Having a "gas tax holiday" the rest of this year as called for by the governor and some legislators would be a pointless erosion of the way we currently fund our transportation infrastructure ("Walz urges federal gas tax holiday," front page, March 10). There is no reason to assume that gas prices will drop later in the year at which point the tax could be reinstated. Furthermore the "holiday" is unfair to us electric vehicle owners who already paid our $75 electric-vehicle surcharge when we registered our cars for the year. And it's a blatant example of price controls, which always have delayed economic consequences.

Instead, the rapid rise in gas prices is our opportunity to transition from a gas tax to a mileage tax that applies to all vehicles no matter how they are powered. Let's phase out the gas tax and the electric vehicle surcharge over two years and institute a vehicle mileage tax over the same time frame to preserve a steady revenue stream to maintain our roads!

Eric Bressler, Minnetonka

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Without even worrying about the environmental implications, this is a very bad time to be encouraging people to use more gasoline by lowering the tax on it. If we aren't leaning on our European allies to stop importing fossil fuels from Russia, we should be, and we should be supporting them by cutting our own consumption.

Ronald Mead, Minneapolis

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I am grateful that the U.S. will no longer import oil and gas from Russia. My car does not run on blood.

Mary Forte, Minneapolis

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These days when I drive our city highways, I get the sense of what a qualifying run for the Daytona 500 must feel like, except I'm not surrounded by professional drivers. If we all just go the speed limit, we can save a ton of cash at the pump. Or maybe follow the advice of my long-departed Uncle Harold who said, "Always fill your tank when the gauge is at half full; you will be amazed at how much you save for a full tank!" His logic was always somewhat suspect, but his attitude was always positive.

Fred Keller, Edina

The unified countries of the world must do more to protect Ukraine. History will not kindly judge the current response. Russian President Vladimir Putin has insufficient motivation to withdraw. Russians are not experiencing similar physical destruction. Their cities are not being destroyed. The rest of the world should end that one-sided affair. The unified countries of the world should advise Putin that they will not resort to nuclear warfare but that they will cause physical destruction to Russian cities, just as Putin is causing to Ukraine. Thereafter, the unified countries should advise the residents of Moscow, St. Petersburg and other major Russian cities to evacuate by a designated date and time and then proceed with airstrikes at random times and locations from all corners of the world to demolish infrastructure, utilities and residential buildings. Putin needs to have more risk to bring him to meaningful peace talks.

Would this be World War III? Maybe. But we should not stand by and allow what is happening. There can be no justifiable rationale that allows one man to cause such hardship, death and pain. It is admirable that many Russians are openly protesting Putin's directives. It is less admirable that Russian soldiers and those who cause destruction of life are not forcefully telling Putin, "No, we won't do it."

Thomas W. Wexler, Edina

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I do not know if Putin is narcissistic enough to start a nuclear war.

What I do know is that I'm sick of him threatening the world for his miscalculations. The nuclear threat cannot be allowed to go on forever.

Even Don Knotts knew that this has to be nipped in the bud.

Richard A. Pommier, Long Prairie

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Never again is now. Military support for the nation of Ukraine is required. Yes, it is borderline insane because of powerful weapons, but the attack on a maternity hospital was all I needed to see to send our Air Force to eliminate Russia's ground force. I paid for the defense of democracy — I want it applied to this madman Putin.

Robert Little, Eden Prairie

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How many times in our lives have we heard the phrase "never again" in response to a world tragedy, a mass shooting, a major event of monumental consequence that could have been avoided or even predicted? How many times do we have to learn and relearn historical lessons of the past that have affected the human race and our lives on this planet?

What is happening in Ukraine is one of those events where we need to look back, then forward, to visualize where this tragedy is going and how it will impact the world of today and tomorrow. The headlines tell it all; the photos are graphically raw, and the time before it's too late is now.

Our nation, our peoples and our leaders need to project not only what we have learned from the past but from what the situation on the ground is telling us now. If we are brave and make correct decisions, we will not have to tell ourselves "never again." If we shrink from our duties as a superpower, we will face the same questions we asked ourselves before: Why did we not act with confidence? Why did we let a bully dictate when and where and how we should react to or comply with his threats?

We do not want a war with Russia, but how far is Putin going to press his luck before we have to act? I hope we do not have to say "never again" again.

Kamel Aossey, Minnetonka

The Minneapolis teacher strike is another sad chapter for the struggling school district. Even worse, much of the burden will be borne by struggling students who again have their education interrupted. Lately it seems that the only news coming out of the district is bad. The Star Tribune has reported on budget shortages, disciplinary problems, a lack of achievement and wide racial disparities. Even when the strike is settled, children will return to a district where an average of only around 40% of students meet or exceed state standards. Is it any surprise that enrollment continues to decline across the district?

If Minneapolis Public Schools cannot deliver for students, the state should strongly consider moving forward with a voucher program.

Daniel Couillard, New Brighton

H. Richard Jacobson's piece about replacing "spring forward, fall back" with a sunrise clock is an interesting concept ("Time for a new approach to saving daylight," Opinion Exchange, March 11).

After several readings, I'm not yet sure if his tongue was in his cheek or he was putting the technological part of his brain to work. I'll choose the latter possibility with the belief that as a retired computer programmer, he sees the world through the eyes of technology. That being said, his words brought a number of thoughts to mind. He asks, "But really, is the cost of replacing clocks and watches a significant burden?" I would respond to that question by asking Jacobson if he even considered the fact that millions in America are struggling to put food on their tables and that every penny counts in their households. The least of their worries is replacing their clocks.

He adds the idea that, "You could stick a little sunrise standard time display onto the face of your beloved grandfather clock." The chimes of a grandfather clock telling our family the time of day is music to our ears. This is especially true for the clock standing tall in our living room, which was made nearly 50 years ago by a former student of mine who needed no modern-day technology as he created its beautiful wooden cabinet with just his two hands.

George Larson, Brooklyn Park

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