News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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During his first year, President Trump has been globetrotting attempting to ink trade deals, repair tattered relationships, and attract manufacturing back to America. However, no mission has been more crucial than his recent trip to South Korea, Japan and China. Behind the bluster of new “reciprocal” tariffs was the simple fact that China is not only a manufacturing, trading and military challenge but it is our primary supplier of strategic metals. Not only is America short of RARE minerals, but metals such as iron, copper and aluminum. Wea...
Recently, governors Bob Ferguson (Washington) and Tina Kotek (Oregon) asked the federal court to lift a stay (hold) on litigation primarily directed at tearing down the four lower Snake River dams. President Trump’s executive order stopped federal agencies from taking part in litigation. It halted “behind the scenes” efforts to spend billions to tear down Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams. Lately, breaching proponents switched their tactics to federal dam operations that curtail hydroelectric production and incre...
Imagine being part of “Operation Midnight Hammer,” the much-acclaimed joint U.S. Air Force and Navy air strike which obliterated Iran’s nuclear bomb-making facilities a half a world away. B-2 Stealth bombers flew directly from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri — 18-hours non-stop and undetected — to drop our unique “bunker-buster bombs” on Iran’s Fordow nuclear operations deeply embedded underground. Meanwhile, the Navy fired Tomahawk missiles from under the sea to help polish off the other two key sites — Natanz and Eshafan. That tak...
Any battle over tariffs between the United States and Canada, China, and Mexico is worrisome, but if it escalates, it will hit Washington farmers particularly hard. Avoiding that possibility should be a primary goal. Tariffs could trigger new trade wars. The last retaliation in tariffs eight years ago hurt agriculture. “A trade war with economic partners is the last thing our farmers and ranchers need,” said Congressman Dan Newhouse (R-WA4), whose family owns and operates an 850-acre farm near Sunnyside. Excessive costs, turbulent markets, inf...
In his first month as President, Donald Trump has shaken our federal government to the core. Many argue that his “meat ax” approach to cutting government waste, abuse and spending is as harmful to our country as the current “runaway “spending and borrowing. Regardless, America needs a strong wakeup call. The question is where to go from here. Is there a better way? In short, we need good comprehensive audits of current programs to determine how and where our tax dollars are spent and if we, as taxpayers, are getting our money’s worth. Pe...
One of the most significant shifts from our recent elections is America is headed back to an “all of the above” strategy that expands our energy options rather than further restricting them. In the last four years, there has been an expensive shift away from carbon fuels (gasoline, and natural gas) to subsidizing wind, solar and electric vehicles (EVs). President Trump would be wise to look at inclusive strategies incorporated in the 2005 Energy Policy Act signed into law by President George W. Bush which focused on incremental imp...
Whether you call it a ban or a significant deterrent to future natural gas consumption, voter approval of Initiative 2066 (I-2066) in Washington may be only the first giant pothole to fill. The next one in the road ahead may be a hefty tax on natural gas. In 2019, Berkeley, Calif., became the first city to prohibit natural gas connections in new buildings. San Jose, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and others followed. However, last year the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a setback by holding that federal law preempts local bans...
Kelly Ortberg’s appointment as new Boeing CEO and the company returning its headquarters to Seattle are promising steps toward rehabilitating the aerospace giant started over a century ago. The Seattle Times editorial summarized it best: “Dare we hope?” Ortberg has a sterling reputation, vast aerospace experience, and a record of accomplishment. Hopefully, his experience and success pave the way for Boeing to re-emerge as the pinnacle of aerospace — where it was before the Chicago move in 2001. Boeing knows how to build good, safe airplan...
Our national debt is spreading out of control like a raging wildfire. Among other things, that added liability impacts our ability to fight those fires and reforest those scorched woods and range lands. Replanting trees is necessary to prevent erosion, provide clean drinking water, reduce CO2, protect fish and wildlife habitat, and rehabilitate public open spaces. It is very costly and under current funding schemes, the money is not available. Our national debt just surpassed $35 trillion for the first time in history. Those we elect brush...
Unfortunately, too many pragmatic Democrats and Republicans in Congress are retiring at a time when we need them most. Two are from Washington: Reps. Derek Kilmer (D), Olympic Peninsula; and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R), Eastern Washington. McMorris Rodgers and Kilmer cut their political teeth in Washington’s Legislature. While they faithfully followed their parties, they found ways to come together on issues vital to our state and nation. McMorris Rodgers was elected to Congress in 2004 and Kilmer in 2012. Recently, problem-solving Democrats a...
In 2017, I wrote a column titled: “America needs more welders and fewer philosophers.” It was a slogan Florida Sen. Marco Rubio used in his 2016 presidential campaign to call attention to the need for more skilled workers. Rubio hit the nail on the head without disrespecting philosophers. The American Welding Society (AWS) estimated our country now requires 400,000 new welders. This scarcity is primarily due to the substantial number of skilled workers retiring and fewer young men and women entering technical training programs. The enc...
President Biden is unwisely “throttling up” plans to ditch carbon fuels unilaterally despite the extreme consequences of doing so. He wants to accelerate replacement of gas/diesel vehicles with electrics (EVs) which will be recharged by electrical grids energized by solar, wind and hydro power---- not coal, natural gas, or nuclear fuels. Additionally, in our state, Governor Inslee mimicked Berkeley (CA) building codes stopping the installation of natural gas stoves and water heaters; however, a federal appeals court overturned the ban. The cou...
Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray, both Democrats, issued a draft report which estimates that breaching the four lower Snake River dams and replacing their electricity and other benefits would cost between $10 and $27 billion. Meanwhile, the lone Idaho Republican, Congressman Mike Simpson, supporting dam removal---impoundments located in a neighboring state--is willing to pony up $33 billion tax dollars. That’s a lot of taxpayer money even today when President Biden and Congress toss around trillion-dollar spending programs like h...
It’s not often that we see an athlete at the top of his (her) game walk away from a multi-million dollar payday to go home and fight for his (her) country. However, that is exactly what world heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk did after Russia invaded Ukraine. Usyk postponed his championship rematch with Britain’s Anthony Joshua and returned to war-torn Ukraine. He enlisted in the homeland defense force; however, he’s not alone. Fellow boxers Vasiliy Lomachenko and Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali, did the same. “They are pro...
Washington’s Board of Natural Resources is considering banning timber harvesting on state lands. That is extremely unwise. Instead, the Board must ensure its healthy forest policies incorporate ALL management tools, including planting, thinning and logging. The Board, established in 1957, sets policies to manage Washington’s 5.6 million acres granted by Congress in 1889. More than 3 million acres were designated as trust lands, of which 2.1 million acres are forests, to support various public institutions. Banning timber harvesting robs cri...
Last year, Gov. Jay Inslee attempted an end run around the legislature by banning natural gas in new homes and commercial buildings via the state’s building codes. It was a bad idea. Now, some fellow Democrats who control the Legislature are working on legislation trying to do the same — also a bad idea. Inslee’s proposed regulations forbid the use of fossil fuels for heating and hot water in new structures. Prohibiting natural gas is expensive for home and building owners, many of whom installed energy-efficient natural gas heat pumps and t...
When Toyota speaks, car buyers listen. Hopefully, our elected officials will as well. It is one of the world’s two largest auto and truck manufacturers--twice the size of GM, our biggest. Toyota warns the world is far from ready to jettison gasoline and diesel engines and require batteries to run our replacements. For Toyota, it is not just about finding enough critical battery material such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, but it is about having enough electricity in our power grid to recharge them. Specifically, Toyota not only worries about o...
To “Build Back America” people must return to work! In a U.S. Chamber of Commerce poll released in early December, the findings spell trouble for America’s employers whether they are in the private or public sectors. It found that over 60 percent of the respondents are in no hurry to return to work and over a third of the unemployed are not actively going after a job or looking at all. The problem is growing worse. A large number of respondents feel they can get by for at least another six months before they have to find employment. The surve...
Lowering our flags to half-staff seems to be an all too familiar sight these days. It is a solemn act that recognizes our fallen heroes, whether they be men and women in our armed forces or a Vancouver police officer killed in the line of duty. It is a vivid reminder of the ultimate sacrifice made by those who serve us. Unfortunately, after those flags return to the top of the pole and time passes, we tend to forget that the suffering for the friends and families continues. The loneliness, financial stress and emotional strain lives on. That...
This September 11 remembrance fell at a time when America is bitterly divided. It is also a time when we are more acutely worried about where and when terrorists will strike next. Our hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan — the place where terrorists orchestrated the 9/11 carnage in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville killing nearly 3,000 fellow Americans — was fresh in our minds. We needed words of reassurance again. We needed to be reminded of the way our country came together after 9/11 — an epilog — and a hopeful path forward—a prolog....
It is not surprising that COVID-19 which ravaged the world was disastrous for our country’s economy. Millions died from COVID complications; offices, stores and factories closed, and people were forced to quarantine at home. The good news this Labor Day is vaccines are working and readily available. As a result, our job market has dramatically improved. People are eating out, shopping and traveling. Our economy is healing. Vaccines were developed and deployed at “warp speed” under President Donald Trump. Having Americans inoculated as quick...
When thinking of England’s fabled Sherwood Forest, the medieval images of Robin Hood and his band of archers and swordsmen hiding in the woods giving the Sheriff of Nottingham a hard time comes to mind. Who would envision a crew of young American oil workers concealed among the giant oaks drilling oil wells? However, the crude production from those wells was essential in helping fuel the D-Day invasion launched from English shores in 1944. Until Guy Woodward and Grace Steele Woodward published “The Secret of Sherwood Forest – Oil production in...
Each year Americans throw away more than three billion batteries constituting 180,000 tons of hazardous material, and the situation is likely to get much worse as the world shifts to electric vehicles. Everyday-green.com reports more than 86,000 tons of single-use alkaline batteries (AAA, AA, C and D) are thrown away. They power electronic toys and games, portable audio equipment and flashlights and make up 20 percent of the household hazardous materials in our garbage dumps. Unlike composted waste, batteries are hazardous and contaminate our...
Time is short, but action is necessary! Gov. Jay Inslee and Democrats who control the state legislature need to postpone implementing the sweeping “Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Program” to determine its future financial viability and find better alternatives for coverage. The new law, also known as the Washington Cares Act, is a mandatory, public, state-run, long-term care insurance program. Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, Washington employers must withhold a new payroll tax ($58 per $10,000 of wages) to fund it. Even then, some paying the...
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were billed as the “Hydrogen Olympics!” Then along came COVID and sporting events worldwide were put on hold. The summer games were delayed until 2021. Postponing the games cost Japan billions and thwarted its efforts to showcase the Japanese “Green Growth” strategies. Japan, like the United States, plans to become carbon-neutral by 2050. While countries like China are betting on lithium batteries, Japan’s centerpiece is hydrogen. As Japanese researchers develop new technology using renewable electricity generated...