"We have a good governor but all of us will benefit from the strongest possible challenger."

Union ruling

WEA acted in good faith

Editor, The Times:

Under inflammatory headlines, but without an underlying basis of factual support, two recent editorials attacked the Washington Education Association after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the union ["Slapdown of WEA," Times, Opinion, June 15, and "WEA ducks and weaves after Supreme Court loss," Times, Opinion, June 19].

For the record, the Supreme Court decision was narrow, finding only that provisions of Washington campaign-finance law regulating union spending are constitutional. The court did not find, as The Times implies, that the WEA violated or intended to violate the law. Indeed, evidence presented in lower courts shows that the WEA made every good-faith effort to fully abide by an ambiguous and internally inconsistent set of rules.

The justices have sent the matter back to state courts to rule on the narrow, technical issues that remain unresolved. Though detractors will continue to exploit the period of prolonged litigation as an opportunity to bash unions, the WEA trusts the courts will ultimately clarify Washington's murky campaign spending and reporting requirements, thereby allowing educators to fully exercise their collective right and responsibility to advocate for urgent priorities such as reasonable class sizes, good pay for educators and common-sense testing practices.

— Charles Hasse, president, Washington Education Association, Federal Way

Gas-price myths

Solution only partial

"Five common myths about the high price of gasoline" [Times, Opinion, June 24] was informative, but failed to make one point: The oil supply is finite, and humans are increasing consumption of a substance that is not being made any more.

Furthermore, nowhere in the article did it mention the most insidious byproduct of an oil-dependent economy: global warming, which may have severe destructive effects on human and natural populations.

I did appreciate the debunking of corn-based ethanol as a solution and the point that China's oil consumption in large part is used to make cheap plastic goods that are marketed to American consumers. Reading that Americans are driving more miles, despite gas prices doubling in five years, was an eye-opener.

Nevertheless, the solution of remodeling the economy for more energy efficiency, while laudable, addresses only part of the energy problem. We must also figure out a way to reduce America's peculiar dependence on the automobile, as part of a broader effort to decrease use of fuels that contribute to the threat of global warming.

— Dave Yao, Seattle

Nickels' green vision

Back to the future

Is it just me, or does Mayor Greg Nickels' green vision of the future look an awful lot like urban life of a century and a half ago?

Single-family houses are to be replaced with dense, small-area, multifamily units. We used to call those tenements. We are to travel to and from work on tracked mass transit. Nothing quite like strap hanging on the ol' counterbalance trolley or waiting for the interurban. Why, that statue in Fremont clearly shows how happy those riders were to be standing there in the rain. Maybe best of all, we can spend nostalgic summer evenings on the porch, watching the gamboling rats, swatting the flies and breathing the sweet perfume resulting from a cesspit, I mean compost pile, in every backyard.

Gee, Mr. Mayor, why stop here? Think of the energy savings if you don't require installation of electricity. Imagine how much water will be saved if we outlaw water heaters. Limiting everybody to one bath a week just might save the planet!

— Marc S. Jones, Seattle

Health-care reform

Moore's prescription

Scott Armstrong's commentary ["Health-care reform, Washington style," Times, Opinion, June 26] cites Michael Moore's film "Sicko" and the "tantalizing possibility of new solutions" but does not acknowledge the film's conclusions. Instead, he focuses on tinkering with our failed system as favored by politicians and stakeholders.

Group Health, a nonprofit HMO, has an impressive history of pioneering improvements from within. Armstrong points to the injustice when "balancing" the needs of children and seniors within our dysfunctional system. His recommendation is for the feds to support the privatized, mostly for-profit and taxpayer-subsidized Medicare Advantage HMOs, which are generally much more expensive than the Medicare program.

Moore's argument is that placing profits before people has destroyed health care for both the uninsured and insured. He points out the contradiction in the assumption that those interests that are largely responsible for our system's failure can be part of the solution. His prescription is to eliminate the private insurance industry, regulate the pharmaceuticals and cover everyone, leaving our private delivery of health care intact.

Moore believes the American people must unite behind our traditional value of caring for each other and demand guaranteed health care such as embodied in Rep. John Conyer's single-payer HR676 and Rep. Jim McDermott's HR1200.

— David McLanahan, M.D., Seattle

Wind energy

Danes live with towers

On a recent visit to Copenhagen, I was surprised to hear the guide on a tour boat point with enthusiasm to a group of wind towers visible from most vantage points in the city. Seems he and other Danes were actually proud of that contribution toward weaning humans from nonrenewable power sources.

If the citizens of the largest city in Denmark can live with 'em, surely citizens of Washington state can as well ["An ugly battle over clean power," Times, Page One, June 26]. Let's work together to make sure that the burdens of such new energy sources are equitably spread among us all. That would be both fair and environmentally responsible.

— George Randels, Port Townsend

Rossi's foundation

Attack is foolish

The leadership of my Democratic Party amuses me sometimes. Our attack on Dino Rossi's foundation ["Democrats say Rossi's nonprofit is really a campaign," Times, Local News, June 26] is the latest foolishness. Incumbency is such a great advantage that we could afford to be generous, if not actually supportive. My good friend Phil Talmadge did the same thing with his Rainier Foundation when he was planning to run for governor.

Wish I had thought of it way back in the 1970s when I took on an incumbent, the legendary Joel Pritchard. I was the Democratic nominee against him in post-Watergate 1976. A lot of good that did me.

We have a good governor but all of us will benefit from the strongest possible challenger. Outside King County, I believe most people think they already elected Dino Rossi. He is trying for another shot, and will make Gov. Chris Gregoire defend her record. That's good for all of us.

— David G. Wood, Olympia