Re “Let the market decide the future of wind, solar subsidies” (Other Views, July 28): It has been obvious to me for years that The Heritage Foundation acts like an arm of the Republican Party. It played a role in the so-called “Project 2025” plan that seems to be behind many of President Donald Trump’s policies. This column ignores almost completely the elephant in the room: global warming.
If we continue the present path to almost indiscriminate and non-stop polluting of our atmosphere with greenhouse gases, global temperatures will continue to climb, sea levels will rise, and flood huge areas of our coasts and other nations all over the Earth. The hardships that will be faced by our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be terrible.
For many years I have written letters to the newspaper about this awful challenge and kept copies so my future relatives will at least know where I stood on this issue. Trump’s ridiculous idea that global warming is a “Chinese hoax” is absurd, but his One Big Beautiful Bill Act will cut support for clean energy and virtually ignore our nation’s Paris Agreement pledges — and it will certainly make many rich Americans even richer.
Ed Prior, Williamsburg
Veteran care
As a Navy veteran, a single mom of three and a proud Virginian, I’ve spent my life serving others. That’s why it’s so infuriating to watch Congresswoman Jen Kiggans vote against the very people she claims to represent — especially veterans and working families such as mine.
Kiggans voted for a budget that slashed the VA by 22%. That means fewer doctors, longer wait times and worse care for the 88,000 veterans who call this district home. She also voted to gut Medicaid and food assistance — programs that help real people, such as me, survive — while handing tax breaks to the wealthy.
I recently went to the ribbon cutting at the new VA clinic in Chesapeake, where veterans showed up not to celebrate, but to protest. The clinic opened with only a third of the staff needed and veterans are already waiting six months just to get an initial appointment.
I’ve spoken to so many veterans across our district who rely on the VA system, and their stories are upsetting. They deserve care, not cuts.
That’s why I’m not staying quiet. I’m organizing — alongside other veterans, parents and neighbors — because our community deserves leaders who fight for us, not against us. Kiggans has made her priorities clear. In 2026, we’ll make ours clear too — at the ballot box.
I’m doing this for my kids. For my fellow veterans. For all of us who deserve dignity, support, and a voice in Washington.
Heidi Dragneff, Virginia Beach
Renewables
Re “Renewable energy” (Your Views, July 18): I must take exception to this letter arguing that “utility scale renewable energy is a bad investment and a drain on Americans.” Yes, if you look at just the thermodynamics of some renewables some of the writer’s numbers may be mostly correct. However, efficiency is just part of the story. The other, and I would argue the more pressing part, is our continued release of megatons of CO2 and other greenhouse gases into our atmosphere every year from fossil fuel sourced energy production. When the cost of climate change is meaningfully factored into fossil fuel sourced energy production costs the balance quickly shifts to renewables (and nuclear).
I fear that this letter is indicative of a trend I am sensing from some on the right that, yes, climate change is real (because they can’t ignore the nearly daily reporting of extreme weather events) but that even if it is real it will cost too much to fix so let’s just continue business as usual and hope things somehow turn out OK for successive generations.
Ed Winslow, Norfolk