PERSONALLY SPEAKING: SEN. DOUG ERICKSEN
“…I feel like I’m reading a chapter out of Atlas Shrugged, given the incredible frustration that job creators feel…. A lot of the fringe element that has become mainstream (has) this vision of everybody bicycling from hemp hut to hemp hut to drink green tea and read Noam Chomsky novels.” participate as chairs and co-chairs, so there’s definitely a way to do it together. But it’s very hard right now. In my conversations with business leaders I feel like I’m reading a chapter out of Atlas Shrugged, given the incredible frustration that job creators feel.
BREAKING POINT
SEN. ERICKSEN enjoyed scanning over a document after some lunchtime halibut-andchips at a grill on the Bellingham waterfront that gets his attention as chair of the Energy, Environment, and Communications Committee of the Washington State Senate. (Photo by Mike McKenzie)
language to try to paint an industry like oil, or nuclear, or berry farmers as evil polluters.
environmental benefit, but a very significant economic impact here at home that is not positive.
WORLD ENERGY LEADER
SEEKING COMPROMISE
Energy should be a job creator for us. If you want to build with a low carbon footprint, build it in Washington. Instead, we’re going down that path of Gov. (Jay) Inslee attempting to raise energy prices and drive manufacturing out of Washington state, which has no worldwide
When I paint broad strokes about the takeover of the Democratic Party by radical fringe elements, there are definitely Democrats in Olympia in the Senate and the House who are not. We have in the Senate a Majority Coalition Caucus. We’ve invited Democrats to
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They’re not ready to completely give up, but they’re getting close to a breaking point. They say, “If you’re going to keep doing this to me, we’re just going to close up. We’re going to automate. We’ll move our operations overseas. You can import the product from China instead of building it here in Whatcom County.” A lot of the fringe element that has become mainstream doesn’t recognize that. They have this vision of everybody bicycling from their hemp hut to hemp hut to drink green tea and read Noam Chomsky.
OIL AS EVIL The environmental industrial complex has become masters of creating venom, and using the mainstream media to build a following of their narrative. It’s very disappointing the way Gov. Inslee talks about the oil industry, which powers our economy, creates hundreds of thousands of jobs, and is