Opinion
A4
Saturday, August 7, 2021
OUR VIEW
Mask mandate
puts schools
into spotlight
ast week, our school-age children and
youth were once again thrust into the
center of the COVID-19 pandemic when
Gov. Kate Brown ordered new mask mandates for
K-12 students.
Our students shouldn’t be there. Nor should
our teachers and administrators.
Yet, they are. And while it is disappointing
and creates new questions about local control, the
governor’s decision was the right one — for now.
Still, the new mandates potentially push stu-
dents and teachers and administrators into the
middle of what is essentially a cultural/political
debate regarding vaccinations and the seriousness
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is also the risk that many parents — for
various reasons — will keep their students away
from education centers because they do not agree
with the mask mandate. If so, that doesn’t help
local school districts’ eff orts to provide our youth
with the best education possible.
Another piece that complicates this new par-
adigm is that children younger than 12 are still
ineligible to be vaccinated.
Last week, Intermountain Education Service
District Superintendent Mark Mulvihill said the
new mask mandate puts schools “in the cross-
hairs” of an issue that has polarized America.
He rightly was concerned about how much
more pressure will be placed on teachers and
school administrators to enforce a new mask
requirement.
Hermiston School District Superintendent
Tricia Mooney’s suggestion that communities
will need to work together to support students
was probably the best advice for a situation that
continues to be complicated and frustrating.
As a community, regardless of where we stand
on vaccinations and masks, we should work to be
as helpful as possible to our local schools.
We need to remember that the teachers, super-
intendents and other school offi cials are not
responsible for the mask mandate. They, like all
state agencies, must obey the orders of the gov-
ernor. They don’t have the option of ignoring her
mandate.
Our students and their teachers should not
be in the middle of this political/cultural debate
about COVID-19 and vaccinations. However,
as cases climb, and vaccination rates continue
to lag, we now face a new COVID-19 crisis. No
one wants to return to the draconian restrictions
instituted by the governor last year in the state’s
eff orts to curb the spread of what has proven to be
a deadly virus. We must all work hard to ensure
we do not.
Meanwhile, we must give our local school dis-
tricts, teachers and administrators all the help we
can as they struggle to work through yet another
COVID-19 challenge while simultaneously edu-
cating our children.
L
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Infrastructure bill is key to
reducing rate of climate change
CHUCK
LEBOLD
OTHER VIEWS
ecently we have witnessed
infrastructure weaknesses
and failures associated with
a changing climate and new cyber
technologies adding credence to a
call for a comprehensive updating
and refi ning of our defi nition of what
should constitute our infrastructure.
We have dams failing due to more
frequent extreme weather events,
bridges way past design life and with
insuffi cient design capabilities, and
electrical grid failures due to inad-
equate design standards when sub-
jected to extreme weather events
— all with life-threatening conse-
quences — plus failures of major
infrastructure systems due to our
lack of cybersecurity, and large-
scale coastal restoration due to sea-
level rise coupled with more intense
storms.
Upgrading our rail systems to
handle high-speed rail transportation
and siting of large-scale renewable
energy sources will require involve-
ment of informed citizens on a scale
not seen in recent memory. We
have large grassroots organizations
becoming more active but need help
from elected offi cials in the form of
public information programs and
calls to action.
The infrastructure bill currently
being considered by Congress is
off ering a diff erent way of thinking
about what America needs to func-
tion and thrive in today’s world and
into the future.
R
Two main goals of this bill are
to move us toward a more sus-
tainable and just economy and to
address threats to our national secu-
rity through a transition to clean
renewable energy. These goals will
help justify and guide our deci-
sions on budget priorities especially
as criteria evolves for the design of
eff ective projects to alleviate the
potential impacts of global climate
change.
The scope of elements contained
in this bill are far wider ranging than
in previous bills. This new more
comprehensive mix of elements
attempts to provide resources nec-
essary for implementation of addi-
tional considerations meant to cor-
rect or alleviate existing social and
environmental inequities and help
transition away from fossil fuel as
our primary energy sources.
The debating of this bill holds
value not only in creating well-rea-
soned and defensible projects in
function and scope but, in my view,
holds a larger value by illustrating
in a practical manner the complex
nature of a national infrastructure
capable of meeting the above listed
goals.
The urgency of this transitioning
from fossil fuels requires a respon-
sible citizen to become part of the
debate through dialogue with your
elected offi cials. We will be respon-
sible for the “heavy lifting” if we are
to adhere to the recommended tra-
jectory of Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
reductions set forth by the Intergov-
ernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC).
Our elected leadership, at all
levels, has not shown the will to
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address Climate Change (CC) in
any signifi cant manner. These
delaying tactics have not only posi-
tioned us so that appropriate actions
will be more radical than if we had
begun the transition 40 years ear-
lier, but also, in light of recom-
mendations provided by the IPCC
regarding urgency, have severely
limited our ability to compro-
mise on time frames. You will fre-
quently hear many actions described
as “radical,” but keep in mind that
the more important descriptor is
“appropriate.”
Considering America’s economic
development and current global
ranking (No. 1) I feel we have an
obligation to assume a leadership
role in the global eff ort to reduce
the rate of human-induced climate
change. My hope is that we “baby
boomers” acknowledge our role in
the problem and invest money and
our infl uence in the solutions that
will provide a livable future for our
children.
In closing I ask you to review
the infrastructure bill and, as you
encounter seemingly disassociated
projects or elements, think about
how they may be related in the con-
text of redesigning our economy to
be more just and sustainable. I feel
this little exercise will help you pro-
vide informed feedback to your
elected offi cials. This is an “all-
hands-on-deck” eff ort with no time
for delay.
———
Chuck LeBold, of Union, is a
retired civil engineering technician
with concerns regarding the poten-
tial impacts to Union County from
human-induced climate change.
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