is only seven years away? We must move away from burning fuel as soon as possible.

The Climate Action Council calls for 6,000 megawatts of distributed solar by 2025, 3,000 megawatts of energy storage by 2030, and 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. The LIPA commission needs advisers to help establish a fully public LIPA that has the expertise to achieve these goals.

— Billii Roberti, Huntington Sta.

Robert B. Catell proposes using more natural gas — a carbon-emitting fossil fuel — as a step toward eliminating all fossil fuel use to limit the disastrous climate change we see all around us. Incredibly, he wants us to move backward in order to move forward.

This might have been a good idea 20 years ago, but it ignores everything learned since then. Natural gas — methane — is a potent greenhouse gas, more than 80 times as powerful as the carbon dioxide produced when it is “cleanly” burned.

At least 1% but sometimes 9% of the methane produced from fracking gas wells leaks into our atmosphere before what’s left is burned. This is far more damaging to our climate.

We should instead use super-efficient cold-climate heat pumps in new construction. They provide better performance and lower operating costs than what we’ve traditionally used, and they are available now with significant federal tax credits and rebates from PSEG Long Island.

— Peter Gollon, Huntington