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Want to Save the Planet? Think For Yourselves, Crusaders

9/28/2013

13 Comments

 
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    This little piece of work was handed out illiberally to students up at Western Washington University last week. It's a pledge card that suggests that four local candidates are in the can on a major issue that hasn't been through the complete review process.  And ho-yeah, it says vote for this foursome if you WANT TO SAVE THE PLANET.

These people (at least two of the four, who are already serving/incumbents) have a legal and moral duty to be fair-handed when the time comes to decide the GPT (Gateway Pacific Terminal) thing. This advertising promises they'll do something else.

WE won't tell you who to vote for, but if other candidates are saying  they'll vote "for" GPT, that would be just as bad.  Our position is that voting for pre-judged outcomes on anything is bad news.

WE'd just as soon see people skip voting altogether if they want our local self-government to be reduced to "winners take the spoils".  If that's the world you want, a government where candidates pre-judge issues, we'd rather see you have a nice meal, take a bike ride, get stoned, and save the stamp.

Whatcom WINS telling people to follow blindly is despicable. This promotion pushes every pretense of ethics over the cliff. Is that what "being a Democrat" has become? (Whatcom WINS is the Whatcom Democrats marketing strategy, or battle cry, this year).

What's heroic about elected officials making up their minds in advance?

That's downright indefensible, not only technically but morally unethical. Voting for pre-judgement if it suits your taste splits the community and pushes it down a dangerous and slippery slope.

This promotion also lays out a guilt trip. What's it saying - if you don't vote for these four, you're voting to trash the planet?  Apparently.

Does anybody actually believe that the "future of the global climate" is resting on the shoulders of this county, on this election (and its voters)?  That's a wild claim. People are cashing in on drama here - emotional theater. Use your head and keep this in proportion.

Picture
Clockwise from left: SuperMann (Ken Mann), Blazing Barry (Buchanan), Rud-Urban (Browne), Captain Save-The-Planet (Carl Weimer)
Picture...for these guys, "in the tank" ?
This pledge card - let there be no doubt that it says (wink-wink) that electing these candidates will trashcan the Gateway Pacific Terminal proposal.  The fudgy-wudgy phrasing about "how America uses its coal" doesn't fool anybody. This relays "vote this way, get your way" as a guarantee.  That's a stone's throw from "winners take the spoils." Is that your idea of good (self) government?

That's pretty insulting when you stop and think about it. The people we elect aren't supposed to pre-judge things.  If they got elected, they should recuse themselves (as if they would). Campaign promises are rarely worth the paper they're printed on. 

Now, some people are so fanatical they think that "the ends justify the means" and pre-judging is okay in this case. Whaa???  Are these candidates saying "Who needs the Corps of Engineers and the EPA?"  Would they ignore any law or regulation that suits them?

It comes down to trust and integrity. Do you want honesty and fairness, or just one result?  Can you trust anybody who would act like that? These people take an oath to be objective; to uphold and defend the rule of law, instead of popular fads. 

WE could go on, but why not let George Carlin close for us, in his own inimitable way? (Caution, strong language!)

13 Comments
Joan Dow
9/28/2013 09:05:39 am

How repulsive, misleading students. This WE article is beautifully written and says it all about the toilet-flush level of liberal thinking in our community.

Reply
Karen Brown
9/29/2013 03:46:28 am

Thank you for bring this to light, as many people would not read or hear about this in our "Local Press". Hopefully Whatcom County voters will take these four candidates, Ken Mann, Carl Weimer, Barry Buchanan and Rud Browne to task about their true intent on The Gateway Pacific Terminal Project.
It would be nice if our local Refineries, all the Refinery workforce, Labor Unions and all related trades would speak out about this. Maybe even protest the Whatcom WINS Offices in the Herald Building. Whatcom WINS and the Democrat Party want to end ALL Industry at Cherry Point. Wake up people, that means they want to end all of your JOBS! Think about it, where are you going to have to move to find good jobs that pay you a good wage and support your families. What about our Schools, Law Enforcement, Fire Departments, Local Governments and the Infrastructure of Whatcom County, without Major Industry and related jobs, Who is going to make up the TAX difference?
Be careful it my be your job or industry that Whatcom WINS or the Democrats target next.

Reply
davedoran
10/1/2013 04:49:41 am

The Whatcom WINS card quotes The National and says so clearly,
it makes no statement of its own about our election tie-in to global climate change or national coal policy.
But anyway
It's easy for any candidate to counter a campaign message like this one - either join the tacit opposition to GPT or distinguish yourself otherwise through implicit support of the project.

Reply
MH
10/2/2013 04:03:36 am

Reclaiming the right to clean air, water and land is a "fad" that will not fade away. Dump the coal and figure out a way to route the trains around Bellingham (South Fork line) and the terminal has a chance...otherwise Whatcom WINS.

Reply
Karl Uppiano link
10/2/2013 02:13:47 pm

You say that as if it is impossible to protect our natural environment without forfeiting our natural rights. We also have a right to jobs, property and prosperity.

Reply
pedro
10/26/2013 05:01:40 am

your "right" to a job does not include fouling the air and water, and most significantly for some of us, to increase BY 20 TRAINS PER DAY thru town...

excerpt from communitywisebellingham dot org

If it is not built coal trains cannot just “go to Canada” because BC has no additional export capacity. .
Simply put, the proposed terminal would be as large as the entire existing export capacity in all of BC. The other fact is just as fundamental, there is simply no more coal export capacity in BC. It has been this way since 2010...

At capacity operation the proposed terminal requires 20 trains, serving additional capacity in BC requires no trains because there is no such additional capacity, serving existing US contracts in BC requires 3-4 trains...

pedro
10/26/2013 05:04:54 am

your "right" to a job does not include fouling the air and water, and most significantly for some of us, to increase BY 20 TRAINS PER DAY thru the center of town...and it is impossible for all this traffic to "just go to BC" because they don't have the port capacity

Riley Sweeney link
10/4/2013 12:11:46 am

Look guys, if you want to attack your opponents, you don't portray them as superheroes. I mean, come on . . . messaging 101 here. Also, mixing DC and Marvel? Total Faux Pas. Here, let me show you how it is done: http://sweeneypolitics.com/2013/10/04/friday-odds-and-ends-superheroes-bunny-rabbits-and-forums/

Reply
WE Editors link
10/5/2013 04:07:11 am

Thank you Riley. WE didn't realize that satire had such stringent rules attached. In the future, WE will endeavor to adhere to the strict standards that you have set for us. Please accept our most sincere apologies. WE are truly sorry. WE are honestly so bloody sorry. Having made such an egregious faux pas, WE don't know if we can continue. WE hope you, and all of our injured readers can forgive us.

Reply
Riley Sweeney link
10/7/2013 11:51:41 am

See, that was almost genuinely funny. I knew you could rise to the occasion.

Philip Humphries
10/4/2013 02:24:41 pm

Nobody has proposed eliminating the existing oil refineries and Intalco.
The proposed coal terminal will have major negative impacts on the environment locally nationally and globally, and will provide very few long term high-paying jobs. The coal (or grain) trains will cause major disruptions of traffic in many of the towns on the route, with corresponding negative effects on the local economies.
When the studies are all done, the data will make this very clear.

Reply
Karl Uppiano link
10/5/2013 04:00:22 am

It wasn't that long ago that most goods shipped by rail, and it wasn't a major negative impact on the environment or the local economy, and traffic disruptions were manageable. Rail is one of the most energy efficient ways to transport goods long distances. Far more efficient than long haul trucking.

Not to disparage truckers, but for long hauls, we really would be better off using rail. As for whether this terminal will increase rail traffic in the area, it's hard to imagine much difference in traffic except that it (along with the jobs and tax base) will go to existing terminals in Canada instead of here in Whatcom County the good old U.S. of A.

In terms of coal specifically, I don't like the fact that we're shipping it overseas. I don't like that we're using energy to ship energy halfway across the planet. I don't like that we can't use it here, where we need it, and where it can be used more cleanly and conveniently.

Reply
Pedro
10/26/2013 04:52:30 am

> As for whether this terminal will increase rail traffic in the area, it's hard to imagine much difference in traffic

I CAN. Have you looked at projected traffic/delay caused by long trains nearly 1 each hour?


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