Inslee mandate on electric vehicles will aid climate

Thanks to Herald reporter Jerry Cornfield for reporting on Gov. Jay Inslee’s announcement at the COP26 meeting of world climate policy leaders in Glasgow, Scotland (“Inslee: State agency vehicles must be all-electric by 2035,” The Herald, Nov. 8).

The horrible outcomes of climate change will be narrowly avoided only with such bold, firm and clear commitments by governments at all levels, everywhere. If Inslee’s goal makes sense for our state, then it makes sense for all 50 states, for all 39 Washington counties and for Washington’s largest of nearly 600 cities. And it is past time for all of our Washington’s members of Congress to get on board with the necessary cornerstone of a national climate policy, a “price on carbon” assessed on any corporation that brings carbon out of the ground or imported into the U.S.

For far too long the world’s fossil fuel corporations have been subsidized and profiting enormously from the carbon they rush to extract from the ground, then dump as single-use waste into our atmosphere. Fortunately our auto makers are beginning to help lead the way toward global “fleet electrification.”

If our cities, counties, states and federal agencies were to adopt Gov. Inslee’s lead in converting their fleets from fossil fuels to renewable electricity, that alone could address an admirable portion of our climate problem.

Lee Alley

Snohomish