Louise Stonington 22 hrs ago
- Daily Record News, Ellensburg July 1, 2016
To the Editor:
How do wild relatives of sunflowers survive drought and poor soil better than cultivated ones? It is great that a Central Washington University professor (June 28) will study that to help farmers in changing conditions.
Nobody wants bad times, but farmers know to plan ahead and use innovations. Our food supply depends on their coping with earlier springs, melting snow packs and dryer summers
Damages from fossil fuel pollution — such as worse floods, droughts, wildfires, and added health care costs – cost us about $1500 per person per year according to an IMF report.
A transition to manufacturing and using more alternative energy is already creating jobs, profits and stronger national security.
We should also tackle the cause of increasing weather extremes. Using alternative energy, like solar, wind and electric cars, instead of oil, coal and natural gas, we can reduce the buildup of warming gases in the air. Alternative energy is getting cheaper and cheaper, and is competitive in many places, even without subsidies.
Oil, coal and natural gas gets subsidized also, four times as much in tax credits as clean energy according to, a joint tax committee report.
Volunteers with Citizens’ Climate Lobby, (which has 15 chapters meeting in Washington state, and three more just starting), have studied different options, and feel that the best approach now is for Congress to pass a national, gradually increasing, fee on oil, coal and natural gas, with all revenue returned to households. Since the government would return the fees to consumers, it is a market friendly approach. Many politicians agree, including members of both parties, but they say they are waiting to hear from more of their constituents.
Louise Stonington
Seattle
Citizens Climate Lobby Chapter in Seattle, WA 
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