Letters: Health care thanks, wind farm and losing freedom | April 9

Thanks due to hospitals, clinics

First, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the brave women and men who are at our hospitals and clinics doing what they do best. Your courage, skills and honor deserve a ticker-tape parade after this all calms down. May you and your loved ones be safe and healthy.

Second, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to all of my neighbors, friends, colleagues and community who are in the lower risk categories and are taking the brunt of the economic downturn to protect us high-risk folk. I know that when I was your age (whatever it is), I would have been very disgruntled to have to do what you are doing. May the road ahead be healthy and prosperous.

And to all of us, if you haven’t noticed, the air quality has improved dramatically, so step outside and take several deep breaths and celebrate being alive in this incredibly complex time. Be well.

Windmills bring little real benefit

The proposed Horse Heaven windmill farm will best case generate 600 MW only at peak wind periods, or about what a Snake River dam or half what the Energy Northwest nuclear does on a 24/7 basis on demand. And only when the wind blows, which is less than 25% of the time year around; mostly in the spring with full hydro runoff and low consumption when more power is least needed.

Wind makes minimal contribution during peak demand. BPA is forced to buy at well over their real costs of generation whether they need the power or not; and at high prices passed to ratepayers. The Stateline windmill farm in Walla Walla County since 2001 has paid less than a teachers annual salary per year to the local schools. Scout will “blow” into town, put up their windmills, collect the huge PTC subsidy, and leave us to pay the bill and see Horse Heaven littered up with the massive windmills not generating power for many days per year. Until storage technology is commercially available and affordable, the last thing we need is more windmills. Let the green side activists and money grubbers like Scout build them on their skylines, not ours.

Why close private jobs, not federal?

It is now official. The communist Democratic Party has taken over Washington state.

Gov. (Jay) Inslee will allow state and federal building projects to continue but has shut down private projects. What is the difference? The government is deciding who gets to prosper. Gov. Inslee has made Washington a sanctuary state. How can you protect yourself when all the gun stores are closed by the government. I could be dead by the time the police get to my place. Why does the governor want to use facial recognition software on the people of Washington? Is the driver’s license picture not good enough or is there another reason? There is a lake near me that has no dock, few boats use the lake for fishing. How come I can’t go fishing there? I keep losing more and more of my freedoms as the government shutdown continues. At what point is the government going to tell me I have no freedoms left.

Tyranny happens when good people fail to stand up for their rights

This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: Health care thanks, wind farm and losing freedom | April 9."