Letters to the editor: Climate change, salmon, Trump

Tragic death

Al Gore’s 2006 warning about climate change as highlighted in the film, “An Inconvenient Truth” sparked a movement to slow global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Republicans, for the most part, have ignored the warnings. Despite the warnings and without bipartisan support, little has been done, as emissions have continued to grow and accumulate in the atmosphere.

Are Republican minds changing? In 2016, Ted Halstead launched the Republican-led Climate Leadership Council to advocate for a market-based strategy for climate solutions. Halstead’s 2017 TED Talk , A Climate Solution Where All Sides Can Win won broad bipartisan support, among economists, business leaders and climate advocates. The solution calls for putting a price on carbon emissions and returning 100% of the fees in dividends to the people.

On Sept. 2, Ted Halstead died from a fall while hiking in Spain. He was 52, vibrant and healthy. Halstead’s death was more than inconvenient, it was a tragedy for his family and a tragedy for the nation and the world. Every Idaho Republican (actually, every American) should google “Ted Halstead Ted Talk” and invest 12 minutes to understand the power of his message and a pathway to a climate solution.

Don Kemper, Boise

State sovereignty

Hooray for Idaho Gov. Brad Little. The Associated Press recently reported Little and 21 other Western governors want more say in federal decision-making regarding threatened and endangered species. The governors argue that states are “co-sovereigns” with the federal government when addressing species protected under the Endangered Species Act. As co-sovereigns, states are not limited merely to providing comments to proposed federal actions, they must be consulted by those same agencies on ESA-related matters.

Gov. Little now has an opportunity to support his own argument. Bonneville Power Administration, a federal agency, is currently trying to get Northwest states and tribes to sign a new round of the Columbia Basin Fish Accords. In these accords, BPA promises to fund fish and wildlife projects if signers pledge full support now and for the length of the accords for all BPA and Corps of Engineers management decisions impacting Idaho’s salmon and steelhead runs. Thus the Fish Accords would require that Idaho give up not only part of its sovereignty, the state would also lose even its right to comment on proposed federal actions, including the operation of dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers.

Just say NO, Governor. Just say NO.

Janice Inghram, Grangeville

Rallies

So you’re a Trump supporter. This is your right as an American citizen to support the candidate of your choice. And perhaps you’ve been to a rally recently for Trump. Or perhaps you’ve watched one on TV, computer, phone. It’s exciting, isn’t it? All the yelling, screaming, cheering. But did you happen to notice that your presidential choice is standing behind a podium, well above spectators, handshakes. He’s not worried about the virus at his rallies because as he has said, he’s not close to spectators. The president doesn’t care about you. The virus is not a hoax, he knows that. He has known that since February. The president doesn’t care that you are packed into an outdoor or indoor area surrounded by others without masks. I’ll say it again...the president doesn’t care about you, except for your presence at rallies and your vote. He won’t be there when you go to the hospital begging for help. He won’t be there when you lose your loved ones, when you can’t afford food, rent, when you face eviction. The president doesn’t care about you. I care about you. That’s why I wrote this...

Jude Lucker, Meridian

This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 9:48 AM.