EDITORIAL
Trojan’s closure gives
hope for energy future
When Portland General Electric Co. announced on
Jan. 5 that it was dosing its Trojan nuc lear power
plant, the definition of hypocrisy was rewritten.
Nearly two months to the day of the announce
ment, PGK convinced voters to defeat two ballot meas
ures that would have c losed the plant on either Jan. 2
or March 2. PGE spent $5 million to defeat the two
measure's, and offerer! its own alternative that would
have closer! the plant by 199ti
Six days after the election, the plant shut down
and has not been restarted since.
|*GK says the c losure was an ec onomic decision
The plant had become too expensive to c ontinue oper
ating, said PGK c hairman Ken Harrison. Harrison .-.ays
closing i ro|f»n win save
$•10 million In .$?>() mil
lion. The cost of (incom
missioning is $-100 million
to $500 million
One of the driving
questions in this case is
"why now?” What does
[Hi hi know now that it
didn’t know two months
ago?
To the people of Rain
er. whose er onomir life
blood was the Trojan
plant, the sudden closure
comes as something of a
near-fatal blow. At least
700 people in the town of
1.700 Will lost! inoir ions
by the end of the year. In November, many of these
workers ex pet ted to have three years to look for new
work.
POE could have better used the $5 million spoilt
fighting the t Insure initiatives to provide job retraining
and rolcx ation assistance to the soon to bo unemployed
workers.
Locally, the closure could result in a short-term in
crease in electro rates. The Eugene Water and bb'< trii
Hoard, at one time a .to pen ent owner of Trojan, has
already begun looking into building new power plants
locally. inr hiding a geothermal well and a wind farm
EWEH is also disi ussing selling power to l’(ih until
replacement power lor Trojan can be found. i*OE also
intends on expanding into alternative power plants, in
cluding wind and geothermal, but will generate most of
its replai emeu! power using natural gas
Whatever the future. Oregonians t ail at leas! put
the nuclear power controversy to rest. Oregon law pro
hibits the operation of any nuc leer power plant except
Trojan. Now. Oregon’s challenge will be to find alter
native sources of power without further damaging the
environment
PGE could have
better used the
$5 million spent
fighting the
closure initiatives
to provide job
retraining and
relocation
assistance to the
soon to be
unemployed
workers.
, ■**Emerald
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346-5511
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..,\€tM WEW *
SWM*EMBW7
■ Mn4i
Pen pals
Our fourthgrade class is col
lating inforination aliout the
t Inited Status We would like
I niiTnld readers to send us
post* ards or letters telling us
about the lustorv and places of
interest m your slate Also in
clude any interesting |>ersonal
experieni.es 1 hank you fur
helping us learn about our
i ountry
Ms. Palmer's class
Garden Hills Grade School
2001 Garden Hills Dr
Champaign, III. 61820
Foreign gyp
I am interested to know
whether the newly proposed
student survey will real h out to
all the Chinese l ^immunity Kd
ui ation students who an- lieing
suhsidi/ed by the state univer
sity system to study here at the
University lor a Irartion ol the
The ('.onimunity Ldui atom
I’rogr.im was set up to allow
I.ugene -Springfield residents to
participate in University class
es at affordable rates Why is
CHI’ available to foreign nation
als as a way to enter the I lilted
States under quasi student slat
us with tees per i redit hour less
than regular in state tuition?
The University 's student dire< •
lory liears witness to the num
ber of foreigners enrolled in
CHI’
Sonja Adams
Class of 1988
Inaugural hype
It seems as d Bobby Lee and
Karmen Fore are wasting their
time and money for the trip to
the inauguration of President
elei t Clinton
No wonder higher edui ation
has no friends these days —
w hat w ith the \ it e provost free
ly giving airfare for useless and
so-called lobbying trips to
Washington. IK I hope none
ol the Oregon legislators saw
this article [OPF, Ian til. whii h
really illustrates the hit admin
istrators fling around tor ASUO
officers.
Furthermore, going tc Wash
ington on the pretense of lobby
ing is outrageous These obvi
ously very influential lobbyists
from the University will defi
nitely have an impact on seno
tors and representatives who al
ways Inn <• mu h time for visits
from siudeiit ImhIv officers
I am disappointed that the
1 wim wanting replatement rev
enue is Iras cling 1,000 milfs
loo far to lobby for higher edu
cation. As Oregon's own legis
Intive session fa-gins. late and
l ore should ruin enirale on the
legislative body that has the
power to help, and not indulge
in the staged drama of inaugu
ral hype when there is work to
In* done at home
Richard Horswell
Eugene
Unaware
I was horrified as I read and
contemplated Stephanie Sis
son s column fan 11)
1 find it hard to believe that
in this "environmentally aware
era, someone is spewing dm
el like this m a i ollege newspa
per It s true, humanity is not
powerful enough to destroy the
earth |osl everything on it
"As the way we live shifts
from an agru ultural basis to
mechanical, the earth must
change with us " This opinion
was founded on an extremely
weak grip on global issues and
ideologies, and it is this kind of
uninformed, anthropoc entru
thinking that is solelv responsi
ble for the mess our generation
and those that follow fat e
today
Tiffany Isham
Fine Arts
Sing a song
A group of Eugene tolks,
more than a dozen strong, add
ed a spontaneous note to the
swearing-in ceremonies for our
new mayor. Ruth Base om, and
our three new (,‘ity Council
members. Nancy Nathanson.
Kevin Hornbuc kle and Barbara
Keller
We wanted to put those as
sembled (and you. the reader,
as well) on notice that strong,
positive- involvement by many
residents will occur vis-a-vis
our new ouiu.il Ac live-partic i
pation and. if necessary, grass
roots initiatives will be on our
agenda We believe dec enc v to
ward. and justice for all. is the
only basis for a truly prosper
ous c ity
What yve did was — when
the University c horus com lud
ed singing "America the Beau
tiful" — stand and sing a new
verse, written in the 1080s by
Pamela Haines. It goes
“O beautiful, for working
folk, wito forged the wealth we
see.
In farm and mill, in home
and school — unsung in histo
ry.
America' America! Mas rat e
nor sex nor creed.
No more divide, hut side by
side, all rise united, freed."
Our demonstrative rendition
svas well ret eived We invite all
to join with us in energizing the
now council to go where none
have gone to date, to begin to
make Eugene a truls livable
home for all residents. Your
partic ipation is invited.
As a start, attend the first
meeting of our renewed City
Council See Tln> KifgistiT
Cuaril tor the date and time of
the meeting, which is at the
council chambers in ( its Hall
l ast Hth Avenue lietsveen High
and Pearl streets
Paul Prensky
Eugene
Vet respect
No doubt Martin l.uther King
|r s birthday merits attention
The holiday commemorates the
birth ot a man whose principles
are of profound importance to
mans college students
I question, however, sshs
such attention is devoted to
this holiday at the University,
sshere 1 saw almost no mention
ot Veterans I las ()n Nos II
sse honor Attieru an veterans
and i elehrate the armistii e end
ing World War I Both deserve
solemn respei t
Aaron Ramsey
English
Goo goo
Stephanie Sisson's column
[()[)£. Ian 11) is teel-good froth
when she reassures people that
"business as usual" won't
ss rei k our <s oss stem
Currently ss e are going
through sv hat's called a
"spasm" of species extinction.
Will Sisson's goo-goo journal
ism bring one hack to life? Her
pap is just a temporary salve
tor the consciences of future
i orporate leaders among the
Emeralds readership
David Oaks
Eugene