Letters to the editor for Friday, Aug. 15

Andrew Borene's Aug. 14 column, "Don't look away -- we must stand up to Russia," might as well have been titled, "Be afraid -- be VERY afraid." However, the devil is in the details, and here are just a few that Borene omitted:

• It was Georgia, not Russia, that initiated the conflict when its President Mikheil Saakashvilli ordered the invasion of South Ossetia.

• Republican presidential nominee John McCain's top foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, is a former lobbyist for Georgia and a close friend of Saakashvilli. He was the director for the Project for a New American Century and one of the neoconservatives who had championed -- and later engineered -- the invasion of Iraq.

• Saddam Hussein is long gone, the war in Iraq is winding down and Americans are increasingly focused on domestic concerns.

• John McCain, former POW and captain in the U.S. Navy, surely knows his odds of becoming the next president are enhanced when a military threat to the United States is on the minds of nervous voters.

So, McCain wants you to be afraid of big, bad Russia. Call me naive, but the events in Georgia don't scare me near as much as the fact that they occurred during an election year.

STEPHEN MONSON, GOLDEN VALLEY

Diplomacy, not bombs The tragic fighting between Georgia and Russia has given us a chance to see how John McCain might handle an international crisis. Instead of calling for restraint, he seemed to be ready to restart the Cold War or, worse, send in American troops.

Belligerence does not lead to diplomatic solutions, and you can't solve every problem by starting a war. At almost 72 years of age, McCain may have experience, but he does not have the ideas or the temperament that we need in a 21st-century leader.

MARY C. ANDERSON, MINNEAPOLIS

The Star Tribune's Aug. 10 article on ethanol merits a response from the American Lung Association of Minnesota, which administers grants on behalf of the state's program to partially offset the cost of adding E85 and biodiesel pumps at Minnesota stations.

From a deceptive headline to use of loaded terms like "tepid consumer demand" and "subsidies," and an interview with a service station manager whose sales experience is not representative of E85 retailers in Minnesota, a reader could conclude that efforts to promote a cleaner-burning, renewable-based fuel are failing.

On the contrary, E85 sales in Minnesota are up by at least 13 percent in 2008, even as Minnesotans are driving less than ever. Statewide gasoline sales dropped by 10 percent last month, compared with sales in July 2007. In spite of this, E85 sales in Minnesota are on track to set another state and national record.

Minnesota owners of flex fuel vehicles bought more than 21 million gallons of E85 last year. Two of Minnesota's largest retail fuel chains have announced that they plan to add E85 to every new station or remodel in order to meet growing demand. Approximately 10 percent of Minnesota's service stations carry E85.

The article quotes station manager Nancy Lewis saying "people just don't have the vehicles for it," meaning vehicles that can use either E85 or gasoline. In fact, there are an estimated 200,000 flexible fuel vehicles in Minnesota right now, and a number of major automakers are promising even more such vehicles in model year 2009. Hopefully, foreign automakers will also step up their flexible fuel vehicle production here, as they have in other countries.

The article should have mentioned that E85 is a significantly cleaner-burning fuel than gasoline. This is the reason the American Lung Association of Minnesota became involved with the program. The lower emissions E85 fuel produces are proven, including the reduction of lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions, a major greenhouse gas. We conservatively estimate that a single flexible fuel vehicle using E85 exclusively instead of gasoline will keep four tons of lifecycle CO₂ emissions and other harmful pollutants from entering our air every year.

If you are a fuel retailer interested in E85 or biodiesel for the growing market of consumers who are demanding cleaner and greener fuels and vehicles, call us. To learn how these fuels reduce air pollution in Minnesota, visit CleanAirChoice.org.

ROBERT MOFFITT, ST. PAUL;

communications director for the American Lung Association of Minnesota

So John Edwards' infidelity is relevant to this election campaign, though he is not running for any office. John McCain's infidelity, because it happened so long ago, is not relevant in his run for president. Will somebody please tell me the cut-off time and who decided?

EDITH PALMER, PLYMOUTH

Your Aug. 12 article "'Perfect storm': More families are on the street" rang very true to our west metro organization: ICA -- Intercongregation Communities Association.

Each month ICA provides food to over 450 households and financially supports 50 families in Hopkins, Minnetonka, Deephaven, Excelsior, Greenwood, Shorewood and Woodland. In 2007, ICA distributed over a half-million pounds of food to thousands of families, an increase of 29 percent in food distribution and 21 percent in households served.

Supplemental monthly food simply isn't enough anymore. The rising cost of gas and electricity coupled with the lack of affordable housing has meant that ICA has taken on the task of preventing homelessness in our seemingly affluent suburbs. Thank you for bringing the plight of the working poor to attention of your readers.

CATHY MAES,

ICA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MINNETONKA