Letters, Aug. 10: Moratorium on green power projects defies Conservative logic

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Re: UCP’s six-month moratorium on new green energy projects is baffling, Opinion, Aug. 5

The optics of this mind-bending decision are cringeworthy. It is so contrary to bedrock Conservative principles. Since when does this province encourage investment to flee?

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The future is now. This province needs to embrace it and lead the charge (pun intended).

Janice Reynolds, Calgary

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Take action to ease power price pain

Re: Power pain for Calgarians; Utility franchise fees lead to revenue bonanza for city coffers as consumers feel the pinch, Opinion, Aug. 5

It is surprising how little attention consumers pay to the cost of utilities until prices go ridiculously high. Thanks to this column, there are a few things to mitigate that cost.

First, get off the government-regulated rate (RRO), which is double a competitive fixed rate with an Alberta retailer — Alberta Utilities Advocate (https://ucahelps.alberta.ca/retailers.aspx). The second is the Calgary franchise fee, which is double that of Edmonton and more than other municipalities in the province.

Also, it should be a fixed fee but it follows the price of power at around 10 per cent.

This is a cash grab by the city and councillors should be ashamed for letting it perpetuate, so let them know your disapproval.

David Birkby, Calgary

Consider quality of life of polar bears

Thanks to a letter writer who wrote about polar bears coming to Calgary. He has started the conversation.

I remember the polar bears that needed medication to keep them from indescribable mental hardships back when they were captivated in the zoo, pacing back and forth on the concrete.

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Please, no more. I know the zoo is preparing a new location for these polar bears but an enclosure is still a confined space. We don’t need them to be entrapped for the public to stare at them in a pen. I understand they are seven and eight years old that have been living in another zoo for several years.

Rather than two bears living in captivity for many years so the public can see them as an example of wildlife in Northern Canada, consider the public does not have the right to see them in such a sad and unhealthy situation. They are living wildlife that do not deserve to be treated like circus animals.

If bear cubs are taken into rehab, release them where found when they are old enough to fend for themselves. If they are not releasable, euthanasia is preferable to a life in confinement.

Lynda Alderman, Cochrane

Zoo saves lives of orphaned animals

Yes, polar bears do belong in the wild, however, they can’t all survive in the wild. Polar bear cubs need their mother until they are 30 months old before they can survive on their own.

Sadly, the two bears coming to Calgary were orphans and they weren’t learning life survival skills.

Far better to be alive and in a zoo educating people than to be put down as a “problem bear.”

Marion Chambers, Calgary