SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Mayor Durkan uses climate change to take your money

Apr 6, 2018, 4:08 PM

Jenny Durkan...

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Local politicians want to take billions of dollars from you in the name of climate change. They are bold-faced liars.

RELATED: Seattle’s war on cars is also a war on families

Mayor Jenny Durkan is, I assume, a smart person. Seattle City Councilmember Mike O’Brien — I’m not so sure. But I’m going to give them both the benefit of the doubt and assume that they’re reasonably intelligent. What I’m about to prove to you is that, if they are anywhere near reasonably intelligent, then they are liars.

The city of Seattle wants to charge you every time you drive downtown. Politicians eventually want to toll every road in the Puget Sound area and in the state. My sources have correctly predicted that leaders want to have variable pricing for every road in the region. That is the goal.

Their stated reason for tolling at a Seattle press conference a couple of days ago was that they need to do something about climate change. It’s all in the name of climate change that they’re doing this. Whenever they say this, they are lying. If they want to be honest, they just need to say, “We are using climate change as a scheme to take money from you.” It is a massive transfer of wealth from the working families of this area to government control.

According to seattle.gov, the total greenhouse gas emissions in Seattle for 2014 (the last recorded year) were 3.4 million metric tons. According to epa.gov, total global gas emissions for the last recorded year were 10 billion metric tons, or 10,000 million metric tons. If you break down the math, that means Seattle is responsible for 34 ten-thousandths of one percent of total global emissions.

If we cut it in half, that would be 17 ten-thousandths of one percent that we are contributing to this battle. If you know anything about data like this, it means we are completely insignificant to the planet’s global gas emissions. So, when they say that they’re doing this to fight climate change, that is a lie. It is a very sleazy way to rip off residents.

Climate change and math

There are a lot of people who can’t break down numbers and don’t understand anything about math. They hear “climate change” and think, “We’ve got to do our part.” This is going to be billions of dollars. Every soundbite you get from the politicians — Jenny Durkan, Jay Inslee, Dow Constantine — reiterates that we have to do our part to save the planet.

I can’t explain to you what a tiny amount that is — 17 ten-thousandths of one percent. They want to take billions of dollars from the people of this state, starting in Seattle. It’s meaningless to the planet. It’s not going to affect global temperatures at all.

You know how money is flying out of your family’s budget when you pay your illegally-calculated car tabs. You know how tough it’s getting to make ends meet in one of the most expensive regions in the country. Our politicians should look at every issue on the basis of cost versus benefit. The cost to you and me is billions of dollars. The benefit is going to be nothing. What we expose and reveal with the truths of these numbers is that this is using the trendiness of climate change and the ignorance of the masses to transfer billions of dollars from our families to government control.

Our politicians are liars, and the voters around here are chumps.

This aerial photo provided by Sky Yazzie shows Upper Lake Mary in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Tuesday, Nov...

Associated Press

Floods bring rare relief to US Southwest reservoirs as Lake Powell rises 20 feet

PHOENIX (AP) — Recent flooding across the U.S. Southwest is providing rare relief to thirsty reservoirs that had fallen to record lows amid a yearslong megadrought. Storms in late October and early November sent torrents of water through normally small or dry creeks that overflowed their banks and flooded local communities. Hundreds of people were […]

44 minutes ago

Solar panels generate electricity Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, near Boulder City, Nev. (AP Photo/John Loch...

Associated Press

Democrats plan to push clean energy to lower bills and challenge Trump’s fossil fuel agenda

Some Democrats are promising to push for more clean energy to help tackle rising energy costs when they take control of Congress in January, though President Donald Trump says he will use his veto power aggressively. With new majorities in the House and Senate after last week’s midterms, Democrats can set an agenda boosting clean […]

45 minutes ago

Associated Press

Police: 2 shootings at Winston-Salem State during homecoming weekend leave 1 dead

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Two separate shootings during homecoming weekend at a historically Black college in North Carolina have left one person dead and three injured, police said Sunday. Assistant Police Chief Jason Swaim of the Winston-Salem Police Department said both shootings occurred on Saturday on the campus of Winston-Salem State University, but that it […]

1 hour ago

Rhone Bellevue Square Activewear Award Winning holiday shopping...

Regan Gallo-Fenz

Activewear brand Rhone opens in Bellevue just in time for holiday shopping season

Activewear brand Rhone officially opened its first Washington store in Bellevue on Friday. The new location is the brand's fourth West Coast store.

2 hours ago

Seattle restaurant revel la palma price...

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show

‘The prices here are outrageous’: Gee and Ursula discuss Seattle dining costs as her favorite restaurant closes

Ursula's favorite Seattle restaurant is closing, and Gee Scott sees a broader problem behind the struggles facing local dining spots: higher prices.

2 hours ago

rent a mom...

Katrina Guischard

Rent a mom for your college kid? Some parents are spending up to $2,500

These days, some parents aren't just sending their kids off to college with a laptop and a laundry bag — they're sending money to rent a mom!

2 hours ago

Dori: Mayor Durkan uses climate change to take your money