FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2016
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion
— Guest Opinion —
— Special Column —
So I was
thinking ...
Carbon
credits for
light rail:
Another
Salem
switcheroo
Strange
sights on the
pathway
Submitted Photo
By Jeff Gudman
Bureaucrats in Salem have
pulled the wool over taxpayers
eyes again.
The controversial Low Carbon
Fuel Standard (LCFS) is quietly
transforming into a secret sub-
sidy for existing light rail and
other mass transit, rather than
the intended purpose of lowering
emissions.
It was recently reported that
officials are considering allowing
existing streetcars, light rail and
electric bus lines in Portland and
Eugene to trade LCFS credits to
gas companies.
The goal of the law was to
compel fuel companies to pro-
duce cleaner gasoline.
Companies who invest in refin-
ing processes that reduce carbon
emission would get a “gold star”
(to use a grade school metaphor)
as a reward that they can then
sell to companies who didn’t.
The companies who buy the
gold star in order to sell their
dirtier fuels would then have a
higher cost basis, making the
cleaner fuel company more com-
petitive.
More gas stations will then
carry the cleaner, cheaper fuel.
Instead of buying gold stars,
the fuel companies were expect-
ed to eventually earn their own.
And over time that would prob-
ably happen.
Unless this turns out to be an-
other Salem Switcheroo.
Spoiler alert: It is.
Demonstrating a commitment
to green energy carries a heavy
price tag, and our streetcars, light
rail and electric buses don’t come
close to paying for themselves
with ridership alone.
Right now, payroll and self-
employment taxes fund about
half of Tri-Met’s operations. And
it’s not enough.
Officials at the Department of
Environmental Quality are now
considering allowing light rail,
streetcar and battery-powered
busses to participate in the LCFS
program.
This theme came around pre-
viously with the proposal to do
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Disclaimer: Opinions submitted
Jeff Gudman is a Lake Oswego City
Councilor and Republican candidate
for Oregon’s State Treasurer.
away with coal in Oregon—
which is a concept I support.
The Department of Environ-
mental Quality may soon be
granted authority to sell the same
“gold stars” that were supposed
to be earned by gas companies
that invest in making fuels clean-
er.
Here’s why that’s not fair: The
law was intended to incentivize
gas companies to make cleaner
fuel.
If they can buy credits from ex-
isting public transportation agen-
cies—they lose that incentive.
The transportation agency
doesn’t need to improve on any-
thing to receive the credit—their
systems are already in place, and
already heavily subsidized.
So what do you call a gifted
tax credit that can be sold on the
open market?
That’s right—a subsidy.
The state-wide Low Carbon
Fuel Standard becomes nothing
more than a gas tax secretly in-
tended to subsidize public transit
in two of our biggest cities.
Not many people invest the
time into understanding how car-
bon tax credits work—it’s boring
after all.
We elect people to represent
our best interests who are paid to
scrutinize these complex policy
issues and make good decisions.
Instead, they’re exploiting our
collective lack of comprehension
and playing three-card monte
with our money to fund their
personal agendas.
The proposal is a carbon in-
tensity reduction policy goal
wrapped up in an administra-
tively challenging program that
will provide an opportunity to be
manipulated by the chosen few.
Like most Oregonians, I’ve had
enough of Salem’s crony-capital-
ist politicians using our money to
help the well-connected benefit
from legislative and administra-
tive generosity.
The cost to you, according to
published estimates, is going to
be between 4¢ and 19¢ per gal-
lon at the pump.
as Guest Opinions or Letters to
the Editor express the opinions of
their authors, and have not been
authored by and are not necessar-
ily the opinions of The Baker County
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By Jimmy Ingram
Special to The Baker County Press
I love the Leo Adler pathway.
Living nearby has made it conve-
nient for me and my family to take
some nice walks, runs, and bike rides
over the last few years.
It’s a good place to catch a view of
the mountains, the Powder River, and
our beautiful downtown. It’s also a
place where I’ve seen some inexpli-
cable and unexpected things.
The man wearing a cape. Dear sir, I
apologize for seeming startled at first
glance but your red cape threw me off.
We were four months removed from
Halloween but I see your spirit lives
on.
For a moment I thought there was a
chance you were an actual superhero
but the marijuana leaf hat seemed to
say otherwise.
Captain Cannabis, maybe?
And while most who saw you that
day probably wondered what the
explanation was for your get-up, I
mostly wondered if you had a closet
full of capes: Work cape, dress cape,
athletic cape, etc.
I’m just glad my four-year-old (at
the time) wasn’t present because you
would have thrown off my argument
for why he now can’t wear his Super-
man costume to kindergarten every
day.
I can hear my son now: “See, Dad.
Grown-ups wear capes, too!”
Man walking goat. Dear sir: I’m
used to seeing dogs on the pathway,
but I’ve never seen a goat before.
I appreciate the idea that you and the
goat share the goal of physical fitness
but I don’t envy the sluggish pace you
are forced to endure.
You seemed disgruntled at the fact
that your goat stopped frequently to
graze on the spring grass growing
alongside the pathway.
Clearly the garbage she’s accus-
tomed to eating isn’t giving her the
fiber she needs.
I did rather enjoy the “click-clack”
of the hooves on the black top—and
having to circumnavigate the gift she
Submitted Photo
Jimmy Ingram is a local farmer and
father of two who enjoys people
watching within our wonderful
community and beyond.
left on the pathway was only a minor
inconvenience.
I hope to see you again if for no
other reason than to take a picture
of you and the goat to prove to my
friends and family that I’m not insane.
The multi-tasking cyclist. Dear Sir:
pardon my stare but I’ve never seen
anyone ride a bike, smoke a cigarette,
and drink a beer at the same time.
Your ability to navigate your bike
down the pathway hands-free is an
accomplishment in itself.
But Keystone Light in one hand and
a smoke in the other? That’s commit-
ment.
Odds would indicate one of three
things is bound to happen to you
eventually: Spill your beer, drop your
cigarette, or take a tumble into the
river.
Then again there is the chance you
made it to your destination feeling
satisfied and having burned off the
calories in that beer.
I’m sure the people of the Leo Adler
foundation would be proud to know
the pathway is serving as a training
aid to elite athletes like yourself.
Godspeed young man.
Happy crazy woman. Dear Madam:
I’m not sure what drugs you used that
day but I believe you got your mon-
ey’s worth.
The last time I saw someone sway-
ing and singing so enthusiastically
was Julie Andrews in “The Sound of
Music.”
Falling down multiple times didn’t
seem to diminish your enthusiasm in
the least.
I’m not sure where you were going
and I’m not sure you did either.
You spun, danced, and stumbled
your way past me and an elderly
couple walking two small dogs with
the grace of a runaway freight train.
I do hope you made it to your desti-
nation safely.
I also hope the man walking his
goat wasn’t out that day because I’m
certain that would be more than your
chemically altered psyche could have
handled.
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