Allowing all voices to be heard is good, but it also can lead to gridlock. Patience is needed when gridlock prevails.

Transformational changes to the landscape are difficult to make with already existing ownership and development of land. Just about every powerline, railroad or housing project runs into the cost of land, neighbor opposition and current use conflicts. We have gridlock, when change is needed to address climate change as well as population growth.

By coincidence, after waking up and thinking about these things, I saw news about the Rye Development pumped power storage project in eastern Washington. It has has recently passed a major hurtle in it's approval process.

Before seeing this, I got to thinking (for some reason) about the railroad through Bellingham and the talk about expanding it to double track. That talk was happening a few years ago. There was talk about double tracking for more passenger rail and it's effect on Boulevard Park. Since then, that talk has subsided, but could return. I recently wrote to City Council wondering if possible rail expansion was being taken into account in plans for the new Salish Landing Park which is also along the rail line.

Tight fit. Trains passing Chrysalis Hotel and on through Boulevard Park.

Any attempts to provide a new rail corridor, outside of Bellingham, would likely run into a firestorm of opposition from existing land owners, neighborhood associations and so forth. There is a rail line along Highway 9, but that entire corridor, including Highway 9 itself, faces opposition to expansion as well.

Highway 9 keeps getting busier, but much of it's route is still narrow and winding. I avoid most of it for bicycling.

Cartoon someone drew for a publication in response to an article I wrote about Highway 9.

Gridlock is a problem if we want change, but looking at this another way, maybe we shouldn't always want to rush into change?

If we want to error toward preserving the past, we will need lots more patience. Patience for more traffic, if population keeps growing. Patience for bottlenecks that don't get fixed and patience with the slow political process.

In China, they build rail because they have little tolerance for people who stand in the way. Democracies, tend to be more gridlocked as they give people a chance to speak out and block plans.

Some of what got Trump elected is frustration with gridlock, but getting things done doesn't always bode well. I would more like to see things that help our climate stability get done than Trump's bulldozing agenda.

Still, we either need patience for slow "process," or we need less gridlock. One or the other; something has to give. Yes, Americans are not noted for patience.

That's when, by coincidence, I see that the pumped hydroelectric storage project, near Goldendale, WA. has cleared more hurtles to it's progress. It has been tied up by Native American concern that the site was sacred.

Abandoned refinery seen during one of my bicycle trips in Columbia Gorge, 2005.

I'm glad to see the pumped storage plan go forward. Maybe the god's, at that sacred site, would be glad to see it put to use for the benefit of the people and the environment.

Does too much emphasis on our grievances bring us a less tolerant society?

For most of my life, there has been a sense of guilt underlying American society. Our history dates back to times when powerful nations basically conquered less powerful nations often enslaving their peoples. Large empires, such as Rome did it. This was the norm.

During my lifetime, rather than just accepting this, there has been a sense of guilt about oppression of the less powerful as well as guilt about damage done, to the natural environment, by industrialization. Attempts to create more multicultural societies that amalgamate different cultures under one roof have been prevalent in more modern times. Meanwhile most people continue just living their lives while utilizing the fruits of industrialization, some folks with a sense of guilt in the back of their minds, yet continuing to utilize the fruits of industrialization.

To some extent, we've developed a laidback, fairly tolerant society of compromise that tends to allow a wide variety of lifestyles within it. This has been the society I have lived my life in. Things have not been perfect and some people have expressed their grievances about the compromises of modern society. The history of more brutal conquest and repression is still remembered adding to the fuel of grievances.

It seems like now, maybe too much focus on grievances could be bringing us back to a situation where the aggrieved group with the most power wins. Our society, that has been a somewhat tolerant compromise of various subcultures, seems to be evolving more into a zero sum game of groups asserting their grievances and rights without considering the legitimacy of another group's perspective. The power balance now does seem to favor right wing perspectives which are basically just another set of grievances.

I think, overall, we have been emphasizing grievances too much. Yes, it's important to listen and be aware of grievances but living together in one country, especially a large empire, requires lots of compromise and kindness. Otherwise, the aggrieved group with the most power tends to dominate.

In the recent past, police shootings have been scrutinized in the US. The Trump Administration seems to be breaking from that tradition.

Across the US, if local police shoot someone, it is taken seriously and there are investigations. When ICE shoots someone, such as the Good case in Minneapolis, the Trump Administration plans no investigation, it's immediately justified and the administration doesn't take it that seriously.

While I normally sympathize with most local police who have a difficult job, it is important that political leaders scrutinize their work. It seems like, with the corrupt Trump Administration, scrutiny isn't done. It's a vey different situation than how things were dealt with in the recent past, such as in the George Floyd case where there was scrutiny which lead to those officers being found guilty.

Now, at least at the federal level, it seems like scrutiny isn't a priority anymore.

Another Martin Luther King Day event.

Images from yesterday's Martin Luther King Day event in Sehome High School. It was well attended.

Some emphasis on person to person interaction for solutions at the grassroots. Discussions around tables were useful and lively, though I found that discussions were still somewhat impeded by presentations to the whole group. Often the best grassroots discussions are truncated by the overall program at meetings like this.

At my table I was able to explain my way of using transit to get to Seattle for around $5 using the County Connector Buses. Another person at the table was quite interested. I enjoy interactive chances to express my somewhat unique thinking and experiences. I try and cater my stories to people's questions. That's the virtue of interactive discussion over presentation.

One of my reasons for going was also to experience the new Sehome High School building. The boiler room was visible through display windows from the cafeteria. Good idea as it's educational. Back when I was in school, those things were more hidden as if education only comes from books.

I also noticed quite a few bike racks and other alternative transportation facilities at the school. Practical solutions for today's world.

Skateboard parking.

I've tended to blame people more than the system, but now that Republicans rule, the system is getting more corrupt.

For most of my life, I have blamed people, in mass, for most of society's problems rather than blaming leadership. Problems come from our culture and mass behaviors, for the most part. Other people seem to blame leadership.

Having said this, I do feel, today, that leadership has gotten a lot worse now that Republicans control national government. Now it can be more truthfully said that leadership is corrupt. Wealth inequality continues to get worse.

In my past, basically the post World War II era, there was always some corruption, but the system was making an attempt at fairness. We had diversity, equity and inclusion along with attempts at environmental stewardship. It didn't always work, but I think most people didn't understand the deep cultural basis of the problems.

It wasn't just the system that was the problem, it was also the people. It wasn't necessarily individuals, who are just surviving given the momentum of everything around us. For instance lifestyles effect city planning which, in turn necessitate certain lifestyles; the vicious cycle of our automobile based transportation system.

Politicians campaigned based on finding who's to blame. That's the way campaign contributions are raised. Even before the era of social media, outrage sells.

In some ways, people didn't appreciate how good we had it. Gratitude and patience were in short supply. Of course I don't expect everyone, who has been wronged, to have gratitude. Gratitude is in short supply for those who have it mostly good, but not everyone is on the same page, of course. Oppression can come from those in power, but also from individuals participating in abusive relationships and so forth. Oppression can come from the grassroots. Critiques of the "system" usually doesn't take individual responsibility into account.

Now that the system seems to be crumbling, we may be in for harsher realities, though if people do come to their senses, we still can create a better world.

About climate change, in years past, we had establishment folks in business and government who realized the need for change to greener energy, but also understood the difficulty of the logistics.

Meanwhile some populists wanted change faster. They demanded more should be done. Protests and so forth.

I miss the more innocent times when it was more of a battle between idealism and just being realistic. Slowing the pace of change was mostly due to being realistic, possibly overly so, but at least not saying climate change is a total hoax and forcefully rededicating us to fossil fuels.

Photo of protest a few years ago against oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Climate change could mean less snow at Mount Baker during Bellingham's Ski to Sea race.

US kicked out of NATO instead of NATO ending? Maybe NATO could reform between Canada and Europe minus USA?

I've thought that the US might get kicked out of NATO which means possibly loosing access to some European bases, or having to fight to keep them against the will of the nations they are in. The alliance could try and reform between Europe and Canada without us, or maybe just having us as an ally outside the main governing structure. Instead, it seems like European leaders are talking about the end of NATO. NATO ending, versus my speculation about it reforming around the rouge USA.

I wonder how much Trump and our government would be willing to pay for Greenland?

I wonder how much Trump and our government would be willing to pay for Greenland if it were for sale? It could certainly add to the national debt not counting maintaining it and defending it.

The US government must be rolling in money. It wants to buy Greenland and then take full responsibility for it's defense.

The US government is over 38 trillion dollars in debt, but it still acts like it's rolling in money. It wants to buy Greenland. This so the US could take full responsibility for Greenland's defense by pumping up military presence there. The US can do that now. We could deploy massive military spending in Greenland, but haven't done that yet. The US wants to buy Greenland and then take on the full responsibility of it's defense. Trillions more added to the national debt. Fortunately, Greenland is not for sale.

Insistence on buying Greenland seems useless. We can currently ramp up our defense assets in Greenland under current agreement. The cost of doing this isn't being discussed as it is hidden behind the issue of buying Greenland. If we need to ramp up defense of Greenland and pay more attention to it's defense, we need all the help we can get from our NATO (or possibly our former NATO) allies. Doing it alone would be far more costly for us than sharing the burden with other NATO allies.

NATO is the best way to defend Greenland.

NATO has been a real important alliance which includes Greenland. The US has had a good connection with Denmark and other NATO countries which allows more US military assets in Greenland if the US were to want this. Beefing up military presence in Greenland does cost money so it could be a difficult move given budgetary constraints. Friendly relations with NATO countries has been good for our security. We can't really afford to create sour relations with NATO allies.

A bike path is a resilient use for flood prone areas.

Along Whatcom Creek near Woburn in Bellingham.

Is using carbon tax money to fix bridges consistent with climate goals?

I've often thought that the concept of a carbon tax could be merged with the gas tax that pays for transportation. Now it looks like Washington State is considering using some of the cap and trade carbon fund to fix old bridges. Some legislators have suggested that fixing a bridge can save fuel versus closing the bridge and having a long detour. Also putting bike lanes on an upgraded bridge is good for climate goals.

I think carbon taxes are similar to utility taxes. The concept can relate to all energy and transportation systems, such as the power grid. The taxes could be merged into one concept for maintaining, upgrading and making more green those infrastructure systems. Future legislators and voters could decide on the priorities for spending the money all the way from just maintaining the systems that we have to conversions for lower carbon footprint . This would depend on how much voters wish to transition toward green versus just maintaining the systems as is. It seems like there is never enough money even for just maintaining roads and so forth.

There is also a proposal to take money away from the carbon fund and use it to fill a hole in the state budget for funding a child tax credit; sort of like robbing the carbon fund to pay for something else. I think keeping the money closer to the needs of infrastructure, such as maintaining bridges, is a better way to go, if the carbon funds need to be diverted toward regular budget items.

The US may have not been an oligarchy in the past, but under Trump, it's more an oligarchy now.

In the past, I've not agreed with some thinking on the left that the US was an oligarchy rather than a representative democracy. I've tended to blame people more than government, or business for our problems.

Now, it does look more and more like the US is an oligarchy. It may no longer be a democracy. Things change over time. It's a different situation now. The line between democracy and oligarchy has always been blurry. Under Trump, it's more on the oligarchy side of the line, meaning rule by only a small group of elites. Billionaires with even more power than before. I think it can migrate back toward democracy depending on the next primary and so forth.

My own life hasn't changed that much. Freedom of speech still exists for the time being. Things, here in Washington State and in Bellingham, are mostly normal, but rule at the federal level is mostly now done by executive order. The Republican Party is the ruling party for national government; somewhat running like a one party system.

Democrats in Congress still vote in opposition and if enough Republicans break rank and vote differently, that can move us back toward what I thought America was in past years.

The US can beef up forces in Greenland now, but Trump's saber rattling could harm relations and put US in an uncomfortable position of resorting to force to keep current assets in Greenland.

The US can beef up it's forces in Greenland if it wants. That just costs lots of money. Current NATO agreements allow that, so I read.

Trump's saber rattling over Greenland could jeopardize those agreements with Denmark and other NATO nations. This could put us in the uncomfortable position of having to resort to force in order to even keep our current military presence in Greenland.

Washington's Climate Commitment Act helps alternative transit in spite of disappointing carbon reduction figures.

I-5 between Bellingham and Ferndale.

I would think that Washington's Climate Commitment Act is working if it reduces traffic gridlock by improving alternative transportation. Notice, I haven't mentioned reducing carbon emissions yet. The act has many other benefits.

In the news, there has been a big error in accounting. According to an editorial on KIRO Radio website, The Department of Commerce released a statement Tuesday afternoon admitting they made a “data entry error” in reporting the emissions reductions from eight Climate Commitment Act projects. They originally reported: 7.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions reduced. Here’s the actual number: 78,000 tons. Woops. Still, I'm thinking about where the money is spent, here in Washington, that benefits transit users, building efficiencies and other things for climate resilience. As for the actual amount of carbon saved, it may be tricky to measure. It does look like people's behavior doesn't change that much, so far. Folks may just grit their teeth, pay higher prices for fuel and keep driving anyway.

Passing laws and taxes, from the top down, can be problematic. Personally, I would have preferred a simpler carbon tax versus this more complicated Cap and Trade, but the cap bill is what we got; passed by the Legislature after voters turned down carbon taxes on two different occasions.

The Cap and Trade Law was upheld by Washington State voters in 2024 when the initiative to repeal it failed at the ballot. I voted against that initiative to repeal it also.

I do see a few problems going forward, however. The Governor has suggested taking $500 million out of Climate Commitment Funds to plug a hole in the state budget; some kind of child tax credit that's underfunded, I guess.

Many of the state's regular programs do keep rising in cost; such as K-12 education which the state's constitution says is the "paramount duty of the state." Sometimes I think these regular things can be reconsidered. As for education, people learning to use alternative transit could be seen as "educational."

Another problem is that the Climate Commitment Act ratchets up to higher fuel costs as time goes on. This is to pursue goals for reducing carbon emissions. At some point, voter support may break; like a stretched rubber band.

Still, if we are to solve the global warming problem, people will need to make some lifestyle changes. This needs to be supported with better planning so greener lifestyles can be more viable for families and individuals. That's where planning comes in for housing, density, transportation, heating efficiency and so forth. We need more solar, wind, nuclear, geothermal, hydrogen fusion and so forth for energy. Low density sprawl out across vast landscapes has been a problem that I have studied since my college planning classes.

These things all interconnect when we look at the big picture, rather than just the little pieces.

Will the US get kicked out of NATO?

I've often thought that due to Trump and most Republicans, the US might get kicked out of NATO. This isn't quite what is being said now. Our threatening talk toward Greenland is being said that it might destroy the NATO Alliance. Instead, I think the alliance could reform around European nations and Canada; still responsible partners. This isn't the first time, however, that internal strife happened in NATO. Turkey and Greece have fought over Cypress; both members of NATO. Turkey was kept for its strategic location on the southern flank. US is still the biggest military in the world so NATO may be reluctant to push it out though US might not be trusted with secrets and so forth. It leaks like a sive.

Alliances between nations are still, in my opinion, the best way to maintain security, peace and justice.

What's Trump's strategy for taking over Venezuelan oil? Likely not to help US oil companies making oil too cheap. More likely it's part of a strategic world chess game .

Like a wet dream, Trump would love to seize Venezuela's oil so he can control a bigger chunk of the world's oil. This could be bad for the American oil industry because even lower oil prices could make domestic oil production, from fracking and so forth, less viable. I would guess this dream is more about international power; being able to dictate more of oil supply on the world stage.

As for US domestic consumption, a strategy would be to keep prices high enough so domestic production remains viable only to use flooding the US market incase there is an election that might not go in favor of the Republican Party. Then lower gas prices domestically to try and swing the election.

Of course this dream will not be that easy for many reasons. My guess is, it would require boots on the ground to seize the oil production in Venezuela. Venezuela's current government is still somewhat in power; like it or not. Most of that country's wells and production is in bad shape so large amounts of liquid oil could not flow, at will, for quite some time. That system would need lots of upgrades.

Dancing that was at Presence Studio is now at Bellingham Fitness. Like my memories of aerobics in a gym.

My Medicare Advantage Plan offers a free gym membership. An ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. Due to all the biking and dancing I do, I didn't get around to joining the treadmill crowd for quite some time. Years ago, I did aerobics at YMCA, a musical fitness class like being at a dance. Over the years that fashion faded in gyms.

I continued enjoying the social connection that gyms provide; especially saunas and steam rooms. Not that I like extreme heat, I wasn't there just for that. Those kind of places can be good social outlets.

Due to Covid and other reasons, the Y in Bellingham dropped it's sauna. Some other gyms still provide that. I felt funny just joining a gym for the sauna so I procrastinated fearing my less "pragmatic" fitness goal would be seen as strange.

Eventually I took the plunge, literally into the hot tub of another gym. It has been good and yes, people are friendly enough. I walked past all the stationary bikes and other machines that most people drive their cars to the gym to use. I also walked past a large fitness room that looked like it could host something like the musical aerobics classes I remember from clear back to the 1980s.

Then a problem came up in Bellingham. A free form hippie style dance event that I sometimes go to lost their cherished space. Rent going up and some dancers started worrying about mold in the attic of the old building they were dancing at. I never noticed the mold and I tend to not be real picky about things anyway.

They danced in an old funky building; what does one expect? The studio had character, art and a sense of sacredness. Still they moved.

The dance found a new space that was much more expensive. My guess is, not sustainable even given entry fee for the dance going up slightly.

It wasn't long till that dance migrated on to - the gym I had joined. The free form funky fun dance in the clean fitness room I had walked past at my gym. Dancers welcome at that special event even if not gym members. Fee for the dance event still collected at the door to the fitness room. The dance adapted. Nothing is perfect. They often use the phrase "shape shifting." I went and it rekindled connections for me. The gym, my memories of aerobics and dancing. I think it can be a good fit.

Economically, it seems like using a gym would be sustainable as fitness instructors are sometimes paid by a gym to teach fitness, rather than having to lease the space. Still, if leased, the space is likely to be affordable as the missions of fitness and sacred dance spaces can be connected.

I've enjoyed that dance for years, though I don't go real often. There's another thing I go to that happens at exactly the same time. It's a walking and talking group around Lake Padden that I am definitely part of as well. I can't clone myself, and there is an abundance of community, in Bellingham, that one can tap into.

Where was Congress when the president acted? A slim majority are Republicans who have supported him.

Looks like the battle of the bullies as Trump captures Maduro. Both leaders with dictatorial tendencies. Oil is part of the story again.

Whether Trump has authority to do this without without Congress is a question. Some folks ask; "Where the hell is Congress?" My thought is, a slim majority in Congress is Republican. They usually back Trump. Maybe more Republicans will question this going forward.

In the short run, this move looks like an ingenious success. Both Maduro and his wife captured, supposedly no American solders lost. How they pulled it off is kind of amazing. Then one must ask, why they had to bomb the boats off the Venezuelan coast killing many? Couldn't they have boarded the boats and at least investigated? They were able to just capture Maduro on the mainland.

What will the long term implications be? I don't like dictators, but was this a good idea?

What effect will it have on the situation in Iran where many Iranians are trying to overthrow their oppressive government? Will Trump's saber rattling toward Iran help, or likely interfere with the Iranian people's local attempts to rise up against their dictators? Biden was US president when the Syrians were able to overthrow Assad.

Will this make it more likely there will be a serious crackdown, within Iran, against it's people, in response to perceived outside meddling? What about this country? Are we headed more to dictatorship? What would be happening is Kamila Harris was president instead of Trump? What if Democrats had a majority in Congress and in the Supreme Court? Are some people now regretting not voting in 2024?

Will Trump go up, or down, in the next polls? Some people will praise what looks like cutting through the clutter and getting a job done. Others will say this is not how democracy works.

Like in Iraq, the war looks swift and successful at first, but the Iraq occupation was very problematic. How will this effect what Russia does and what China does?

Oil plays a role in Iran, Iraq, Russia, Venezuela and, of course, here in the US.

It will be a while before more is known.

Internal strife within Republican Party may be more newsworthy than strife within Democratic Party during 2026.

In 2026, I think internal strife within the Republican Party will be more interesting than the much talked about strife between far left and moderate within the Democratic Party. The Democrats in Congress, did hold together from left to moderate on many votes trying to check some of Trump's powers. They just didn't have enough votes unless some Republicans broke with Trump and voted with the Democrats. One example of this was the vote to release the Epstein files. Another example is Trump's cancelling of the the Arkansas Valley water project serving a mostly Republican area in southeast Colorado. There may be more situations, like this going forward between now and November.

My New Year's mailing for 2025-2026.

Washington State budget jigsaw puzzle.

Balancing the state budget isn't an easy task. It looks like Governor Ferguson is thinking of taking money away from dedicated climate commitment funds to fill a hole in the budget to fund a tax credit for low income working families. This means less money from Cap and Trade for things like public transit, bike lanes and other climate resilience things.

It's less easy to take funds away from K-12 education which is a large chunk of money. State constitution mandates K-12 to be the paramount duty of the state.

Still, if one thinks more wholistically, climate resilience can also be seen as education; for instance children under 18 can now ride transit for free. Maybe that's being too generous for kids even from higher income families, but there is an educational logic to the free fares as well. Supposedly people, who learn the ropes of alternative transit early in life, are more likely to be dedicated low carbon consumers for life. Who knows for sure as often people, who enter adult working and family raising years, feel the economic pressure to adopt more mainstream ways such as feeling the necessity of having a car.

Ferguson is also proposing a wealth tax which could provide more revenue. Still a difficult lift and that proposal wouldn't go into effect till 2029, due to expected opposition and court challenges.

Like a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces of the budget are bigger than the revenue box. I seems to never all fit.

Transportation takes lots of money also, including the state ferries. Car ferries are expensive compared to smaller passenger / bike only ferries. Could some money be saved there? This would also be a hard lift as people are addicted to their cars. Getting from islands to the mainland is important though San Juan County, which relies on ferries, is near the top for per capita income of state counties. Taking dedicated gas tax money away from cars wouldn't be easy either.

Give and take does take lots of patience and it seems like just about everything in the budget is crucially important.

Maybe Ferguson could draft two budget rough drafts. One with the wealth tax and another that would have cuts assuming no wealth tax. Float both scenarios with clear explanations and see how it plays in public opinion.

We certainly can't have it all when there are so many needs and the puzzle pieces are larger than the box.

In spite of fears that the DOJ would redact all the stuff that put their "leader" in bad light, they did show some transparency.

Looks like the Justice Department has released some of the files that put Trump in a bad light. Many of us have feared that this Trump Administration dominated Justice Department would delete things that put their leader in a bad light, but they have released some things, under pressure from Congress. Still they are claiming these findings are not valid accusations and concerns, I guess.

We'll see how this all plays out.

The few times I have been in an airplane.

For a while when I was in college, I saw a therapist at WWU's Counselling Center. I remember one session where I talked about almost being afraid to ride my bike at times. The following week, a pilot, living in the dorm, took a few of us up in his plane. It was the first I've been in a plane. The following week when I saw the therapist, she remarked, "Wow, you are making fast progress." "Last week you were almost afraid to ride a bike, this week you've gone up in a plane."

I answered that I was just a passenger. I would be afraid to be the pilot. I lack the confidence that it would take to pilot a fast moving vehicle. Cars going at highway speeds can be very dangerous. More dangerous than planes. One reason why I don't drive. I still see the car as a big responsibility. The tamer pace of a bicycle is more my speed if I am at the wheel.

As for being a passenger, I'm okay with speed, but I haven't had many occasions to fly. To this day, I've never been on a jet plane. I'm not the type of person to jet across the country for a weekend wedding, or a Christmas dinner, and then be back to work by Monday. My travel tends to be more about the trip and what I see along the way, versus the destination.

Years ago, I've taken a few commercial flights between Seattle and my hometown of Pullman. Back then it was propeller planes to Pullman. Since then, the Pullman / Moscow Regional Airport has a new runway so it has jet service. In recent years, I have bicycled to Pullman mostly for the things I see along the way. That takes about a week where as the trip by air takes a bit over an hour.

Pullman Moscow regional airport (Moscow, Idaho 8 miles east of Pullman) has had 3 terminals that I remember. The first one for many years from my childhood to the 1980s was very small. Like the little building seen on the right. The main terminal, in this picture was later. I took this picture passing by on my bicycle in summer of 2022. Now there is a bigger terminal, built more recently.

My very first flight was from Bellingham to fly around Mount Baker and back. Since it was a small plane, it did a few sharp turns. Taking off seemed normal until we turned east and flew over the freeway. In that sharp turn the bottom of the plane still felt like it was down, but when I looked out the window, the freeway looked like it was turning on its side.

Sort of what I-5 looked like tipping on its side from the plane.

It was different, but I was okay. The rest of that little flight was beautiful till we got to Mt. Baker and the pilot realized it was clouded in. He did another sharp turn over the glacier and headed safely back to Bellingham. I realized that I was probably safer in that plane than in a car or even on my bike, but it was a bit of an adventure.

Mount Baker seen in early 1990s from a bicycle trip on Glacier Creek Road.

A few times after that, I flew to Pullman. Before leaving on one trip, I remember asking someone what it was like to fly above the clouds. His answer was, "it's very interesting - for 5 minutes." Then, I guess it can get boring.

On one of my plane trips to Pullman, it was a totally clear day. The snowcap mountains were visible all the way from Canada down into Oregon. Every seat was a window seat with an aisle down the center. I happened to be sitting across the aisle from the President of Washington State University back then; Glen Terrill. It was a chance to converse with the president.

On another flight, it was cloudy with thunderstorms over eastern Washington. The plane was a bit larger, a turboprop with engines made by Rolls Royce. The flight was pretty turbulent, but my stomach was okay. When we landed at Pullman / Moscow, my family was waiting by that little runway. They said, "we're glad you are okay. The light are out at the airport. They were able to land the plane okay, but the little terminal was dark.

At Christmas time when I was around 5 years old, the family drove out to the airport to pick up my oldest sister who was flying in from Seattle. I wasn't one to believe in Santa Clause due to my scientific mind, I guess. My dad being a scientist. Still I remember seeing a red glow in the sky so I thought, maybe there is a Santa and that's the glow of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Just then, my brother commented that he could see the glow of the red runway lights off the clouds. So much for believing in Santa.

Worry about declining birthrates while there is an oversupply of refugees around the world doesn't make sense.

With an oversupply of people around the world seeking better countries to live in, it doesn't make sense that folks are worried about declining birthrates. I tend to avoid thinking about racism as a motivation for people's thinking, but there is a logic to blaming this situation on racism and or nationalism. Folks prefer growth from their own kind, rather than from other populations.

Growth, itself, whether from immigration or local births, does create it's own problems such as shortage of housing, increased traffic and environmental limits.

Still, lack of population growth effects the economy. Less young workers paying into Social Security, for instance.

We need to figure out how to have a sustainable economy that doesn't require constant increase in consumption while at the same time we are facing a huge amount of people wishing to migrate to better lands. Our tendencies toward tribalism, racism and nationalism, versus seeing the world as a global village, stands in the way.

Environmentalists need to help us reduce demand for fossil fuels. Just restricting supply can raise fuel prices and just lead to right wing populism.

I've heard of supply side economics as well as demand side economics. I got to thinking, is there supply and demand side environmentalism? Yes. I looked up on Google.

I believe that the emphasis on supply side environmentalism has been a mistake, for the most part. That is trying to reduce climate change by restricting oil drilling, for instance, thus restricting supply. It leads to populist rebellion against higher fuel prices. Leads to the rise of politicians like Donald Trump.

Demand side environmentalism works better. That is figuring out how to reduce the need for fossil fuels in people's lives and in the economy. Things like public transit, for instance and encouraging use of rooftop solar energy. Heat pumps, electrification, lifestyles and cultures of less consumption and so forth are dealing with the demand side.

Taxes on supply, such as carbon taxes or Washington State's Cap and Trade rules are somewhat hybrid, supply and demand side restrictions. I tend to support these, but raising taxes and or restricting supply can run the risk of political pushback.

In our liberal state (Washington) our cap and trade law did survive a repeal attempt in 2024 in spite of people complaining about this state's higher gas prices than in other states.

I'm glad that law survived. Washington tends to be a more liberal state than most. Still, it seems like working on the demand side is a safer way to go. Restricting supply, while people are still dependent on a product, is politically dangerous.

The law of unintended consequences and populism.

Looks like the current regime of Trump, voted in by populist and tax cut sentiment, continues to benefit the wealthy. This Christmas shopping season is mostly fueled by the top; the K shaped economy. The wealthy and billionaires are the main beneficiaries of current policy. The stock market goes up as well. Most stock owned by the wealthy.

As the political pendulum swings, the Trump regime is loosing popularity. Popular opinion does tend to flounder back and forth, but it is changing again.

Among Democrats, far left is only electable in certain regions. Moderates in other regions. They need to work together to have a majority.

Unfortunately, I doubt the majority of people, in this country, would support candidates considered to the far left. The left has traction in cities like New York and Seattle. Maybe even in Bellingham. Not across much of rural USA.

I think a "big tent strategy" is needed for the Democratic Party. One size fits all doesn't work and just leads to internal strife in any party. Different regions should support and elect who their voters wish. A diversity of opinions and strategies should be able to function and find at least some measure of consensus upon civil discussion.

Power to the people also means to the people who think in a great diversity of ways.

In spite of great diversity within the Democratic Party between far left and moderate, the party has been able to stick together and vote as a block in Congress. Since Republicans hold the majority, the Republicans still get their way in the end, but the Democrats, in spite of diversity, do put up a good fight.

Ethiopia can forge ahead with electric cars. Without much worry about Chinese electric car imports harming a domestic auto industry.

Since 2024, Ethiopia, a third world country in Africa, has banned import of gas and diesel burning cars in favor of electric cars. Lots of electric cars are available from China and a few other places. The first country to take such a step. Good news.

I feel that the US auto industry is more of an impediment to electrification than the oil industry. Fear of inexpensive car imports, from China, creating huge auto industry layoffs drives US policy against importing less expensive electric cars from abroad. Ethiopia doesn't have much domestic auto industry to worry about.

I would guess that the US oil industry is less threatened, these days, by cheap imported oil as US oil is similar, in domestic price, to imported oil.

Still, the oil industry may be threatened as well by electrification, so I wouldn't necessarily let them off the hook either.

There are a lot of relatively high paying jobs at stake in any transition. Transition can also bring prosperity in new ways, however. We just have to be willing to except change.

Ethiopia is willing to take the gamble for electrification in spite of reliability problems with the power grid there.

Still, the power supply is improving in Ethiopia, due to the new Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. From what I read, Ethiopia gets 97% of it's electricity from hydropower, though there are problems with distribution, having enough charging stations and so forth. Home solar panels can help also.

The electric cars work better in urban areas where there are more charging stations.

I would guess electric bikes are used also. The US does have lots of electric bikes in use; possibly seen as less of a threat to US auto industry than inexpensive Chinese electric cars.

Even old fashioned gasoline can be difficult to get in Ethiopia with long lines at petrol stations. The country imports oil.

Article in Sept. 12 2025 The Guardian. Powering up: how Ethiopia is becoming an unlikely leader in the electric vehicle revolution.

Standing by US supporters in adversarial nations does have its risks though it may still be the right thing to do.

In the news, I read that the suspect who shot at National Guard troops in Washington DC was from Afghanistan. Someone who had been involved with CIA helping US troops during that war. Allowed to immigrate to US after the war as part of US efforts not to turn our backs on those who have helped us overseas.

During that war, I remember the term "green on blue violence." That was when a few Afghans that were cooperating with US forces turned on the US solders. War is a dirty and messy thing.

I also read that the suspect has lived in Bellingham, which doesn't really matter, except that since I live in Bellingham, that puts a local twist and spotlight on this item of national news.

In another universe, Bellingham's central waterfront could have gotten a boost from WWU's housing needs.

Hindsight is better than foresight. I got to thinking maybe they should have built more housing for WWU students in the central waterfront district where Georgia Pacific used to be. WWU doesn't have much room for new dorms so several big student focused apartment complexes were recently built in Bellingham. One of the large complexes is Stateside while the other has a new name called The Wilder. See below.

Passing by large Stateside Apartment Complex between State Street and Bellingham's South Bay Trail.

An early waterfront plan called for WWU to relocate it's Environmental Sciences College at the new waterfront and even connect it to main campus with a gondola. I think the gondola plan ended, in part, due to NIMBY neighbors under it's proposed path.

Meanwhile the Environmental Sciences plan fell though around the 2009 economic crash and some state budget cuts. Since then, those two new housing projects were built on both State and Garden Streets.

Maybe they are better where they are now as they are closer to WWU than the waterfront district, but I tend to brainstorm about stuff like this. They could have provided more things for developing the waterfront area; especially if the gondola was there. Dream on.