Letters to the editor: Issues with apartment complexes; benefit of renewables

Too many complexes in Camarillo

Re: your July 17 story, “ Camarillo apartment complex with 385 units moving forward ”:

I read the story about the Camarillo apartment complex with 385 units moving forward. I live in Camarillo and there are already two new large sites of apartments being built near Lewis Road right now. Now another one is being built? What are they thinking?

Three hundred and eighty-five apartments and homes will most likely have at least two cars per unit. That will put 770 more cars on the 101 Freeway (the only route to the complex). The 101 Freeway already has way too much traffic. We are also in a drought state. People in those new units will be taking showers, flushing toilets, washing clothes and more. There should be a moratorium on building.

Cathy Channels, Camarillo

Renewables helping power grid

Global warming continues to increase demand from our state power grid each year. In our own back yard, Ventura County has been identified as the fastest warming county in the United States, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

The good news is that renewables have played a significant role in preventing rolling blackouts and brownouts. Since 2020, California has added approximately 14.3 gigawatts of affordable renewables, in the form of wind, solar and storage. Each gigawatt powers about 750,000 homes. The better news is that these clean forms of energy lessen our need to burn polluting fossil fuels (i.e., coal, oil and gas) which heat up our planet.

But as California and the rest of the world converts to a clean energy economy, the demand for more electricity grows. According to the International Energy Agency, for the foreseeable future, we need to increase our power supply by 3.4% per year. The bottom line is that we need to continue to develop more solar, wind, storage, and hydro, so there is still a long way to go.

Much of what California and the rest of the country has accomplished has been the result of grassroots efforts by dozens of nonprofit environmental organizations, calling and meeting with state and federal legislators, writing letters, peacefully demonstrating. We need to keep encouraging our state and federal legislators, so consider volunteering with a local chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby, 350.org , Sierra Club, etc.

Frances Lee, Moorpark

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Letters to the editor: Issues with apartment complexes; benefit of renewables