Ukraine war, taxes, solar energy, trash, and home prices

History shows it's time to stop Putin

It is unrealistic to expect that Ukrainian sweat and blood alone will save Europe from the Russian expansionist plague, not even with all the weaponry from NATO, including from the United States ["Russia hits rail, fuel targets deep in Ukraine," News, April 26]. Western Europe — and the United States — must realize that there is a numerical limit to the number of Ukrainians who can sacrifice their lives.

Countries that keep funding Russian President Vladimir Putin with their oil and gas consumption, such as Austria, Germany and Poland, should start getting comfortable with the reality that they still have the opportunity to “sacrifice” some of their comforts of life, such as abundant energy, fuel and luxury.

Putin likely will close that window for them as soon as he’s finished with Ukraine, and then it possibly will be time for Austrians, Germans and Poles to offer up their young men and cities, like the Ukrainians are now doing.

It would be better to have an all-out confrontation now with Putin, rather than wait for him to invade Western Europe country by country. European history from 1920 to 1938 shows that the time to stop Putin is now.

Ernst P.A. Vanamson, Sayville

I dislike tax burden being shifted to us

For the past 20 years, I have lived in The Hamlet in Plainview. When we first arrived, we were told that our taxes would be $13,000. Instead, they started at $20,000, and we have been fighting to have them lowered ever since. We now average about $22,000 per home.

I was more than upset when the article "Shifting the tax burden" [News, March 27] said that Country Pointe was assessed $36,724 and then reduced to $3,632 for eight years, and we are to make up the difference. Our taxes will increase substantially again. Shame on the politicians and builders who look to have us carry the burden while they use the reduced taxes to sell more homes.

Roberta Schwartz, Plainview

Putting solar in Riverhead a hot idea

A resounding cheer to the idea of putting solar power on a Riverhead landfill ["Board considering proposal to bring solar power to landfills," Our Towns, April 25]. It’s clearly in the economic best interest of the town, and in the environmental best interest of Long Island and New York.

According to the state Climate Action Council’s draft scoping plan, to combat the climate crisis, we must be making our electric grid renewable as fast as possible with proven technologies such as solar and wind power. Meanwhile, our electric use will go up as we sensibly switch to climate-friendly electric heating and cooling and electric vehicles.

We’ll need to beef up solar power by seven times by 2050. What’s the downside to finding a new life for a Riverhead landfill?

Alexa Marinos, North Babylon

It's simple: We're just making too much trash

As much as I was cheered to see the article on roadside clean-ups, I was dismayed to see the accompanying photo with orange, heavy-duty-plastic garbage bags being used ["Earth Day 'Trash Blitz,' " News, April 23] . According to the article, in only the first three days of the week, more than 2,400 bags were collected. Are those bags recyclable? Are they biodegradable or reused? Or will they be heading to our plastic garbage stream along with their cargo? The lesson I see is that we are creating too much trash all around. We live in a time when moving garbage from one place to another and using single-use plastic bags to do that is ecologically unsustainable. I hope I'm wrong, and those bags do not become like the garbage they carry.

Janet Rudolph, Rockville Centre

Why was there no mention of God's creatures, our wildlife, and the fact that their woods and forests are continually destroyed by bulldozers for another shopping center or more apartments? It's so sad to find them dead on the road in the early morning because their shelters are destroyed and/or their food supply is gone. How many of them and their babies are simply plowed over by bulldozers?

And what about smokers who use Earth as their ash tray when driving, flicking out hot ashes or a still-lit cigarette from their car window? Remember the animals. It’s their world, too.

Linda Jacobs, Port Jefferson Station

Putting inflation in a different perspective

Inflation is temporary, but the very real threat to our democracy may be permanent ["LI homebuyers face squeeze as rates top 5%," News, April 26].

Claire McCarthy-King, Massapequa