The evil Left?

I plan on putting solar panels on my house at some point. The prices (at least they had a few months ago) have come down so much that the return on investment is roughly 10 years or so.

After that, I’ll have no electric bill, or a very small one, depending on the month.

This is possible because the good folks at Flathead Electric Co-op allow homeowners to have “net metering” which, in essence, means I can run my electric meter backwards when my solar panels are cranking out the energy.

My house has a rather large south facing roof, which makes this all possible.

I also figure I’ll get an electric car, or at least a hybrid. Seems like a good fit for someone who drives to Glacier Park and back almost every day.

I did not know that those two things will run me afoul of the wise and honorable Congressman Matt Rosendale. Rosendale sent out a press release critical of the recently passed $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.

I fully admit, it is more money than I can really imagine.

But Rosendale’s beefs over some portions of the bill had me smiling.

(By the way, his staff has reached out to me a couple of times in the past year or so, but I haven’t replied, not because I’m old and cranky (I am) but because they insist on calling me Rick. Who the heck is Rick?)

Rosendale doesn’t like the $80 million in the bill for solar energy, or the $100 million for wind energy. OK, fair enough. You’re an oil guy, I get it.

I own a diesel pickup truck, so I guess I’m a half oil guy.

But the good Congressman seems to be stretching things a bit. He opposes the Safe Routes to Schools program. The program, last I checked, was for paths and sidewalks and traffic lights so kids could walks safely to school.

(If memory serves me right, the 12th Avenue West crossing light on Highway 2 was paid for, at least in part, through the program. Because the good people of Columbia Falls kinda, sorta thought it was better than kids dodging logging trucks and SUVs on their way to Ruder Elementary every morning.)

But this is what the good Congressman had to say about the program.

“This program uses our children as pawns to advance the Left’s radical climate change agenda. Not to mention, throwing millions of dollars at projects to encourage our children to walk to school is impractical in most areas of the country,” he said.

Really? Last I checked there were a whole bunch of kids from Columbia Falls that rode their bikes or walked to school every day. In fact, if you live within about three miles of the school, you can’t even get a bus ride, even if you want one.

Rosendale was also rankled by a program to reduce or stop roadkills along major highways. The last I checked, at least 10 grizzly bears were hit by cars this year. Just the other night I watched as a deer with broken hind legs crawled across Highway 2 to its death.

The wildlife carnage on our highways is an acute problem and largely preventable. Not to mention, the additional cost we pay for car insurance every year.

But the good Congressman had this to say:

“This is part of the Left’s environmental agenda to improve ‘habitat connectivity for terrestrial and aquatic species.’”

Yes, it probably is a good idea to have connectivity. Deer should be able to have safe passage. Ditto for bears. They are God’s creatures after all.

I know what you’re thinking: Oh shutup, Rick.