Washington needs climate change solutions. The GOP is failing | Opinion
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Federal budget sidelines climate investments despite visible regional impacts.
- Local advocate urges Congress to prioritize clean energy and carbon policy.
- Voters call for leadership aligning policies with environmental realities.
Surrendering on climate change
As a climate advocate with Citizens’ Climate Lobby in Tacoma, I was disappointed to see the budget reconciliation bill recently signed by President Donald Trump once again sideline critical climate investments.
Climate change isn’t a distant threat — it’s here. From smoky summers in the Pacific Northwest to erratic weather, the evidence is clear. Yet this budget prioritizes short-term interests over long-term sustainability, ignoring clean energy innovation, disaster preparedness and efforts to cut carbon pollution.
Washingtonians understand the stakes. We see salmon runs dwindling, forests burning and coastal communities threatened by sea-level rise. Our national budget should reflect those realities — not ignore them.
We need Congress to look beyond short-term politics and invest in a livable future. That means putting climate solutions — like carbon pricing, clean energy tax credits and support for workers — at the center of budget policy.
Our children and grandchildren deserve better than a budget that pretends climate change isn’t real.
Jason Berkowitz, Tacoma
Should have backed Palmer
The TNT missed the mark by not endorsing Latasha Palmer for City Council Position 6. She’s the only candidate in that race ready to govern on day one. The endorsement of another candidate ignores her extensive community work and detailed policy ideas.
Palmer spent 100+ hours on the 2024 Charter Review Committee. She knows how the council works and doesn’t work. She has offered numerous, specific policy proposals, both on the CRC and during her campaign. Check out both websites. She also engaged in ongoing public outreach during the review process and after it concluded in May of last year. She has testified at council meetings.
Palmer’s the only candidate who has championed strengthening Neighborhood Councils, promoted innovative approaches to affordable housing by co-founding Aya Community Land Trust, and pursued grassroots policy-making through a coalition she founded last fall, which urged the council to pass a long-overdue surveillance-technology ordinance, something now being considered.
Latasha Palmer has done more than enough to earn your endorsement. Former Mayor Bill Baarsma, Senator Yasmin Trudeau, Councilmember Jamika Scott, several unions, Indivisible Tacoma, and many other organizations and community members agree.
Rebecca Stith, Tacoma
Delusions about Trump
A recent letter writer is obviously suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, and his assertion that the “so called Christian Republicans” — especially the MAGA crowd — “worship” President Donald Trump is sheer lunacy.
Christian Republicans don’t hate anybody and they worship God.
The writer repeatedly smears Trump when in fact, voters knew Trump was no choir boy. Democrats knew Bill Clinton was a sexual predator and an admitted draft dodger and Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden were both corrupt, but never mind.
Trump ran for President for the right reason — he loves America. He wasn’t in politics for the money. Tax cuts for rich people are not “at the expense of the middle class or poor people.” The bottom 50% of tax payers contribute only 3% of federal tax revenue, while the top 10% contribute 72%, and it increases over time.
HHS Secretary Noem stated the alligator detention center (not concentration camp) in Florida is better than typical federal facilities and Biden had detainees squeezed into tents and on the floor. I suggest the writer do some homework next time and stop using God for sinister purposes.
Craig A. Chilton, Bonney Lake