Letters

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 300 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Monday, June 2, 2008 ENERGY ISSUES Time local leaders take on problem Since the first of the year, the price of crude oil has risen by more than 30 percent (after a 60 percent increase in 2007.) The question of how best to respond to this precipitous rise in energy costs is not a simple one. We could look for someone to blame, I suppose. (Big Oil? Congress?) There is surely some degree of market manipulation and exploitation taking place. But from an economic system that is driven by the twin demons of fear and greed, while completely lacking a moral compass to guide it, what should we expect? We could complain of a lack of leadership from our elected officials. There is also a measure of validity to this position. The piecemeal approach that seems to be the norm from City Hall to the halls of Congress holds out little hope for a comprehensive solution to anything, in my opinion. Or we could do what few might dare: Seek to figure it out for ourselves! We could bring together our best and brightest, as our neighbors in Portland did, and set them to identifying the particular local vulnerabilities presented by the changing energy picture and, for that matter, climate change as well. For almost two years now, I have been advocating for just that sort of systematic look at both energy and climate vulnerabilities for our own city and region. So far, local policy-makers have shown scant interest. But still I persist. With the Portland example to model on, it seems irresponsible not to try. Can we agree that a systematic, well-reasoned approach to problem solving is preferable to piecemeal? Jackie Minchew Everett

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