Page 28 - Flathead Beacon // 9.2.15

LIKE I WAS SAYING 30 TWO FOR THOUGHT 30 DRAWING BOARD 31 Viewpoints
LETTERS
Obama’s Plan Won’t Improve Public Health
Montanans should not be surprised that President Barack Obama is “mov- ing the goalpost” on emission cuts for the state with his final Clean Power Plan (CPP) rule.
Obama believes that Americans support expensive action to protect their children from dangerous climate change and dirty air. And he also thinks that most of the public believe that the CPP will do both.
According to this month’s Morning Consult poll, the president is right: 63 percent of registered voters say they support the CPP. The largest fraction, 46 percent, say the plan will improve public health and 49 percent say the plan will have a positive effect on air and water pollution; only 27 percent think it will have no effect.
But the CPP does not regulate pol- lution. It only regulates carbon dioxide (CO2), which is in no way unclean and so has no impact on human health. Using the word “clean” in the rule’s title is a rhetorical trick to encourage the public to think of it as a pollution plan.
The CPP is based on the hypothesis that dangerous climate change is being caused by humanity’s CO2 emissions. Yet in her September 18, 2013 testi- mony before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy admitted that the CPP will not affect climate. The impact of devel- oping countries will swamp anything the U.S. does, and those nations have made it clear that they will not curtail their growth because of a theory about climate.
In pursuing “all available legal options” to oppose the CPP, Mon- tana Attorney General Tim Fox must bring up the fact that the plan is all pain, no gain. While it will have enor- mous impact on thousands of Montana workers and their families, it will have no direct impact on pollution, human health or climate change.
Tom Harris, executive director International Climate Science Coalition Ottawa, Ontario
Tap Into Wind Power
Six-hundred-sixty-seven megawatts of Montana wind have been developed and harnessed over the last 10 years. Amazingly, that is only 0.1 percent of Montana’s wind potential. At a time of energy transition, it behooves every- one in the state to be informed about Montana’s fast growing wind energy
resource.
On Sept. 9, 2015 at Montana State
University, the American Wind Energy Association is hosting a Montana Wind Forum conference. Gov. Steve Bullock, leading utility executives from around the region, renewable energy develop- ers, and representatives from federal agencies will discuss Montana’s wind energy future.
Wind energy costs have fallen to the point where wind is now often the low- est cost energy resource. Major U.S. companies like General Motors, Face- book, Apple, Google, and American Honda Motor Company are increasingly making renewable power purchases in a number of states. Three states, Iowa, South Dakota, and Kansas, now gener- ate more than 20 percent of their energy with wind power.
Learn more about the wind energy conference by visiting www.awea.org/
paramedics didn’t even get a vote even though they had popular support of Americans. During the Obama pres- idency, the GOP-led House and GOP members in the Senate have filibustered or obstructed as many bills and nomina- tions as all US presidents combined. The GOP House did find time, however, to vote 50 times to repeal the ACA rather than spending time seeing to the needs of most Americans. And we wonder why Congress has such a low approval rating with Americans.
I can understand that presidents can be unpopular in certain sectors of the country. But something that Amer- icans need to keep in mind: Congress is responsible for passing laws regarding the ACA, gun safety, environment, land use, and virtually every other major issue. So to make changes regarding any of these, one must communicate these wishes to their congressmen first. It is too easy to scapegoat the president for all the problems in America. So if one needs to pass blame, it is more accurate to fault our representatives and the peo- ple who vote for them.
Steve Gniadek Columbia Falls
States’ Rights Include GMO Labeling
Rep. Ryan Zinke never misses an opportunity to tell Montanans how important states’ rights are to him, and how much he opposes federal govern- ment “overreach.” But when it comes time to put his words into practice, Zinke’s avowed commitment to states’ rights turns out to be nothing but empty talk.
Last year, Vermont passed a law requiring the labeling of food contain- ing genetically modified ingredients. In response, industry groups introduced a bill in the U.S. Congress that would use federal law to prevent states from enact- ing labeling laws like that in Vermont, in spite of the fact that 90 percent of Amer- icans support labeling of GMO foods.
In the face of such a blatant attack on the ability of states to manage their own affairs, what did Zinke do? He voted for the bill, of course.
For Zinke, as for so many other so-called “conservatives,” states’ rights are sacred when the state wishes to ignore environmental regulations or deny civil rights to certain citizens. But when a state’s efforts to actually gov- ern in the best interests of its people threaten to diminish corporate profits, Zinke is more than willing to turn his back on the Tenth Amendment that he claims to cherish.
Trevor Davis Fortine
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montana.
Tom Glover Great Falls
GOP Embracing Self-Interest as Core Values
I would like to share my feelings about a recent letter submitted to the paper about our president. And let me be perfectly clear: I do have issues with some of his decisions. But some clar- ity and balance needs to be interjected into this public debate. During my life- time, I have never witnessed such down- right disrespectful rhetoric, or such vit- riol and abhorrent and racist behavior toward a president of the United States as I have witnessed during the presi- dency of Barack Obama.
From his inauguration night, when the GOP U.S. Senate leaders declared they would sabotage anything the pres- ident would do when the country was languishing in an economic recession the likes never seen since the Great Depression. Their strategy was to obstruct the president, refuse to allow him any success, rather than see to the economic needs of the country.
And what have we seen? Remem- ber the government shutdown, which cost American workers and taxpayers $24 million? Why? Because the GOP wanted to scuttle the Affordable Care Act (ACA, i.e. Obamacare), which would subsequently kick millions of people off any medical insurance. During this administration, more than 500 bills and judicial appointments that would have helped the middle class of Americans have been filibustered by GOP senators. Bills such as funding for infrastructure to maintain bridges, highways or rehir- ing 400,000 teachers, firefighters, and
LETTERS
Tell us what you think. To submit a letter, please e-mail your submission to editor@ flatheadbeacon.com. Please keep your letter to 300 words or less. The Flathead Beacon reserves the right to edit letters for length, clarity and to prevent libel. Letters must include the writer’s first and last name, phone number and address for verification purposes. Only the name and hometown of the writer will be printed. To mail a letter, please send to 17 Main Street, Kalispell, MT 59901.
Fax letters to (406) 257-9231.
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SEPTEMBER 2, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM