THUNDERBIRD

Addressing cause of addiction

I’ve been attending V-MCC meetings for the past year during which time there has been serious controversy over the establishment of the Thunderbird Treatment Center. In the latest meeting on September 19, the council approved of their plans for Vashon. The opposition has been mostly concerned with the impact of the treatment center coming to Vashon. Thunderbird will certainly advertise their presence here on Vashon.

Toward the end of the discussion, I pointed out that treatment doesn’t address why people go on drugs in the first place.

As a longtime resident of Vashon, I’ve seen overwhelming growth and gentrification, most of which has happened in just the last few years. Thanks to our growth-oriented culture, it will continue to accelerate. Unless you’ve been lucky enough to ride the wave economically, you’ve been left behind. Such is the case for a lot of people.

The resulting condition is one of anxiety, despair and hopelessness — reasons why people go on drugs.

If our society fails to put an end to the madness of growth, no amount of drug rehab will make a difference. Likewise, no amount of construction will make housing more affordable.

Indeed, drug use, violent crime, suicide and non-affordability are on the rise. Lawmakers fail to recognize the ultimate social injustice of overpopulation; they only offer band-aid solutions.

Jeff Schnelz

CLIMATE COMMITMENT ACT

Honesty, please

I read Virginia Lohr’s letter (No on I-2117) in the Sept. 19th Beachcomber. I agree there are some good things about the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), but would like to look at it from a different perspective.

I haven’t heard Joe Fitzgibbon (who mostly put the CCA together) or Jay Inslee acknowledge that the CCA has added approximately 46 cents to each gallon of gas (according to analysis by the Washington Policy Center), and that we, the consumers, are the ones actually paying the millions the CCA has added to the cost of producing energy in the state of Washington.

When Jay Inslee signed the CCA into law in May of 2021, he boldly stated “Don’t let anyone give you that swill that somehow (this law) is going to increase prices.” A year later, he admitted that it might add “pennies” to the cost of fuel.

Scott Smith was a transportation planner with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), and was tasked with coming up with a gas revenue and price forecast for the state. In 2023 he estimated the CCA would add 45 to 50 cents a gallon to the price of gas.

Smith was constantly pressured to keep his report quiet and not release it to the press. Now he’s filed a legal claim against WSDOT and other state agencies alleging the pressure and retaliation was so bad that he had no choice but to quit.

Is it too much to ask for Jay Inslee and Joe Fitzgibbon to be honest with us and admit that the CCA is the reason we have one of the highest gas prices, if not the highest in the nation?

Ed Palmer