Voting for Dhingra in 45th Legislative District | Letters

• I recommend voting for Manka Dhingra, as State Senator District No. 45. She has the professional experience, education and commitment to community service. Her statement in the King County voters pamphlet is aligned with common sense government principles and the values in the 45th District.

For her opponent, Jinyoung Lee Englund I see a puzzling statement in the King County voters pamphlet. She wants “to stop a state income tax, prioritize funding for schools, and get traffic moving again.” This stuff requires tax revenues. The state Legislature has struggled to “prioritize funding for schools” and was fined by the state Supreme Court for failing to “prioritize funding for schools.” This kind of “priority funding” requires some kind of reliable tax revenues. Recently the state legislature took action to increase property taxes. This might be effective in King County where property values soar upwards. But in other regions of the state, relying on property taxes might be less effective.

I have noticed some Republican attack ads on CNN, claiming Dhingra wants to implement a state income tax, increase car tabs and more raise all taxes. These are outdated Republican fears. National Republican (outside money) is unwelcome here in the 45th District. We have the best public schools, and the best educated workers. We want to provide a high standard of education for our kids in the Lake Washington School District. It’s hard to imagine how Englund’s Republican “attack ads” would help achieve our high education standards.

I put my trust in Dhingra to help advance our high standard of living in the 45th District.

Richard Morris

Redmond

Vote for Dhingra part two:

• We are like a dog in a hot car.

Climate change is here and oil companies are trying to buy your vote to forget it.

Oil companies are in District 45 and want you to succumb to their advertising for a candidate who does not think climate change is a big deal. Don’t let them do it. Vote for Manka Dhingra who believes climate scientists.

Climate change can be simplified to the proverbial dog in a hot car. Our atmosphere acts like the windows, and the Earth is the dog. We are greatly increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. This carbon is acting to block solar rays from escaping through the atmosphere, like car windows keeping in heat rays in on a sunny day. We, the Earth, are being heated like the poor dog, and will continue to be heated at an ever-increasing rate, as we burn more carbon. Unfortunately, we have to be our own fireman and rescue ourselves from our carbon trap.

Climate change is here. Does your child suffer from asthma? Thousands of deaths and medical conditions are associated with climate change. Trees bloom earlier. Pines and birches die, attacked by beetles which previously couldn’t survive here. As atmospheric carbon increases, it precipitates into the ocean, causing ocean acidification, weakening shellfish. Our forests are in danger from fire and dwindling snowpack, and they are our best natural combatant against climate change.

The Earth’s temperature is rising. Most religions, Christian included, call us to be good stewards of Earth, and to protect the weak, poor and young. There is no room for inaction when the stakes are as high as “stabilizing the harm already done” and “game over.”

Fortunately there are simple ways to do your part to stop climate change. Now the most critical is to vote for Dhingra, who knows climate change is here and that we must act. We need an environmentally friendly state Legislature to enact environmental goals. Please vote for Dhingra, she understands this critical issue. Climate change is upon us and it affects us, our children and their future. Do not let the oil companies buy your vote. Vote for your home, vote for Dhingra.

Barbara Lau

Redmond