Letters to the editor for March 24
Let’s give Capitol Lake estuary a trial run
Why not open the Fifth Avenue dam now and let Capitol Lake drain? Leave it that way for three months, six months, maybe a year. See what it looks like, smell what it’s going to smell like, and test the estuary possible solution now, before making a decision.
This way all parties could see what it would be like before making a final, irreversible decision.
Larry Taylor, Olympia
Building electrification must happen now
I want to thank the Olympia City Council for having the foresight to work toward passage of a city requirement that all new residential and commercial buildings be constructed with all-electric infrastructure instead of natural gas. Because electricity in Washington is clean and less expensive than gas, this change will lower building costs and decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, slowing climate change.
As a physician, I know that the health effects of gas used in our homes and buildings, along with the environmental pollution produced by gas extraction (fracking) and transport, and the danger of pipeline accidents (fires and explosions), mean that gas should be replaced by clean electric energy NOW.
If we do this, we will be healthier, with less heart and lung disease, cancer, injuries, and mental health concerns, and our kids will have less asthma (New England Journal of Medicine, Jan. 9, 2020). Because those in lower-income households are often at higher risk due to their greater exposure to fossil fuels, this change also is a social justice issue.
Washington is working towards a policy of clean energy buildings, but our state needs strong local leaders like the Olympia City Council. The change to all-electric buildings will happen in spite of opposition from industry, among others. But how much GHG-related disease, pollution, and climate change will occur, and how much expensive gas infrastructure will be left over, if we wait to make the leap to all-electric buildings in 10 years instead of doing it NOW?
Lisa Johnson, Olympia
Pickleball trumps child abuse, apparently
In the 2022 session, Washington legislators passed Senate Bill 5615, deeming pickleball the state’s official sport. Meanwhile, House Bill 1048, sponsored by Rep. Emily Wicks, reflected the seventh year we have attempted to repeal faith-healing exemptions language.
Washington first added a Christian Science exemption for medical neglect as part of an education bill in 1969 and enhanced it in 1997, an amended bill adopted with no opportunity to make changes (pro forma). Washington is one of only three states (Arizona and Connecticut) to have exemptions for Christian Science directly, meaning children and vulnerable adults are vulnerable to abuse and neglect, even if it leads to death. Current law allows a claim of religious defense to second-degree murder when a child dies of abuse or neglect.
Faith healing is valuable and important, but does not replace medical care. Diabetes is treatable and life threatening, requiring medical intervention. Undocumented child abuse and neglect when no mandated reporting is enforced is also life threatening. This poorly written law calls out exclusions to one religion over others.
The bill was unopposed, with bipartisan support, to include the Christian Science Church of Washington. I am a family nurse practitioner in a child abuse clinic serving five counties including Thurston. When the trauma stops, the healing begins, but not if we don’t know about it.
HB 1048 died in the Senate. Guess we can play pickleball on their graves.
Lisa Gail Wahl, Olympia