Body of letter: The positions taken by our incumbent congressional representative, Val Hoyle, and her Republican opponent differ clearly in many areas, but nowhere are their differences more dramatic than in their views on the dangers posed by climate change, the need to protect our environment and our urgent need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

During her first term as our representative, Val Hoyle has championed the halt to fossil fuel leasing on federal public lands and has vigorously pushed to secure the federal investments necessary to make Oregon a leader in renewable energy generation. In accordance with Trump’s belief that climate change is a “hoax,” her MAGA-aligned opponent has made her opposition to those efforts a central plank in her platform.

Hoyle’s strong advocacy on climate issues, along with her efforts in leading the Social Security Expansion Act, her work toward reducing the cost of prescription drugs, her support for women’s reproductive rights, and her efforts in addressing the problems of homelessness and the lack of affordable housing have made for a remarkably productive and impressive first term as our Washington representative.

The return of Val Hoyle to congress will be critical to efforts to wrest control of the House of Representatives from the MAGA extremists who have used their majority to bludgeon progressive and centrist legislation. For the sake of our environment, for the sake of preserving women’s reproductive rights, for the sake of rejecting the politics of Trump and his congressional supporters, please join me in voting to re-elect Val Hoyle to the U.S. House of Representatives.

—Eliot Sekuler
Gleneden Beach