GOP tactics, enforce COVID mandates and other Tri-City Herald letters to the editor

Manipulation by GOP masterful

It has been a masterful media manipulation strategy by the Republicans to focus only on Manchin’s no vote on Build Back Better, and to ignore all the other 50 GOP senators who also voted no.

Not just Manchin, each of these lock-step Republican senators is also directly responsible for massively increasing childhood poverty and hunger in America.

What kind of country do we want to live in?

Michael Harrington, Pasco

We ignore role of climate at our peril

The death and devastation from the Midwest tornadoes are heartbreaking. The unprecedented timing of them begs the question: What role did climate change play?

The physics of tornadoes suggest a climate role, but tornadoes are complicated, depending on other factors like wind shear and lifting as well as moisture (which increases with warming). Since they’re too small for climate models to resolve them, and the sparse data hasn’t revealed trends, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) expresses low confidence on the connection between tornadoes and warming.

Contrary to what some people assert, the IPCC is actually quite conservative in projecting changes from human activities. Because it requires consensus in the conclusions summarized in its reports, it has consistently underestimated climate change impacts, such as wildfires, floods, sea-level rise and sea ice melting.

Uncertainty is not our friend. Projections of climate change always span a range of outcomes. By dismissing the largest projected changes, the IPCC misses the most catastrophic impacts. Those impacts are showing up sooner than anticipated. We ignore their connection to human activities at our peril. Preventing future warming by embracing climate solutions now is prudent. Please tell Congressman (Dan) Newhouse you share this concern.

Steve Ghan, Richland

No new mandates; enforce old ones

You might think this means that I think the current mandates for social distancing, masks in public spaces, vaccines to enter public events, masking requirements in the workplace, vaccines to work or go to school are government overreach or a violation of the constitution. But you would be wrong! I believe all these things are required for us to get out of this COVID madness. The reason we don’t need another mandate is a mandate is not effective unless we are willing to enforce it.

Clearly our government is not. When a violation is apparent, (say) Clint Didier refusing to mask at Franklin County Commission meetings, the enforcement agency (L&I) says they “could investigate the 22 complaints about Didier in 1-2 months.”

This is not action! Clearly, they didn’t get the message that we are in a pandemic. Why isn’t the governor, who has at various times said we are killing people by not getting vaccinated or wearing masks, making enforcement of the legal rules and mandates in place a priority for his state agencies? We don’t need another mandate or lockdown. We need to enforce the ones we have. Governor (Inslee), why aren’t you doing this?

William G. Richmond, Richland

Tri-Citians ignore basic life lessons

Today, I’m embarrassed to be from the Tri-Cities.

I was raised here. I showed horses in 4-H, attended Sunset View Elementary, then Desert Hills and graduated from Kamiakin High School. I went off to college, graduate school, law school and I was always proud to be from the nuclear town I call home.

But after spending just a few hours shopping today, that pride has evaporated.

Despite the rapid spread of another COVID-19 variant, and in blatant disregard of an indoor mask mandate, many people shopping today weren’t wearing masks. I am young and healthy, as are many whose mouths I saw today. But my parents are in their mid-60s, and they have to buy groceries, dog food and horse grain in this community.

I’m embarrassed because it was this very community that taught me how my actions affect others. People you know taught me to treat everyone with respect, wait my turn, do my part during classroom clean-up and help those less fortunate during the holidays. People like you, reader, led me through the 4-H pledge, where I promised “my health to better living, for my club, my community, my country, and my world.”

Where did that lesson go?

Alyssa Ertel, Kennewick