Oil trains and Gov. Inslee

By bowing to his “save the polar bear” sedated and seduced base, apparently blind to the long-term adverse consequences of his actions, Gov. Inslee refused to allow the oil trains to transfer their North Dakota oil onto ocean tankers at the Port of Vancouver, Wash., last week with the phony excuse it would be too risky. But in so doing they are doubling what little risk there really is, by forcing mile-long oil trains to go another 135 miles up the coast roaring under the Space Needle day and night — doubling travel time through the populous Puget Sound, Tacoma, Seattle and Everett. And killing hundreds of good-paying jobs in Southwest Washington too. Thanks Jay!

As for the “friends of the Columbia Gorge” taking credit for their mendacious environmental victory, they lost their credibility and exposed their love of money and power long ago, when they accepted a $1 million bribe from BPA not to oppose slashing thru the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area with power-line easement, towers and lines to connect useless windmills to BPA’s electrical grid — needed to plug into their working generators when the wind stops, to provide uninterrupted power from government subsidized feel-good stop-n-go wind power while Grand Coulee Dam’s huge generators spin unplugged – forcing consumers to use 20 percent more expensive wind power, and I guess somehow feel good that they are saving the planet and helping a polar bear kill a seal on TV?

Al Hayward

Washougal, WA