It is June 5. I’m baking on a condo deck at Whistler in 90 degree heat that should come to these mountains only rarely in mid-summer, not now in early June. I grew up in the Northwest and cherish our mountains. The splendor of their magnificent glaciers, however, is fast melting away.

Beetle infestations from too-mild winters are scarring our forests, rising CO2 levels in the oceans endanger the aquatic food chain, oil-train wrecks threaten the Columbia Gorge.

Isn’t it time we recognized the real costs of using the atmosphere as an open sewer for the waste carbon from burning fossil fuels?

Initiative 732 gives Washingtonians a chance to lead the way toward more rational energy pricing without increased regulation or increased taxes. Let’s do this. For ourselves, for our children and for our grandchildren.

Bill Severson

Mercer Island