Time for an EV
How often does your car remind you that “It’s time for an oil change” or “It’s time for a tune-up”? Translation: It’s time for an EV! (electric vehicle)
How often does the gas pump remind you that fuel is over $5 per gallon? How often does it remind you that the equivalent fuel cost for an EV is around $1.25 per gallon, or that an EV costs less than half as much to maintain? It’s time for an EV.
How often does the gas pump remind you that every dollar sent out of state to buy fossil fuels takes away two to four dollars from local jobs, or that more Americans are killed by toxic vehicle emissions than by vehicle accidents? It’s time for an EV.
How often does the gas pump remind you that vehicle emissions are our largest contributor to the excess trillion tons of greenhouse gases we’ve dumped into the atmosphere, which creates more extreme weather and wildfires and shortens our ski seasons and endangers over 14,000 species — including humans? It’s time for an EV.
How often does the gas pump remind you that our largest polluting industry spends billions telling you that climate change is a hoax or isn’t so bad or we’ll fix it later? It’s time to replace all gas-guzzlers.
If you’re shopping for a new vehicle, buy an EV (increasingly competitive); or buy any used vehicle (more than a third of used EVs are under $25,000); or wait. Your worst option is buying a new gas-guzzler, because that locks in its fuel costs and pollution for 15 to 20 years.
For more info: shop used EVs at Platt Automotive in Portland or Carvana online, or shop for new EVs at local dealers or Electric for All (electricforall.org). For more on cutting your household or business energy costs and pollution, see Columbia Gorge Climate Action Network (cgcan.org), sign up for free electrification coaching at Electrify Oregon (electrifyoregon.org), or see recent clean-energy options at Electrify Now (electrifynow.net).
Eric Strid
White Salmon
Waste thru the Gorge
So, recently I read The Oregonian op-ed, “Superfund redux could save Ross Island and ratepayers” (May 17, 2026), outlining the Metro area’s ongoing cleanup challenges along the Willamette River. One proposed “fix” is to dredge 5 MILLION TONS of contaminated sediment and haul it 100 miles up the Columbia River to a landfill in OUR community.
Uh, well … no.
Transporting 5 million tons of toxic material would require roughly 200,000 truckloads moving through the nation’s largest Designated Scenic Area, at an estimated cost of $6 billion — not to mention other environmental costs and concerns.
A far more reasonable and responsible approach, and one reportedly gaining support from the City Club of Portland and others, would be to contain and dispose of the material within the area where it originated. Hmmm; how unique! That option is also less costly and less environmentally risky.
Perhaps the broader lesson is this: communities that bring industries who generate hazardous waste should also accept responsibility for the long-term consequences.
Of course, our children’s future is telling us to just stop allowing industries who generate hazardous waste and use extreme amounts of water and electricity into our community in the first place.
What can we do? Well, it’s always good to speak up. Know the number for your State Congressfolks? The Governor? They’re listed on your computer.
Good luck to all of us.
Widge Johnson
The Dalles
Private prisons
The Trump administration is hiring private contractors, like GEO Group, to run prisons for immigrants rounded up by masked DHS (Department of Homeland Security) agents. ICE is spending billions of dollars purchasing warehouse-style detention facilities throughout the United States so they can imprison tens of thousands of detainees. News about how they are treated is shocking.
Reported human rights abuses include sexual abuse, assault, denial of medical care, overcrowding, and unhealthy food and water. The Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma has a contract with GEO Group. A clause in it allows the facility to ignore state and local laws when those standards for care are higher than federal law. The GEO Group is currently blocking the State Department of Health from inspecting the facility, despite a federal court order (Alexandra-Yoon Hendricks, Seattle Times, May 2026).
New Jersey is suing GEO Group for “inhumane conditions” at Delaney Hall. The state wants health inspectors to have full access to the facility over allegations of “unsanitary food and drink preparation and storage.” Health inspectors tried to gain access to Delaney on May 27 but were denied entrance on that day. They were able to enter the building the following day, but the suit claims the access was very limited. Advocates state that some of the detainees launched a hunger strike on May 22, but DHS denies this. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated that there were just a few on strike, and it was only because they wanted their “ethnic food” (Kayla Epstein, BBC, June 2026).
Call your representatives and demand they visit detainment facilities, report the conditions there, and work for humane conditions for those in our custody. If this administration deports all immigrants, who will be next? Beware of authoritarians. Vote. March. Stand up for democracy.
April George
White Salmon
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