Letters to the editor for Feb. 21
#Faiths4Climate is taking a stand
People of faith worldwide are making a stand on March 11, demanding that our leaders and that we the people speak and act for the environmental and social common good. While the COVID-19 pandemic has created an emergency of epic proportions, it is a prelude to much more devastation if we don’t work together for our collective good.
Use your voice to demand action wherever you see injustice and inequity. Speak up for the unhoused, the poor, the disenfranchised. Do your part, and then some, for the tree-people, the fish-people, and the four-leggeds.
If you are a person of faith, leverage the word of your Creator, to make our world fair and loving. If you are a person of the earth, speak for your home. March 11 is a call to action, a prelude to activities that will extend through the next climate meeting, starting Nov. 1.
Join #Faiths4Climate on ZOOM using; Meeting ID: 899 8077 5923; and Passcode: 258381.
Make your voice heard. #SacredPeopleSacredEarth #Faiths4Climate
Wendy Steffensen, Olympia
Lacey council should stick with climate plan, support energy code
It is frustrating but understandable that the Lacey City Council would adopt a resolution opposing the state energy efficiency code, when just a few weeks earlier it enacted a climate mitigation plan calling for deep reductions in energy consumption from fossil fuels.
It is understandable because housing affordability is a crucial issue for our state. But the energy code actually promotes affordability by reducing the monthly cost of living in a new house. These are costs that builders don’t pay and tend to ignore. However, the climate mitigation plan is an empty promise if we don’t change our behavior, including the way we build our homes and commercial buildings.
The climate plan adopted by Lacey includes, among many other actions, “Build on changes in the state building and energy code to support an even faster shift toward greater efficiency and electric appliances in new construction.” Lobbying to weaken the energy code is a step in the wrong direction.
Glenn Blackmon, Olympia
The time to act on clean energy is now!
In response to the Feb. 10 article ‘Fossil Fuel pollution killed about 8 million people in 2018’ in The Olympian:
The deadly result of air pollution from burning fossil fuels is one more reason to appreciate and encourage advances in clean energy technology. Smart economics is another. Solar panels and onshore wind power are now less expensive in most of the world. It makes sense to end federal subsidies for oil, coal and fossil fuel, as has recently been proposed. It also makes sense for corporations that profit to pay for the consequences of their emissions.
Eighty-six members of Congress are co-sponsoring the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act to put a fee on fossil fuels that rises gradually. The revenue will be returned to American households in equal shares.
Low- and middle-income earners would get more in dividends than they pay in higher fuel costs. Those who fly, drive less efficient cars, etc., would have an incentive to reduce their consumption.
Investors in energy markets would find better returns. Innovation that creates local jobs will help pull us out of our current economic mire. There’s a wide range of specific steps necessary for an equitable and sustainable future. Putting a fee on fuels that emit pollution would encourage these other solutions.
Please join fellow citizens in taking action now on global warming and climate change and contact your representatives in Congress to get solutions underway.
Stuart Chisholm, Olympia