Fiddling while the planet burns

Given the current economic downturn, it is not surprising that our state senators should turn conservative and try to "hold the course" by rejecting perceived tax increases such as cap-and-trade and reversing voter-approved increases in wind power.

Unfortunately, these actions do not "keep what we got" but rather pour fuel on the fire, as we citizens of the region are each losing $20,000 a year in local environmental value due to increasing global warming. Sitting on our hands guarantees that "we lose what we got," including our tourist industry, national parks, drinking water, hydropower, forests, beaches, salmon, ski industry and world-leading outdoor recreation industry.

This is particularly unfortunate given that Washington state comes out a winner under cap-and-trade -- we have more clean green renewable energy in this state than any place on Earth; only Sweden and Switzerland come close.

What would it cost us citizens of Washington to start cap-and-trade now with a 1 percent reduction in CO2 emissions? Fifty cents each.

-- James Adcock, Bellevue