Letters for Dec. 18, 2023

Great Opinion section

I read the Opinion section on Dec. 5 of The Spokesman-Review, and I cannot say if it was a column, a letter, or the cartoon by Clay Bennett, that I enjoyed more. All brought out exceedingly good points to consider and reflect upon. Jennifer Rubin’s discussion about billionaires was so to the point. Ruth Marcus’ review of Sandra Day O’Connor’s political life and the reason as to why our current Supreme Court is such a mess really hit the mark. Each letter provided a sensible and obvious solution by the letter writer to correct the stated problem, albeit not easily accomplished by government officials. Finally, the cartoon (oh the cartoon!) hit the nail on the head – why repeat the ugly mismanagement of the Trump administration! Thank you, Spokesman-Review journalists. Your talent was evident on this day.

Rosemarie Schmidt

Mead

Clean future with off-grid homes

Gov. Inslee proposed $941 million supplemental budget plan to fight climate change missed a very important item in Washington state’s battle to fight climate change.

There are thousands of off-grid homes in Washington state that generate their own electricity. Unfortunately, solar and wind generate so little electricity that all these homes are almost totally dependent on fossil fuels. For example, in my off-grid house the furnace, fridge, hot water heater, stove and the generator (on cloudy days) all run on propane. Worse yet, given the expense of propane I burn wood for heat in a wood stove. Smoke inhalation is not healthy for human beings. It would take well over an acre of land and almost a million dollars to convert the typical off-grid home to full electric. The governor needs to use the carbon fee revenue or supplemental budget funding to fund expansion of electrical lines to off-grid homes. A job that the Rural Electrification Agency should have completed in the 1930s. Most off-gridders are on fixed or low incomes and cannot afford the space or the million dollars to convert to all electric on their own. Connecting them to the grid will eliminate huge amounts of CO2 and replace it with clean, abundant CO2 free electricity generated by our dams. A win-win situation for everybody.

Governor, let’s start the journey to a clean future with off-grid homes.

Vladimir Steblina

Wenatchee