The landslides slow the cars, so we drive longer hours, produce more pollution, cause more landslides, which slow the cars. (Maple Valley Highway closed due to landslide Feb. 16)

When fuels burn, they release carbon dioxide, which overheats the air, which increases evaporation, which loads up the clouds with more water, so they drop more snow and rain in the winter. That’s the science. It’s predicted and happening.

To maintain that it is not happening in order to preserve profits in the fossil fuel industry is really not patriotic.

The U.S. only has 3 percent of the world’s reserves of oil. We should save it for military and aviation, and encourage more investment in U.S. production of electric vehicles and clean energy to power them. We should end the federal tax cuts for fossil fuels, which the Joint Committee on Taxation said amount to four times as much as subsidies for clean energy, and we should pass a conservative, market friendly tax on fossil fuels with the revenue returned to consumers.

Then investors could profitably redirect the hundreds of billions we spend every year on oil from unstable and undemocratic regimes into more manufacturing of new clean power technology. This would create millions of new jobs, improve our balance of trade and make for more stability in the weather and the economy.

Louise Stonington

Seattle