'Low-Hanging Fruit' 

Editor:

Yes, California is not close to meeting climate change mandates, just like CalMatters reported (NCJ Daily, March 21). Nonetheless, there are a few solutions to many of the problems which we seem deliberately blind to.

 More than a decade ago, before electric cars were the big deal they are now, there was quite a bit of conversation about how reduced speed limits not only prevented traffic deaths, but also reduced air pollution. Reduce speed x percent, reduce pollution y percent. So, there's a bit of low-hanging fruit. (I wrote to one of our legislators about this with actual figures and got a response from an aide which basically said, "How interesting.")

We hear repeatedly about the need for more electricity, and not just for electric cars. The amount of electricity that households use has increased wildly, but the ease and comfort of living has not followed. What about using less? Is frugality a last-century concept?

Do we even want to look at agriculture? The way conventional agriculture is practiced in most of California is not conducive to air, water or soil quality. Get rid of CAFOs anyone? And maybe stop spraying crops from airplanes — or stop spraying poisons on crops altogether. What if California shifted rapidly to organic farming. Yeah, people would go nuts.

Carol Moné, Trinidad