About this blog

My name is Bill Hirt and I'm a candidate to be a Representative from the 48th district in the Washington State legislature. My candidacy stems from concern the legislature is not properly overseeing the WSDOT and Sound Transit East Link light rail program. I believe East Link will be a disaster for the entire eastside. ST will spend 5-6 billion on a transportation project that will increase, not decrease cross-lake congestion, violates federal environmental laws, devastates a beautiful part of residential Bellevue, creates havoc in Bellevue's central business district, and does absolutely nothing to alleviate congestion on 1-90 and 405. The only winners with East Link are the Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington and their labor unions.

This blog is an attempt to get more public awareness of these concerns. Many of the articles are from 3 years of failed efforts to persuade the Bellevue City Council, King County Council, east side legislators, media, and other organizations to stop this debacle. I have no illusions about being elected. My hope is voters from throughout the east side will read of my candidacy and visit this Web site. If they don't find them persuasive I know at least I tried.

Thursday, October 3, 2024

I-2066 Pro and Con

The September 30th Seattle Opinion Editorial Pro and Con I-2066 illustrates the lengths to which the paper will go to abide any attempts to reduce CO2 emissions. A previous post concluded, any benefits from reducing emissions was limited to reducing the states 0.117% of the planet’s total. That even these benefits would be dwarfed by the CO2 coming by jet-stream from China. 

The “Pro” argument is that I-2066 gives voters the chance to protect naturlal gas as an energy choice.for our state. The “Con” argument begins with the obvious “most people want two basic things: affordable energy bills and a comfortable, safe, temperature no matter the weather outside”. Yet concludes I-2066, requiring energy companies to offer natural gas, “puts those things in jeopardy". 

Yet Sec.2 (2) of the initiative includes the following:

 Every gas company or largecombination utility shall provice natural gas to all persons and corporations in their service area even if other energy sources may be availalbe

Thus it’s unclear why it would “raise the cost upfront and long term costs of new housing, gut energy efficiency standards that keep energy costs bills low” or any of the other dire warning in the "Con" argument. Even more dubious is their purported concern about  those paying to fund the initiative when that funding is dwarfed by those opposing it.

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