{"id":4720,"date":"2026-07-17T05:36:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T05:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4720"},"modified":"2026-07-17T05:36:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T05:36:24","slug":"letters-a-data-center-moratorium-would-benefit-the-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4720","title":{"rendered":"Letters: A data center moratorium would benefit the environment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Data center pause would help environment<\/h4>\n

Re: \u201cPittsburg hosting data center workshop\u201d (Page B1, July 12).<\/p>\n

California should join New York state and impose a moratorium on new data centers.<\/p>\n

Read more British Open: Jackson Suber leads a day of surprises at Birkdale with a 65 in British debut<\/a><\/p>\n

Data centers are gobbling up scarce resources, including land, water, energy, capital, labor and construction materials. They\u2019re increasing the risk of supercharging global warming.<\/p>\n

David Lerman<\/strong>
\nBerkeley<\/em><\/p>\n

Berkeley Hopkins Street plan is bad for residents<\/h4>\n

The city of Berkeley wants to remove all parking on a stretch of , a major residential street with small shops. Does the city truly believe Monterey Market\u2019s parking lot provides adequate parking and won\u2019t spill over into approximately 10 different side streets, that these tiny side streets will be able to handle the ingress and egress of hundreds of cars seeking parking daily for shopping at this highly trafficked market hub?<\/p>\n

How can the city not sufficiently take into account what people who live here say about already overwhelming conditions? Or is it really true that the bicycle coalitions, developers and UC own this city? Sadly, I am beginning to believe the council is trying to destroy our city \u2014 between upzoning for apartments and stripping out parking.<\/p>\n

Please, have a care for accessibility, the quality of life here, the human scale, the meeting ground for civic life.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Kathryn Jordan<\/strong>
\nBerkeley<\/em><\/p>\n

Benefits of coal terminal far outweigh drawbacks<\/h4>\n

Assemblywoman Mia Bonta has introduced AB 40\u00a0essentially to sabotage the coal export terminal at the Port of Oakland. As expected, the Malthusian troops are being mobilized.<\/p>\n

Read more Jack in the Box reinvents iconic American sandwich. We tried it. We have thoughts.<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to step back. Oakland used to be an industrial city with safe, vibrant, working-class neighborhoods. Irrational hatred of machinery, smokestacks and sweat, plus a perverted banking system that shunned long-term investment, sent us spiraling into hell. Finally, this is turning around nationally. Factories are being built, and trade schools are filling up. Why not here?<\/p>\n

Coal exports could be part of the solution. Instead of panicking about \u201ccoal dust,\u201d we could look at the technologies that can minimize the problem and even make Oakland the showcase to the world of clean coal handling. The health benefits of a thriving West Oakland would be immeasurable.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Hunter Cobb<\/strong>
\nAlameda<\/em><\/p>\n

Irreverence is key to Democrats\u2019 midterms<\/h4>\n

Re: \u201cSad groveling cannot rebuild a fractured party\u201d (Page A6, July 9).<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with Mark Twain: \u201cIrreverence is the champion of liberty and its only sure defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does anyone in the leadership of the Democratic Party remember that Kamala Harris had the lead in the polls when she ridiculed Donald Trump? She made fun of him. She was appealing to the electorate. She was following in the great American tradition of giving someone a hard time. This is the ability to call out and make fun of someone\u2019s foibles and foolishness with humor. To have someone face a truth about themselves, and laugh with them, asks, \u201cAre you a friend?\u201d Trump can\u2019t stand the truth. He can\u2019t laugh at himself. When Kamala instead started pandering to Republicans and Independents, she lost.<\/p>\n

In these midterms, the Democrats need to ridicule Trump\u2019s foolishness, then make the Republicans defend him. It would look like Democrats might have a spine and show that Republicans don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Read more Warriors Summer League: Lajae Jones gets first Las Vegas start as Will Richard sits<\/a><\/p>\n

Mike Tracy<\/strong>
\nOakland<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Also: Berkeley plan | Coal benefits | Irreverent Democrats | East Bay Times reader letters to the editor for July 17, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nLetters: A data center moratorium would benefit the environment - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4720\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Letters: A data center moratorium would benefit the environment - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Also: Berkeley plan | Coal benefits | Irreverent Democrats | East Bay Times reader letters to the editor for July 17, 2026.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4720\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-17T05:36:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4720#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4720\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Letters: A data center moratorium would benefit the environment\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T05:36:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4720\"},\"wordCount\":609,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4720#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/240b4bc712fc1461a5159131a7ecf7b1.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4720#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4720\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4720\",\"name\":\"Letters: A data center moratorium would benefit the environment - 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