Way toll rates are used defeats their purpose
According to a recent item in the Metro Section, the toll on the HOT lanes on I-85 reached a new high Feb. 8 (“I-85 HOT lane toll reaches record high,” Metro, Feb 9).
Due to traffic congestion, the toll was increased to $4.70 during the morning commute. To induce more people to use the HOT lanes, the toll should be lower at rush hour (not higher).
You can tell this is a government program — since it is designed to work contrary to logic.
Edward A. Watkins, Lilburn
New reactors make sense for our future
The granting to Vogtle of an NRC license for new nuclear reactors opens a new page in energy in the United States and for our state.
There is no walking away from nuclear technology if we are going to provide the large amounts of power future economic development will require.
While alternative sources like wind and solar will pick up supplying electricity at the margins, they cannot in the foreseeable future make a big difference in our region.
This is also a good time to build — with a construction market looking for work and the booming international construction of nuclear plants slowed somewhat after Fukushima.
The world is building new nuclear plants, and Georgia and the U.S. need to be playing in that very big arena.
We cannot lead in a technology if we do not participate. In Georgia, we are taking advantage of our experience with nuclear energy to help provide that leadership.
Nolan E. Hertel, professor of nuclear and radiological engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology
To live your own life, pay your own way
Regarding “Rule strikes the right balance” by the Rev. Timothy McDonald III (Opinion, Feb. 10), “moral decisions” include prioritizing one’s life.
If discretionary costs such as auto payments, shopping sprees or entertainment must be curtailed to pay for contraception if sexual activity is a priority, so be it. There are effective contraceptive methods that, if used correctly, cost far less than the $50 to $100 per month referenced by Rev. McDonald.
It’s said that we are all endowed with the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To be in “pursuit” of something means you have to work if you want it (not have it handed to you).
If sexual activity is a part of that pursuit of happiness, let people pursue contraceptive means through their own hard-earned dollars.
Rev. McDonald said “we should empower women and men to make their own moral decisions . . .”
Let that begin with the moral decision to live a lifestyle that does not depend on the tax dollars of others to promote one’s own pleasures.
Randy Harris, Lawrenceville
