Doug White for the 4th District and other Tri-City Herald letters to the editor

He picks White for Fourth District

I’m voting for Doug White for Congress. Doug was raised in a fourth-generation farm family. He understands the bottom-line economic issues that family farmers face as they compete for markets with giant factory farms. As they struggle to hire enough workers to the harvest crops from which they make a living, feed this district, the nation, and other countries, as well.

Doug White’s family worried over water resources, feed, fertilizer, farm equipment and all the other necessities that keep the grain growing and the tractors moving. He understands how the worry lines grow when it comes time to pay the bills.

Doug’s not a “gentleman farmer” like Dan Newhouse. He’s a muck-out-the-barn farmer like the people he’s running to represent. And he’s certainly not a carpetbagger like others in the race.

Doug is that and more than that. He’s also a highly successful international businessman. He’ll bring that knowledge of international markets and that business acumen to our neck of the woods. He’ll bring lessons learned in other countries to bear on problems facing us, from land conservation to irrigation, transportation, and sustainable development.

Join me. Vote Doug White for Congress.

Richard V. Badalamente, Kennewick

DOE, Ecology: Ship waste now

The article written by Dr. James Conca, published in the July 3 Tri-City Herald really points out that DOE and Ecology are more interested in constructing large complex facilities than in performing actual cleanup. The WTP has been under construction for over 20 years. DOE and Ecology have again agreed to further delays.

Meanwhile, DOE has over 300,000 gallons of low-level waste staged and ready for final treatment and disposal. They are making pretreated waste at the rate of 7,000 gallons per day. DOE and Ecology should immediately plan to ship that waste off site for grouting and disposal out of Washington state.

DOE keeps saying they are going to grout and dispose of the next 2,000 gallons of waste as part of the TBI demonstration, but so far, no progress has been seen. DOE and Ecology need to focus on real cleanup using the tools and methods at their disposal today and stop delaying real Hanford cleanup. What are they waiting for?

Terry Mikulich, Richland

How will we fund replacing dams?

I wrote to Gov. Jay Inslee’s office to state my opposition to breaching Snake River dams, because this will not significantly enhance salmon recovery and we do not need brown-outs and black-outs. The response I received repeated the same position held by Gov. Inslee, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.,, and President Biden as they march arm-in-arm toward breaching dams. I have not seen any mention of a viable method of replacing the electric energy production that will be lost.

Wind farms are not a reliable replacement for dams; their production is much too erratic, and it would take many years to build enough wind farms to compensate for our loss of hydroelectric energy.

Solar energy could be as reliable as hydroelectric generation if enough year-round sunny locations were found, but building solar farms with sufficient capacity to compensate for the loss of hydroelectric power will not exist for many years.

In his weekly newsletter of July 12, 2022, titled, “Central Washington Ignored in Snake River Dams Reports,” Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., states, “The total estimated costs for breaching these dams are estimated by the Inslee-Murray report to be between $10.3 to $27.2 billion (noted as “low” estimates).”

If Inslee, Murray, and Biden are willing to spend between $10.3 billion to $27.2 billion on speculative projects to enhance salmon recovery, what will be the source(s) of the billions of dollars needed to build the facilities needed to replace lost hydroelectric power?

Where are the scientific studies describing how we can transition from dams to viable alternative sources of electrical energy? The only sources I believe to be viable are small nuclear energy plants that generate the electrical energy needed without adding to the carbon footprint. The many farms for generation of wind or solar energy are merely pipe dreams.

I would like to see introduced in Congress a bill in which a viable plan exists for replacing the hydroelectric energy losses we will experience due to dam breaching and which includes the source(s) of funding needed to execute this plan.

Jim Tow, Richland

High energy costs boost poverty rate

It has been reported that the number of people classified as being in poverty in the world is greatly increasing. The reason given is the higher cost of energy and the unavailability of foodstuffs. This is to be expected as the United States has significantly reduced its output of fossil fuels. As supply decreases, demand increases and becomes more expensive. Thus higher energy costs and increases in the cost of food and other necessities. This is a short-sighted, devastating and unnecessary policy that has been taken by our country; a country that has led the world in the reduction of emissions over the last few years. Our country is now weaker and our enemies emboldened.

While the goal of reducing the use of fossil fuels is a noble idea, to do so in such a drastic and haphazard fashion has been unwise. Currently 80% of the world’s energy supply comes from fossil fuels and only 8% from wind and solar, and that will not change quickly. But the increased usage of hybrid and electric vehicles is a good start.

A more moderate drawdown along with technology innovations will reduce poverty, strengthen the economy, and save lives.

David Taylor, Pasco

Gage ‘raceway’ needs policing

Is Gage Boulevard supposed to be an open racetrack for Richland-Kennewick? Since I live less than a block from Gage near Bellerive Drive, I am subjected nightly to the onslaught of “hot rods” roaring up and down the street at high speed, apparently 60 mph or greater. These are cars (and a cycle or two) modified to make the maximum possible noise, even though there is a noise ordinance in town, and a 40 mph speed limit on Gage. In nine months of living here, however, I have never seen or heard any response by the police to these drivers’ disruption of both the peace and safety of our neighborhood. On June 15, I sent a letter about this to Richland’s Police Chief Clary, but to date I’ve neither received a response nor noticed any change in law enforcement on Gage. Will it take a fatal accident to get a change? I hope not.

Sandy Westin, Richland

Vote Doug White for Fourth District

Please vote Doug White for Congress. He’s a fourth-generation Yakima Valley farmer and understands the real issues hurting our economy and farms. He’s worked in Saudi Arabia and China and knows from personal experience how they are manipulating markets and putting the US at a disadvantage.

He knows we must solve immigration issues so there are people to harvest the crops. He thinks people who work here for years — paying taxes the entire time and unable to access benefits — should have a reasonable path to citizenship.

He knows that our water resources are finite and we must devise ways to store and save water to enable our farmers and cities to continue to thrive.

He believes every human deserves basic dignity and a decent quality of life — that lack of housing and poor healthcare hurt workers and families.

He’s managed projects with up to 4,000 employees across 51 countries! He knows how to listen to and support the community — be it in a major corporation, on his family farm, or at his farm-to-table restaurant — achieving better outcomes for everyone.

Doug will work to solve problems and is the most responsible and best-qualified candidate for Congress. Vote Doug White.

Ginger Wireman, Richland