People exposed to radiation deserve compensation. Congress shouldn’t let it expire | Opinion

Renew radiation exposure compensation

I am writing to urge Idaho lawmakers and Congressional delegates to vote yes on the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act or RECA. The 34-year-old federal program is set to expire on June 7, removing a lifeline to communities, including in Idaho, that have been impacted by the generational health consequences of nuclear testing. The effort has bipartisan support and directly supports communities right here. I urge you please to work to make this bill pass.

Samuel Paden, Garden City

Wind farms are part of our future

Transitions are hard. When oil derricks first towered over the Western landscape, they were greeted with mixed emotions, depending on who profited and whose landscape was blighted.

Today we face a similar conflict. When wind farms are proposed, communities must have a voice regarding wildlife impacts, aesthetics, and cultural values, but the costly delay only prolongs the inevitable.

Modern turbines kill a fraction of birds compared with other causes of mortality, and mitigation continues to improve. A simple fix — painting one windmill blade black — increases visibility and reduces bird deaths by over 70%. DynoTails blades capture wind energy effectively, reducing noise and lessening bird and bat mortality.

Intercropping and controlled environmental agriculture allow wind farms and agriculture to coexist. Farmers leasing marginal land contribute power to the grid and benefit financially.

Wind power is critical to the energy mix of utilities — not because it’s trendy, but because it’s necessary. As battery technology improves, renewables will become increasingly important. All methods of creating energy — hydroelectric, oil and wind — have environmental costs. But unless we’re ready to return to an 1890s lifestyle, let’s encourage clean energy as technologies mature.

I find the sight of wind turbines on our rural hilltops heroic. Let’s let them work for us.

Mary DuPree, Moscow

Alito is off the rails

You’d think that a conservative Supreme Court justice would have a strong opinions about flying the flag of the United States upside down from his residence. justice Alito’s house is not a ship in distress, or maybe it is, metaphorically. I would not have thought that the upended flag was a rational response by an educated Republican household to a neighbor’s anti-Republican yard sign.

Fred J. Frahm, Boise

Small businesses must have a voice in AI regulation

Experts predict that artificial intelligence (AI) will remake and revolutionize our economy. Congress is currently grappling with how to regulate AI, holding hearings to learn from industry leaders. However, while big tech has had a seat at this table, small businesses have been excluded from this critical conversation.

Small businesses drive innovation and employment in Idaho and throughout our country. We have unique needs and concerns that deserve to be heard.

To celebrate National Small Business Month and to address these concerns, I traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with policymakers and share how AI impacts my small business. I advocated for Congress to include small businesses in this conversation. Without our perspective, legislation may favor corporations and stifle innovation, allowing profit to drive the rollout of AI, which could put our nation behind other countries. More importantly, it may put Idahoans and other Americans — and our data — at risk.

Let’s ensure a rational approach to regulation and make sure that the right voices — including those of small businesses — are driving the conversation on how best to provide safeguards and foster ingenuity.

Joe Rice, Meridian

Has everyone gone woke?

Society has totally lost its collective mind on many issues. One that really has me fuming is the fact that there’s no opinion except woke.

When I was growing up, it often was said :“he (she) has the right to their opinion.” Not anymore!

The left and the woke folks have villanized everything and anything that doesn’t go their way. Someone states their opinion and everyone clamors for them to be fired, just because they don’t like what was said.

Take the NFL player speaking his opinion at a graduation ceremony and people are calling for his head. But it’s OK to kill the unborn and OK to protest (violently) in favor of wiping out a whole culture of people. Get a life!

People came to this country to live free from one-sided dictates, which is how/what communists and dictators impose on folks. Jailed for political views, bank accounts seized — but not if you’re on the side with the power. Wake up people and see what is happening.

Leah Shaw, Boise