Letter: Fight climate threat, elect Dems

The Washington Legislature publishes the roll call vote of each legislator on each bill. Anyone can view those records on their website. I’ve been tracking environmental legislation for 10 years.

I conclude that most elected Republicans vote to continue our dependence on fossil fuels, and the Democrats vote for clean energy.

For example, in 2020, our Legislature passed HB 2311 to establish the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions about 50 percent by 2030. Almost all the Democrats voted aye, and almost all the Republicans voted nay. See for yourself here: tinyurl.com/yc7rbpsk.

And a few days ago, my state senator, Lynda Wilson, introduced SB 5037 to prohibit the building code council from restricting fossil-fuel heating systems in new buildings. Once fossil-fuel heating systems are installed, the building owner is stuck with fossil fuels for decades.

Ever since 1975, we’ve heated our house 100 percent with an electric heat pump system. We also use an electric induction range, which cooks as fast as gas and produces no indoor air pollution.

Although many Republican citizens care about climate change, they don’t realize that elected Republicans are beholden to the fossil-fuel industry.

The secret to success in fighting climate change is to elect Democrats.