Cold weather shelter
To the editor:
Thank you for your story about the critical need for volunteers to help operate Kingston’s Severe Weather Shelter. The community responded generously to the article, and the shelter now has a group of new and enthusiastic volunteers to work alongside our experienced ones.
Recently, Kitsap County unexpectedly activated the shelters, and Kingston volunteers signed up immediately. Because of their quick response, our shelter was one of only two severe weather shelters with enough volunteers to open.
More cold weather is predicted for this winter. We expect to put all of our volunteers to work providing a warm, safe place to sleep for people in our community who are unhoused.
Additional volunteers are always welcome. For more information email ruthkcac@gmail.com.
Sarah Johnson
Kingston Severe Weather
Shelter Team
Arcadia power
To the editor:
I hold in my hand a glossy invitation to PSE’s announcement of its (hold your breath) preferred route for their “missing link” transmission line. A full year has been spent on the marketing of this plan.
When it comes to the climate emergency, Puget Sound Energy has been a very missing link. PSE is a foreign-owned company (Canada and Netherlands) with allegiance to its investors rather than its 1.1 million customers in Washington.
PSE’s response to the 2019 Clean Energy Transformation Act is a vague plan to be carbon-free by the 2045 deadline. 66% of PSE’s energy is fossil fuels. PSE is part owner of Colstrip, the Montana firm that is the 8th largest greenhouse gas emitter in the U.S. 35% of the power we buy from PSE is from burning coal.
In March 2021 when PSE filed its Integrated Resource Plan, the Sierra Club sent a letter to the Department of Energy stating “PSE’s IRP is not aligned with the intent of CETA.”
Islanders can expect that their power company take a leadership role in reducing carbon emissions. COBI can partner with a power company that commits now to carbon-free power.
One simple thing PSE customers can do: Pay Arcadia instead of PSE for power. Sign-up is easy and your PSE bill is paid as usual at virtually the same rate. Arcadia pays your PSE bill and certifies the power you use comes from wind and solar. Arcadia allows customers to bypass PSE’s continued use of fossil fuels. (www.arcadia.com)
Brooke Thompson
Bainbridge Island
Suzuki property
To the editor:
This is a response to a recent letter regarding Suzuki property development issues.
Suzuki parcel has many issues with respect to development. Environmental, wildlife, utility capacity, runoff drainage, as well as traffic impact and virtually no support services.
There are only about 3 acres that are buildable on the parcel. The rest consist of seven acres of watershed, three documented wetland areas, a migratory wildlife corridor, a raptor corridor, the oldest grove of trees on the island and a year-round freshwater pond that is a sanctuary for freshwater species that have been rescued and returned to the wild. Walk the parcel and you will see four classifications of forest, which are habitats for a diverse array of species.
Additional issues include underground electrical vaults along both adjacent roadways, a sewage system that is at maximum capacity and a runoff drainage system that is also at capacity (causing periodic flooding of subbasements in neighborhoods downgrade toward Eagle Harbor.)
It is clear the reasons why any significant building has not been done and why future development should be minimal are to maintain the precarious balances of environmental regulation, wildlife protection and utility capacities.
Dianne Stever
Bainbridge Island
Nothing new
To the editor:
Puget Sound Energy announced the route for their “Missing Link” project in a one-way Zoom presentation. The selected route is identical to the one they attempted in 1994.
Ho hum, nothing to see here.
I would like answers to questions like whether they will compensate property owners for the negative impact on our property values? And, why don’t they install batteries at the existing substations to provide emergency power instead of building miles of transmission lines?
If you go to Rotary Park on a dry night and hold up an ordinary fluorescent tube it will glow and sputter. It is a little scary. But don’t worry, PSE says it’s OK.
Michael Silves
Bainbridge Island
