FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2015
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion / Politics
— Editorial —
The sick
encyclical
We watched our social media feeds
with interest this week in response to
the Pope’s encyclical—not all of it,
because the mainstream media seemed
to focus on about 5% of what he said—
specifically the part about the world’s
supposed climate change crisis.
The response was divided.
On one hand we saw twenty-some-
things, the entitled kind whose families
pay for their social activities, travels and
$200 cell phones while they’ve never
held down a steady job in their lives.
They think this Pope “is, like, the best
one evah!”
On the other hand, we saw Catholics,
the kind who work hard and want to
raise their families according to the
teachings of their church. For the most
part, this group is not pleased.
We can understand the frustration.
See, this Pope has a Chief Scientific
Advisor. The problem is that this “advi-
sor” has a lifelong, one-sided agenda.
Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
from Germany is a militant environ-
mentalist, a physicist by education, and
activist by trade.
He’s as far from an objective advisor
as one could get.
He believes governments should ban
the use of all fossil fuels immediately.
He has stated several times that he
believes the German government, and
all governments for that matter, should
abdicate some of their executive power,
relinquishing it instead to a select group
of scientists—namely his group. (Mad
scientist, anyone?)
He said 20 years ago, and then 10
years ago that he felt climate change
would destroy the world 10 years hence,
taking up to “6 billion lives” with it.
And somehow, through his interna-
tional political connections, this loon
has wheedled his way into the Vatican.
Schellnhuber is no real mystery.
But we wonder who advised the
Pope, who happens to be protected by
the armed Swiss Guard, that those who
manufacture firearms aren’t Christian?
Conservative churches have been un-
der attack by progressives for decades.
But somehow we get the feeling that
they’ve moved on to Plan B: Rotting
the Catholic Church’s key tenets from
the inside out—and from the top down.
We hope the Pope will step away from
the pressure of political correctness and
shift back to the kind of wisdom those
in his church seek. We see a little of it
peeking out from inside the pages of the
encyclical the media ignored.
—The Baker County Press Editorial Board
— Letters to the Editor —
USFS thinks informed people
are dangerous
To the Editor:
The U.S. Forest Service has sunk to a
new low in Eastern Oregon, that is, they
have decided that you are too danger-
ous a group of people to be informed as
to what roads they plan to close in your
mountains. How do I know that? Because
I have received a response telling me so.
While they put out propaganda of how
they want to engage with you on the
national forest, but when I or anyone else
requests documents to engage, we are told
we may cause “injury to the quality of the
agency decision.” Let me emphasize, we,
the people of Eastern Oregon may cause
injury because we received a document to
educate ourselves with.
Much like the mullahs in the mosques of
Afghanistan, the Forest Service means to
keep you ignorant as to what is going on
around you. Communities and citizens
are easier to control if they are kept from
the truth of what’s going on around them
and the decisions a few are making for the
larger population. See, you/we/I are too
dumb, too backward, too unenlightened
to understand the complexities of such
ecological process, or are we?
I have a college education in natural re-
sources. I know that water flows downhill
and that active management techniques
play a greater role in meeting the public’s
needs than exclusion of use. I know that
there is a “tread lightly” campaign being
pushed by a small minority on the upper
echelons of the Forest Service where man
is looked at as a disease on the landscape
and not a part of it. But most importantly
I know this. You and I are not dumb, back-
ward or unenlightened.
It’s a lie, and we are dealing with liars
in the leadership positions of the Forest
Service, from the supervisor’s office up.
If you want to keep your mountains open
you are going to have to dig in.
John George
Bates
Self-service gas bill
becomes law
SALEM—House Bill
3011, brought by Repre-
sentative Cliff Bentz (R-
Ontario), has passed the
House, Senate, and was
signed into law by Gover-
nor Kate Brown yesterday.
The bill allows Orego-
nians to “self-serve” gaso-
line at rural gas stations
between the hours of 6:00
p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
Rep. Bentz said: “This is
a good day for those who
find themselves low on gas
in remote parts of Oregon
late at night. No longer
will they have to wait until
the next day for a station
to open.
Instead, they will be
able to serve themselves
at those gas stations which
choose to install selfserve
pumps.”
The bill addresses the
all too common occurrence
in Eastern Oregon, where
hundreds of miles can
separate gas stations, many
of which do not stay open
24-hours per day. Travel-
ers driving across the vast
spaces of Eastern Oregon
who are unfamiliar with
long distances between
stations and the fact that
gas is not available 24/7 in
many of Eastern Oregon’s
small towns, can become
stranded, having to wait
until a station opens in the
morning.
“Gas station owners, and
sometimes ranchers and
farmers, are awakened by
stranded travelers pound-
ing on their doors in the
middle of the night to
come out and pump gas,”
Letter to the Editor Policy: The Baker
County Press reserves the right not to pub-
lish letters containing factual falsehoods or
incoherent narrative. Letters promoting or
detracting from specific for-profit business-
es will not be published. Word limit is 375
words per letter. Letters are limited to one
every other week per author. Letters should
be submitted to Editor@TheBakerCounty-
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Advertising and Opinion Page Dis-
claimer: Opinions submitted as Guest
said Rep. Bentz.
The bill applies to only
those counties with a popu-
lation of less than 40,000
people.
Paul Romain, Executive
Director of the Oregon Fu-
els Association, said: “The
Oregon Fuels Association
commends Representative
Bentz for his leadership
in making sure that fuel
is available to motorists
in the rural parts of our
state at all hours. House
Bill 3011 goes a long way
to ensure that people who
need gasoline at night will
have adequate access to
fueling stations.”
House Bill 3011 was
signed into law by the
Governor on June 23rd.
Opinions or Letters to the Editor express
the opinions of their authors, and have not
been authored by and are not necessarily
the opinions of The Baker County Press, any
of our staff, management, independent
contractors or affiliates. Advertisements
placed by political groups, candidates,
businesses, etc., are printed as a paid
service, which does not constitute an
endorsement of or fulfillment obligation
by this newspaper for the products or
services advertised.
— Guest Opinion —
Federal water
grab must be
checked
By Sen. Mike Crapo
In the face of unprecedented opposi-
tion from small businesses, agriculture
groups, lawmakers on both sides of
the aisle and many other Americans,
the Administration is moving forward
in finalizing the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) efforts to
wrongly assert jurisdiction over nearly
all waters of the United States.
The Administration’s water grab is
harmful to our economy, inconsistent
with the intent of the Clean Water
Act (CWA), subverts state water
sovereignty and jeopardizes private
property rights. Congress must act
immediately on S. 1140, the Federal
Water Quality Protection Act, bipar-
tisan legislation that would rein in
EPA’s misguided attempt to exceed the
bounds of its statutory power.
Through the“Waters of the United
States” Rule finalized on May 27,
2015 by the EPA and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers (Corps), the
Administration is greatly increasing
the regulatory power of the federal
government under the CWA altering
the scope of this law byasserting juris-
diction over all waters of the United
States. The EPA’s action significantly
expands federal authority, allowing
the agency to regulate nearly every
stream, ditch, pond, puddle and other
local water bodies.
I joined 37 other Senators, including
fellow Idaho Senator Jim Risch, in co-
sponsoring S. 1140 that would prevent
implementation of the final “Waters of
the United States” rule and direct the
EPA and Corps to redo the final rule
following commonsense principles.
The legislation stipulates that any new
rule must adhere to the principles that
waters of the U.S. are limited to truly
navigable waters, including streams
identified as drinking water sources,
wetlands protecting water sources and
not the isolated ponds; stormwater,
floodwater and wastewater manage-
ment systems; agricultural irrigation
systems and virtually all other non-
navigable water bodies that the agen-
cies are seeking to control.
The EPA’s jurisdictional grab of
our waterways violates its statutory
authority and congressional intent.
Under our constitutional system, the
states, not the federal government,
have always had primary jurisdiction
over the allocation, management and
use of water. The federal govern-
ment’s jurisdiction has been limited
Submitted Photo
Michael Dean “Mike” Crapo is the
senior United States Senator from
the state of Idaho, in office since
1999. A Republican, he previously
served as the United States Repre-
sentative for Idaho’s 2nd congres-
sional district from 1993 to 1999.
under the CWAto navigable waters.
Past legislation to exert federal control
over non-navigable waters has not
been enacted into law. I have helped
block it in the U.S. Senate. Lacking
congressionally-authorized authority,
the Administration is side-stepping
Congress and the American people
and acting unilaterally to take over our
water.
This legislation would make the
limitations on the federal govern-
ment’s authority over our water even
more clear.
Protection of our drinking water
sources must be maintained. How-
ever, the Administration taking control
of waters that were not meant to be
under the federal government’s control
is not the answer. Further, the Admin-
istration must consult with the states
to ensure that any new guidelines do
not carry unnecessary burdens that do
not result in appreciable benefits for
protecting our waterways.
This legislation is meant to help
make sure that occurs and America’s
small businesses, farmers and ranch-
ers do not get further trampled under
the weight of heavy-handed federal
mandates.
In May, the U.S. House of Represen-
tatives passed legislation requiring the
Administration to withdraw the rule
and setting guidelines for any future
rule. As a member of the Senate
Environment and Public Works Com-
mittee, I supported the committee’s
recent passage of S. 1140 out of the
committee.
Now, the Senate must act to en-
sure that this Administration is not
unchecked in its trampling of state
water sovereignty and infringement on
property rights. Enactment of S. 1140
would be a step in the right direction
to controlling this unwarranted expan-
sion of federal control.
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Copyright © 2014
YOUR ELECTED
OFFICIALS
President Barack Obama
202.456.1414
202.456.2461 fax
Whitehouse.gov/contact
US Sen. Jeff Merkley
503.326.3386
503.326.2900 fax
Merkley.Senate.gov
US Sen. Ron Wyden
541.962.7691
Wyden.Senate.gov
US Rep. Greg Walden
541.624.2400
541.624.2402 fax
Walden.House.gov
Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown
503.378.3111
Governor.Oregon.gov
State Rep. Cliff Bentz
503.986.1460
State Sen. Ted Ferrioli
541.490.6528
Baker County
Commissioners Bill Harvey;
Mark Bennett; Tim Kerns
541.523.8200
541.523.8201