Fighting over Hetch Hetchy; Michael Kinsley and the debate over a Palestinian state; Jim Newton on the L.A. City Council’s casual hypocrisy

A water-wise S.F.

Re “In S.F., a feud over use of water,” Dec. 13

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has her facts muddled. The Tuolumne River is the source of San Francisco’s water supply, not the Hetch Hetchy Valley. The reservoir is one of nine that San Francisco uses to store its water.

Multiple studies have determined that using the Hetch Hetchy Valley is unnecessary and removing it from the system would result in a 4% loss of water.

If San Francisco matched Orange County in developing sustainable local water supplies such as recycling, it could reduce its use of Tuolumne River water by up to 20%, easily offsetting what it would lose from Hetch Hetchy.

Mike Marshall

San Francisco

The writer is executive director of Restore Hetch Hetchy.

We appreciate Rep. Dan Lungren’s (R-Gold River) interest in making sure that the more than 2.5 million residents and thousands of businesses in the Bay Area that rely on the Hetch Hetchy reservoir are efficiently managing this precious resource.

Fortunately, the average 88 gallons of water that San Franciscans use per day is already half the state average and far below the 280 gallons per day that Sacramento residents living in Lungren’s district consume.

We strongly agree with Feinstein that Lungren’s desire to remove Hetch Hetchy would seriously jeopardize our region’s water supply and eliminate the clean energy that the reservoir generates.

Spending the estimated $10 billion it would cost to tear down Hetch Hetchy also seems unthinkable at a time when California is struggling to expand and upgrade its existing

infrastructure.

Jim Wunderman

San Francisco

The writer is president and chief executive of the Bay Area Council.

Wading into the Palestine issue

Re “States of mind,” Opinion, Dec. 14

In citing the origins of Israel as merely the onset of political Zionism in the 19th century, Michael Kinsley ignores the tree that grew the fruit with the seeds.

The current state of Israel is not a new invention. It’s the renaissance of the Israeli nation in its homeland, which for 3,400 years generated the two unique languages (Hebrew and Aramaic) of Jews and an unbroken continuity of literature and residency.

Multiple references to Israel and Jerusalem in Jewish prayer confirm a nearly 2,000-year yearning to return.

Gary Dalin

Venice

Kinsley presents a fair and balanced assessment of how both Jewish Israelis and Palestinians became nations (groups who share languages, roots and customs).

Jewish Israelis date their nationhood to 1896; Palestinians to 1967. Jewish Israelis got a state to express their national identity 63 years ago. The Palestinians are working on getting some formal way to express their national identity.

Newt Gingrich is pushing the U.S. in the wrong direction when he dismisses the Palestinian case for a state. He goes further than even the right-wing Israeli government.

The United States should make it possible for the Palestinians to get a state, and the sooner that happens, the better it will be for American interests and for the American

people.

Jeff Warner

La Habra Heights

Kinsley says that people who want a state should have a state. Perhaps he should tell that to the Tibetans under China’s thumb; tell that to the people in Chechnya, quashed by Russia; tell that to the Basques who’ve been fighting in Spain for decades; tell that to the Kurds, who are persecuted by the Turks.

And who made that rule in the first place? Kinsley?

The Bible says that kings David, Solomon, Saul and the ones after them ruled over Israel. Whether one believes the Bible, it’s still a historical fact that Israel existed as a sovereign nation.

Murray Sperber

Los Angeles

The word “Palestine” comes from “Philistine.” That’s right, those guys in the really Old Testament.

Not exactly the “Johnnies come lately” that Kinsley and Gingrich would have us believe.

Doris Rivera

Victorville

Arizona stirs the immigration pot

Re “Saying no to Arizona,” Editorial, Dec. 14

The Times writes that it hopes the Supreme Court “strikes down this law as an intrusion into the federal government’s lone mandate to establish such policy.” How ironic; the “intrusion” I observe is that by millions of foreigners who have violated our borders and flouted our laws.

Arizona and other states bearing the consequences of a federal government that refuses to act should be applauded, not condemned.

That The Times, and organizations that profit from illegal immigration, choose to demonize those concerned about a very real problem just adds insult to injury.

Tim Aaronson

El Cerrito, Calif.

Our government needs to open its eyes and see that immigrants are just like “legal” citizens, both deserving of the same rights and privileges.

It is completely unfair to treat them as criminals when they are not guilty of any serious crime. These immigrant men and women work hard to come to this country, where they continue to work hard for the well-being of their families.

It would be truly magnificent to see immigration reform enacted by Congress.

Marco Rivas

Huntington Park

The law and the City Council

Re “Council’s casual hypocrisy,” Opinion, Dec. 12

Jim Newton confuses contract law and constitutional law.

The proposed amendment to roll back the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission does not call for stripping corporations of all their rights. Instead, they would no longer have constitutional rights intended for people.

The right to sue, the right to exist in perpetuity, copyright and others are protected by contract law. Contract law is for legal entities; constitutional law is for human entities.

Dale Pollekoff

Los Angeles

City Councilman Richard Alarcon’s quote, “Corporations are at the wheel of America, and they are driving us to destruction,” is one reason why L.A.’s unemployment rate is so high.

What company in its right mind would come to this city when its leaders espouse a ridiculous view such as Alarcon’s?

Would Alarcon like to see corporations disappear?

Michael R. Lombardi

Los Angeles

Car facts

Re “Coda: Code for a Trojan horse,” Opinion, Dec. 11

Greg Autry’s and Peter Navarro’s attempt to scare the public over the use of Chinese labor and parts in the manufacture of the Coda electric vehicle is misguided. Although it’s important to buy products manufactured here, the overriding concern in the case of electric cars is the energy used to move them.

Oil is costing us dearly. From the wars we fight to the military money spent protecting our access to oil around the globe, we spend hundreds of billions every year — about $400 billion on imported oil. It accounts for about 40% of our trade deficit.

In spite of all the negative attributes of the Chinese economic machine that the authors tried to conflate with this one car company, it’s still better to buy a foreign car that runs on renewable domestic energy instead of a domestic car that runs on foreign oil.

Paul Scott

Santa Monica

Trumped

Re “Trump will not moderate debate,” Dec. 14

Apparently, Donald Trump is using Sarah Palin as a role model: deceive the public and the media about your political ambitions to hype your new book and television show.

By the way, whatever happened to Palin?

Phyllis Landis

Ocean Hills, Calif.

JPL’s plight

Re “JPL funding is cut, but mass layoff unlikely, official says,” Dec. 12

NASA’s 2012 budget is $17.8 billion. They say they are feeling the pain this year.

I’d love to feel such pain.

Arno Virant

Monrovia