These Tri-City dentists to provide free dental work to veterans, and other Herald letters

Better path to cut greenhouse gas

I agree with Craig Brown’s Sept. 28 conclusion that the Inflation Reduction Act alone will do little to limit global warming and is a very expensive way to reduce U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases.

A far more effective and economical way is to put an increasing national price on fossil carbon so that market forces will drive down U.S. emissions, return all of the net revenue to the people in equal carbon dividends to minimize the financial impact on families and the economy, and to apply a carbon border adjustment to imports from countries without a price carbon to induce them to also price carbon and to level the playing field for domestic manufacturers.

If Craig Brown is concerned about the impacts of global warming on our mountain snowpack, forest fires, air quality and summertime irrigation supply, he’ll embrace the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (energyinnovationact.org) and urge our next representative, Dan Newhouse, to co-sponsor that legislation.

Steven Ghan, Richland

Forgiving debt not a fair solution

President Joe Biden recently announced that the government will be forgiving up to $20,000 of school debt for individuals who make less than $125,000 a year. At first glance, this sounds nice but you have to consider where the money is coming from to pay for loan forgiveness.

When it comes down to it, the cost of loan forgiveness is going to end up being rolled down to taxpayers; not just those who took out the debt and benefited from loan forgiveness but also those who already have paid off their loans in full and those who never took out student loans.

Where is the equality in this? Why should those who were fiscally responsible be taxed more to cover other individuals’ debt? When considering loan forgiveness, the lawmakers either did not consider equality or did not understand equality. Equality should be about equal opportunity, not equal outcomes. Everyone has the opportunity to take out loans for college and subsequently the responsibility to pay for them. Forgiving debt for some and saddling others with it through taxation is not equality.

Ashton Diaz, West Richland

Helping veterans with dental care

When they had to close their doors in the spring of 2020, the Doctors at Creekside Dental in Kennewick saw it as an opportunity to refresh not only their office, but also reignite a passion for dental care for themselves, their team and the community. When it comes to connecting with the community, Dr. Larsen and Dr. Bennett were thrilled with the opportunity to serve those who have served our country!

The mission of Creekside to impact their patients, team and families, and the community! One way they have decided to impact the community is for Veterans Day. Creekside connected with the local Veterans Association in Pasco. Through this connection, Creekside has been able to come alongside two local veterans and get them to a place where they are out of pain and on the road to oral health, free of charge!

This is not a one and done experience for Creekside. In 2023, Creekside will be striving for “23 in 23.” At the new year, Creekside Dental will sponsor a veteran each month up to $2,300 in the year 2023. It’s all in the hope of bringing oral health and care to those who have served our country.

Jackie Suarez, Kennewick