Government hubris at its best!

Does anyone in our local government really understand “peak oil”?

How about “global climate change”?

Peak oil is here. It includes decreasing global oil production, geopolitical conflicts and global economic collapse. These are the three main indicators many experts predicted would happen as peak oil hits.

I ask these questions because of the continued “pro-development” agenda. Everett has an extremely expensive project on its agenda, the riverfront development. The rest of the country is in the midst of massive job loss, economic collapse, housing foreclosures, banks and industries falling, etc. Yet Everett is spending millions on “A new Riverfront neighborhood”? Make sense to you? We have existing infrastructure needs!

They also are ignoring climate changes we are experiencing. Whether you call it “global warming,” “global climate change” or see it as a natural occurrence, you have to admit that we have experienced more flooding in recent years. Many climate experts predict more severe weather patterns to come. Building along a river, on its estuary and flood plain make absolutely no sense whatsoever. You can do all the environmental impact studies you want and you can open dikes upriver to help alleviate flooding downstream (draft environmental impact statement, city of Everett marshland subarea plan), but the bottom line is we have enough evidence to show that this project is nonsense economically and environmentally. Let’s learn how to take care of what we have now and live content with what we have instead of trying to have more in the future.

If you are concerned about how the city is spending your money, join other local concerned citizens at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Weyerhaeuser Room in the Everett Station.

Ron Toppi