In a recent article, in the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, retired UW professor Dr. Michael Fox writes that Washington is facing a legislative catastrophe.

Washington recently passed a Greenhouse Emissions Law, ESSHB 2815. It creates a framework for government taxation and rationing of energy. Dr. Fox believes that it will create an economic disaster. He writes that this legislation, if implemented, will be devastating to the state economy.

To implement the bill would call for hiring 16,000 new (green collar) employees, public and private, bringing this effort to a total of 25,000 people, all paid for by the taxpayers at an estimated cost of $2 billion annually, forever!

The legislation also calls for CO2 emissions to be 50 percent below the emissions of 1990. This is not only impossible, according to Dr. Fox, it is “madness”! It is clear that CO2 is not causing global warming and is, in fact, necessary in the atmosphere to life on earth. If we are to help feed the world’s population, we need more CO2 in the atmosphere, not less.

In a Seattle Times article (8/22/08), Sen. Maria Cantwell outlines the same disastrous prescription to be followed by the federal government. She blames “Big Oil” for our “addiction” to oil and promises to spend billions on “alternative sources of energy,” i.e. wind power, solar power, biofuels, to replace “fossil fuels” as our primary energy sources.

This is technically impossible.

Rep. Inslee, Sen. Murray and our own district representatives subscribe to the same disastrous non-solutions to our energy problems. They are not operating in the best interests of the American people.

Over 31,000 scientists have signed a petition opposing the position of these Democrats. Go to “petitionproject.org” to see why.

While the rest of the world’s powers are exploring and drilling for oil, thanks to Democrats, we do nothing.

Jack Leicester

Shoreline