4A
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2019
The Observer
OTHER VIEWS FROM
THE ALBANY DEMOCRAT-HERALD
Special session? Sure,
but keep it focused
Gov. Kate Brown says she’s ready to call for a special legisla-
tive session to make sure that a new law limiting the use of
the death penalty won’t apply to old cases.
During a telephone call with reporters last week, Brown
added some asterisks: She said she would call for the ses-
sion if one of the law’s key supporters, Sen. Floyd Prozanski,
D-Eugene, is able to craft the language for what she called a
“very narrow fi x” for the bill and if there was enough support
for the fi x to pass in the Legislature. The likely time for such a
session would be during the week of Sept. 16, when legislative
committees are scheduled to meet anyway.
In general, it’s wise for these special sessions to be tightly
focused and very limited in their scope: This isn’t the time, for
example, for proponents of cap-and-trade carbon legislation
to renew their case, even though some advocates are kick-
ing around that possibility. (Besides, that effort should await
efforts by the governor to reach out to the rural portions of
Oregon where opposition to the cap-and-trade measure crys-
tallized.)
In any event, Prozanski has his work cut out for him over the
next couple of weeks: Even though this looks like it should be
a relatively easy fi x, the path to fi xing the death penalty bill,
Senate Bill 1013, faces a number of potential pitfalls — as we
learned during the last days of this year’s legislative session.
The bill in question was ingeniously structured to limit the
crimes for which the death penalty can be invoked without
referring the question to voters. Under Oregon law, only the
crime of “aggravated murder” can be punished by death. Sen-
ate Bill 1013 reduces the number of crimes that qualify as
aggravated murder. Under the terms of the bill, aggravated
murder can only be charged in cases in which a defendant
kills two or more people as an act of organized terrorism; kills
a child younger than 14 intentionally and with premeditation;
kills another person while incarcerated for a previous aggra-
vated murder; or kills a law enforcement offi cer. Other crimes
that used to be included on the list of aggravated murder are
now classifi ed as “fi rst-degree murder,” and the maximum
penalty for those is life imprisonment without parole.
Most legislators and the governor, who signed the bill, be-
lieved that it wasn’t intended to be retroactive; that is, it would
not apply to the 30 inmates on Oregon’s death row. But legal
analysts determined that it could apply to death row cases
which were returned to lower courts for retrial or new sentenc-
ing hearings — and that could affect those 30 cases, since not
of them has exhausted their appeals.
Prozanski said last week that he will press for the bill to
apply only in cases when the crime is committed after Sept. 29
of this year, which would seem to be suffi cient to clear up any
misinterpretation.
Whether he can get the necessary votes to move the fi x
quickly through a special session, however, is not at all clear.
Republican legislators last week were not encouraging. House
Republican Leader Carl Wilson of Grants Pass said that rush-
ing the bill through the Legislature in a “compressed process”
is the “last thing we should do in this situation.” Wilson said
the best bet might be to repeal the bill.
But it seems doubtful that Republicans have the votes to
do that, unless a suffi cient number of Democrats are steamed
about being misinformed about the retroactive nature of the
bill.
The best course available to legislators now is to give Prozan-
ski some running room to fi x the bill. If he succeeds at that task
on a very tight time frame, legislators should approve the fi x.
But the discussion shouldn’t end there: Legislators should
work in next year’s short session on referring the broader
question to voters: Should Oregon do away with the death pen-
alty entirely? It’s time to the let Oregon citizens join this vital
debate.
B2H project faces strong
opposition from Eastern Oregon
S
tiff opposition led by the STOP
B2H Coalition has directly
challenged Idaho Power’s quest to
build the Boardman to Hemingway
transmission line and condemn
Eastern Oregon lands. The Oregon
Department of Energy received
about a thousand public comments
on the B2H by the Aug. 22 dead-
line, according to the ODOE staff.
This was the fi nal deadline for the
public, state agencies and local
governments to fi le comments on
the B2H within the state’s permit-
ting process.
STOP B2H’s comments on this
controversial 300-mile 250-foot-
wide clear-cut through fi ve Eastern
Oregon counties cover a wide
range of non-compliant issues and
concerns, so many that the STOP
B2H Coalition claims Oregon’s
state siting standards cannot be
met; therefore the project is not
permittable.
Idaho Power, and its partners,
Pacifi c Corp and Bonneville Power
Administration, stand to gain huge
profi ts on the backs of rate-payers
for at least 30 years. In addition to
the guaranteed 6.7% rate of return
on construction investments ($1.2
billion), there is a profi t incentive
to overbuild the transmission line
so additional fees can be charged to
move surplus energy to the energy
imbalance market for shareholder
profi t. Idaho Power might be able
to justify its interest in 21% the
project, but the full B2H project
does not meet the “need standard”
under Oregon’s statutes and
administrative rules for a project
of this nature. The state must deny
the project.
A blanket exemption to the state
noise standards is being requested
by Idaho Power. Meanwhile 36 Or-
egonians’ homes will exceed these
standards if this line is ever built.
Furthermore, corona noise model-
ing protocols were not followed
correctly in at least 83 additional
residences and two recreation ar-
eas. Threatened fi sh (like bull trout
and Chinook salmon) and plants
(like those in state Rare Plant pro-
gram) went conveniently unnoticed
or unstudied by Idaho Power and
ODOE but are identifi ed by STOP
B2H in its comments.
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Stopped account balances less than $5 will
be refunded upon request.
Subscription rates per month:
By carrier...............................................$11.80
By mail, all other U.S. .............................. $15
A division of
My Voice
The STOP B2H Coalition has
a stated purpose to “fi ght the
proposed B2H transmission
line through NE Oregon.”
My Voice columns should
be 500 to 750 words.
Submissions should include
a portrait-type photograph
of the author. Authors also
should include their full name,
age, occupation and relevant
organizational memberships.
Send columns to La Grande
Observer, 1406 Fifth St., La
Grande 97850, fax them to
541-963-7804 or email them to
news@lagrandeobserver.com.
required of any property owner in
the counties.
Weeds, increased vandalism and
fire risks are not the only problem
that would be caused by the ex-
tensive land disturbance. Carbon
will be released with the cutting of
mature timber and the disturbance
of 5,704.5 acres of vegetative cover.
This is a clear violation of Oregon’s
Climate Goals, and it is not even being
measured or assessed. The release
of carbon and loss of sequestration
potential (from land disturbance, soil
mitigations, timber and vegetative
removal, slash burning, etc.) causing
the long-term removal of “carbon
sinks” from the environmental (ability
of soils and plants to absorb more car-
bon than released as carbon dioxide)
are not part of the current ODOE
standards and they should be.
The full set of comments from the
STOP B2H Coalition can be found at
www.stopb2h.org. Idaho Power has
30 days to respond to the public’s tes-
timony and written comments (the
hearing transcripts can be found on
the ODOE-B2H website). The writ-
ten public comments will be avail-
able soon, according to ODOE. First,
they will publish a spreadsheet with
a list of commenters. The comment-
ing public should review this list to
be sure that ODOE received your
comments. If not, you are advised to
contact ODOE immediately. As one
can imagine with processing 1,000
comments, oversights are likely to
occur.
STAFF
Phone:
SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE
NEWSSTAND PRICE: $1.50
You can save up to 34% off the single-copy
price with home delivery.
Call 541-963-3161 to subscribe.
The irreplaceable Oregon Trail
Interpretive Center, Blue Moun-
tain Crossing and Morgan Lake
and Hilgard State Parks and
campgrounds will be invaded by
the sight and the noise of crack-
ling transmission towers. And the
beautiful Grande Ronde Valley
viewshed could be transformed
into an industrial eyesore. Por-
tions of the route, on the west
hills of the Grande Ronde Valley,
would be built on a fault line with
known landslides underneath
towers violating geologic and soil
standards. Blasting above known
slides, the Grande Ronde Hospital,
domestic wells and neighborhoods
were some of the concerns raised by
STOP B2H as well as many private
residents in the area.
Fire risks are another big con-
cern, particularly in La Grande,
where the proposed route will come
within half a mile of town, the
hospital, grade schools and densely
populated neighborhoods. Climate
and drought-stressed forests cou-
pled with images of Paradise, Cali-
fornia, and electric transmission
weigh heavy on the minds of the
residents of these neighborhoods.
STOP B2H contends that the Draft
Fire Prevention and Suppression
Plan is totally unacceptable.
If the B2H is ever built, the
1,200 towers could carry 500MW
of energy, for which tariffs can
be charged, raising the cost of
renewable energy and adding to
the company’s profi t. Towers will
vary in height from 130 to 190
feet. More than 430 miles of new
and substantially modifi ed roads
would be carved and bladed across
the landscape on predominantly
private lands. These new roads and
the full 670 miles of access roads
will create a weed infestation that
will decimate native plant com-
munities and cost farmers, private
landowners, conservation proper-
ties and counties millions of dollars.
After the fi rst fi ve years of weed
monitoring, Idaho Power claims no
further responsibility. The Noxious
Weed Plan is inadequate. Counties
are also demanding that the state
require Idaho Power to maintain
responsibility for weeds for the life
of the project — just as it would be
541-963-3161
An independent newspaper founded in 1896
(USPS 299-260)
The Observer reserves the right to adjust subscription
rates by giving prepaid and mail subscribers 30 days
notice. Periodicals postage paid at La Grande, Oregon
97850. Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
(except Dec. 25) by EO Media Group,
1406 Fifth St., La Grande, OR 97850 (USPS 299-260)
COPYRIGHT © 2019
THE OBSERVER
The Observer retains ownership and copyright
protection of all staff-prepared news copy, advertising
copy, photos and news or ad illustrations. They may
not be reproduced without explicit prior approval.
Toll free (Oregon):
1-800-422-3110
Fax: 541-963-7804
Email:
news@lagrandeobserver.com
Website:
www.lagrandeobserver.com
Street address:
1406 Fifth St., La Grande
POSTMASTER
Send address changes to:
The Observer, 1406 Fifth St.,
La Grande, OR 97850
Periodicals postage paid at:
La Grande, Oregon 97850
Publisher........................................Karrine Brogoitti
Home delivery advisor.................Amanda Fredrick
Regional circulation director ....................Kelli Craft
Customer service rep ......................... Mollie Lynch
News clerk....................................Lisa Lester Kelly
Advertising representative...............Juli Bloodgood
Sports editor .......................................Ronald Bond
Advertising representative...................... Amy Horn
Reporter................................................Dick Mason
Graphic design supervisor................Dorothy Kautz
Reporter....................................Sabrina Thompson
Graphic design ..............................Cheryl Christian
Classifieds ........................................ Devi Mathson
Chris Rush, Regional Publisher