In Oregon, in the current 2025 legislative session, the Climate Change junk and jug band is playing very loudly, and our rabid environmental Democrat legislators are full into their dance of the vanities.

We have had Senator Jeff Golden, Democrat (District 3 - Ashland), tell us if we give him the kicker, he will guarantee there will be no more wildfires

As the dance progresses and the music gets more frenzied, for lack of a better word, the climate change idiocy intensifies.

SB 526, sponsored by Senator Deb Patterson, Democrat (District 10 - Salem),​ prohibits selling new clothes washers without a filter for tiny fibers starting in 2030.

“Researchers at Portland State University and Oregon State University published a study in January that found microplastics in the edible tissue of several Pacific Northwest fish and seafood species, including the iconic Chinook salmon. Researchers also found microplastics in black rockfish, lingcod, Pacific herring, Pacific lamprey, and pink shrimp.”

A study from Oregon State University has linked washing machines to microplastics in fish. At least, that is the premise of SB 526. But let's ask a few questions, shall we.

Throughout Oregon, there are thousands, if not millions, of PVC plastic water pipes; we see them being laid everywhere in new construction, old water pipe replacement projects just about everywhere, and any projects with water, sewage, or sanitation drainage. So, how can lawmakers pinpoint the source of these microplastics in citizens' washing machines? Is it possible, with new plastic pipes, that is a leeching out of microplastics? What about when a cut needs to be made to the PVC pipe? Are all the saw remnants cleaned up, or do they remain in the water, sanitation, or sewage lines? Do they float out into the lake, river, or ocean? According to this poorly written, feel-good climate bill, the only plausible source of microplastics is the citizens' washing machines. I offer the whole Oregon water system as a possible source. Should we also put microfilters on all those PVC pipes?

In Oregon, we have rabid environmentalists pushing new laws and regulations that drive businesses out of the state and Democratic legislators who are either too timid or can’t be bothered to ask pertinent probing questions about green climate change proposals that only point to the citizens' homes, farms, and ranches while ignoring other possible sources of the problems. I call this the dance of the vanities because it seems we have so many vain Democrat legislators in Oregon who think every problem has one answer: more costly regulations that only offer one source of solutions. When will they learn Mother Nature dances to her music, and she is not dialed into their station?

John Woods: Father, Husband, Patriot, Activist, Delegate to the Oregon Republican Party.

Image: Oregon DoT