Quinault leader right on water

I don’t usually fully agree with Fawn Sharp’s columns in The Daily World but her July 29 letter regarding the Hirst Decision on water and water rights was spot on and beautifully written. She is always a most eloquent writer even when I do not agree with what she has to say.

She states that water is a finite resource and until we come to respect that and use it properly, we will all suffer. We cannot continue to dig wells and expect there not to be consequences. Our ground water, streams and rivers and all resources they support are not expendable. We have an obligation to protect them for not only ourselves but for those who come after us.

When I was a teenager in the ’60s, my mother warned us that the next world war would not be over oil and what we use it for but rather potable water. She told us we must respect it as a finite resource, protect it and not take it for granted. Quinault President Fawn Sharp said exactly the same thing in her letter, only 50 years later.

She also addressed the human overpopulation issue and the stresses it places on all of our resources. Until we learn that we can no longer have as many children as each of us wishes, no matter how much we love them and care for them, we will all collectively suffer. Every human being born requires clean water, clear air and a place to live. We are in essence a cancer on the land; pillaging, plundering and taking, offering little back in return to the planet.

The only way I see to get this under control is that rather than a tax credit for each child a couple has, there be a tax penalty above and beyond “replacement” value of the couple. People listen when you hit them in the pocket book. We are in deep trouble on many fronts folks, our collective survival is currently under siege, and until people realize overpopulation is at the root of many, if not all of our issues we face, we will all collectively suffer.

Once again, thank you Ms. Sharp for your excellent editorial. I wish more folks could see the greater picture.

Alan D. Rammer

Montesano