Letters to the editor: Invest in Idaho, peaceful protests, oil and gas bonding

Invest in Idaho

Reclaim Idaho filed a federal lawsuit seeking an extension of the signature collection deadline and permission to use electronic signatures for the Invest in Idaho K-12 education initiative. The lawsuit claims failure to provide a safe way to collect signatures for the initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic violated citizens’ constitutional rights.

I am a volunteer with Reclaim Idaho. When the pandemic hit, we were well on the way to collecting the required number of signatures to get the initiative on the November ballot. When in-person signature gathering became unsafe — and even illegal — we requested accommodations. However, Gov. Brad Little and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney denied our request.

Before the pandemic, we had momentum. People heard and agreed with our message: Idaho needs to adequately fund education for the future of our children. During the March 10 primary, we collected more than 5,000 signatures in one day. It was incredible! Then the pandemic hit and made it unsafe to continue.

Now more than ever, our schools need adequate state funding. Idaho is 50th in the nation in per-pupil investment. Politicians have already cut the fat and the meat. Now that schools are left with the bones, it’s time for the state to fairly fund education.

April Frederick, Boise

Peaceful protests

There is something quite wonderful and amazing happening every evening outside the Idaho State Capitol. I am part of a group of protesters who are determined to make America greater by peacefully bringing attention to, and finding solutions to, racism and injustice in America. We are regular folks of all ages, religions, colors and walks of life. We are not anti police, and are friends with Idaho’s and Boise’s Finest, and the Capitol guards. Yes, we chant Black Lives Matter, but only because “Rid America of Systemic Racism” is a little to clunky to say! We are not affiliated with BLM or any organization. We wave our American flags (it is the flag of ALL Americans!), invite the ‘other side’ folks to sit with us for dialogue, and will pray with any one called to.

Contrary to what you may hear from the media, we are not rioters, looters or thugs, anarchists, commies or antifa. What is happening here at the Idaho Capitol is what is really happening all across America. I invite you to come see for yourself and make up your own mind. We’d love to have you. Bring your kids! And God Bless America!

Eric Gironda, Boise

Oil and gas bonds

Inadequate reclamation bonding levels enjoyed by oil and gas companies have allowed indebted companies to declare bankruptcy and walk away from cleanup responsibilities. The Government Accountability Office found in 2019 that 84% of federal reclamation bonds are too low to reclaim all the wells they cover. These “orphaned” wells sit unplugged while leaking pollutants on private and public land. That means taxpayers from Idaho and other oil and gas producing states pick up the balance when cleanup happens.

Congress must ensure that cleanup funds are available in the years to come by increasing federal bonding requirements (currently set at levels from the 1960s) to adjust for inflation and more fully account for the cost of reclamation. These cleanup funds pay for good jobs for workers.

In order to protect taxpayers and help get Americans back to work in the west, let’s push for federal bonding reform now. We, members of the Idaho Organization of Resource Councils, urge our congressional delegation, Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo, and Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher, to say yes to oil and gas bonding reform.

Elizabeth Roberts, Eagle, Brent Mathieu, Boise, Julia Page, Boise