Letters: Snake River dams, climate insurance, Trump advisors and more | Jan. 19

Recognition for vets generous act

On Jan. 6, from 1 to 2 p.m. in Sterling’s Restaurant on George Washington Way, Navy vet George Vargo and I were having lunch. My Army service as a survivor of the 1968 Tet (Vietnamese New Year) Communist Offensive was apparent by the cap I was wearing. After their departure, we learned a kindly couple at a nearby table had paid our bill. As we had eaten heartily, it was not small.

Our thanks to this kind, generous couple, and God bless you.

God bless the citizens of our fine community. God bless America.

Reply to letter missed one point

This is in response to Mike Boise’s letter about my letter of Nov. 14. First, thanks for reading my short article and responding. You are 100% right on your facts except you misunderstood what I was pointing out.

Yes, we have term limits for the president, which I’m aware of. The problem is we do not have term limits for the rest of the elected and appointed officials.

Therefore, people like Maxine Waters (and) Nancy Pelosi become career politicians, and when they leave office are much richer than when they came in. How many times have we seen candidates spend hundreds of thousands, even millions to get elected for a job that pay $175,000. Since Mr. Trump has become president, his efforts to drain the swamp have exposed this.

You were spot on that we all need to come together and support our president and make our country better.

Snake River dams not needed for ag

I would like to applaud the Tri-City Herald for the three Jan. 9 outside editorials (op-eds) on the lower Snake River dams. All three articles made excellent points.

I was particularly pleased with the two pro-dam articles written by farmers, as neither made the false claim that these dams are needed for irrigation, which has unfortunately appeared many times in other articles and editorials.

Proof of this can be seen in the undammed Hanford Reach, where there are a number of water withdrawals, both agricultural and for other purposes. During the Manhattan Project, there were many more. Consider this: If these particular dams did not exist today, knowing what we know now about the negative impact of dams on salmon, would we build them today? I think the answer is clearly no.

There is no way the construction of these dams would get approved today. It would be nice to hear from actual fisheries scientists who have studied this topic, instead of people (including me) who are clearly biased on the issue. But remember that past dam removals in the Northwest, Great Lakes, and East Coast regions have been very successful in improving fish runs.

Climate insurance worth paying for

In 2017, hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria caused an estimated $265 billion in damage, with 7,620 dead; 1.32 million acres burned in just the five largest California wildfires that year. In 2018, the Camp Fire destroyed the town of Paradise, Calif., killed at least 85, and cost $16.5 billion. In 2019, the wettest January-May on record resulted in “The Great Flood of 2019” with widespread damage across the Midwest. In December, deadly and massively damaging fires are raging in Australia. The intensity and destructiveness of these events is attributable to global warming.

We buy insurance for many purposes, e.g. home, auto. Yet most of us pay far more for insurance than we will ever receive in benefits beyond peace of mind for a modest payment.

For those who are skeptical of global warming, and believe the overwhelming body of scientific evidence to be wrong, you might consider taking action to reduce global emissions of CO2 as being like an insurance policy. One form that could take is a carbon fee and dividend plan. At worst it buys a little peace of mind and a healthier environment and more likely will help to avoid some catastrophic costs and consequences.

FBI, Congress aren’t doing jobs

It appears some government agencies are not man enough to perform their legal assignments. For instance, the FBI has opted to vote with the Democratic party regarding the impeachment of Trump. When can I trust them to be independent counsel, impartial and honest? This is surely illegal and within the loop with Pelosi. I have also found Congress (I think) is not performing its job regarding laws since members seem preoccupied over power. When will they concentrate on being American citizen representatives?

Remember no matter if they work on extra projects, it is we, the American citizens, who pay for the high-priced lawyers and congressmen involved. Also it appears that the impeachment group is withholding their agenda from the Republican party to prevent early Republican lawyer preparation. This is a clear violation of law ethics. Also the news is mostly Democrat in the papers but mostly Republican on the internet. And we are asked to regard the system as adult and ethical (beans!). The truth is that, until these misbehaving men and women got in Congress, we were the greatest nation by far but now I wonder.

Who is next from Trump advisors?

Our president’s inner circle has been marked by criminal associates. His close adviser (Roger) Stone, his campaign manager (Paul Manafort), his deputy campaign manager (Rick Gates), his lawyer (Michael Cohen), and his national security adviser (Michael Flynn) have all been convicted of felonies. More charges and convictions may be forthcoming.

Reported by the Wall Street Journal on Nov. 16, the president’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, is being investigated for a number of alleged federal crimes, including bribing foreign officials, conspiracy, violating federal campaign-finance laws and failing to register as a foreign agent. It also reported that federal prosecutors are investigating whether Giuliani personally stood to profit from a natural-gas shakedown run by his partners, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, Russian mob-linked figures.

If Giuliani were involved in the natural-gas shakedown, as the Journal story suggests, it would be an even deeper form of corruption. Our president’s lawyer and personal representative would have sent gangsters to extort the Ukraine government for Trump’s political gain and Giuliani’s own profit. The president’s false accusations against Biden pale in comparison to the crimes his cronies have attempted or committed.

Meanwhile, Attorney General (William) Barr is requesting help from foreign powers to investigate our intelligence agencies. Go figure!

Twilight Zone on her mind as well

Yes! I do remember the Twilight Zone episode. I thought of the very same thing.

This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: Snake River dams, climate insurance, Trump advisors and more | Jan. 19."