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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2019)
august1 2019 free VERNONIA’S volume13 issue15 reflecting the spirit of our community Vernonia True Value Celebrates 50 Years of Service By Scott Laird As many around the nation are proudly celebrating the 50 th anniversary of the Apollo Moon Landing in 1969, Vernonian’s will also proudly celebrate a 50 th anniversary this year. The Vernonia True Value Hard- ware store, known by many as Western Auto, is celebrating 50 years of service by the same family. Arnie and Mary To- lonen purchased the business in Septem- ber 1969, which is now owned by son Craig and his wife Tonya. The store will hold an Anniver- sary Celebration on Saturday, September 14, with hot dogs, drinks, and door priz- es. Mary and Arnie moved to Verno- nia from Astoria in the late sixties. They saw an ad for a Western Auto franchise that was avail- able and decided to make the move. Arnie had been working in the woods in logging; Mary had some retail experience and had worked in a bank. Neither had any experience running a hardware store. The Tolonens rented a home in Vernonia for $90 a month. They rented the store building for $125 a month and eventually bought the building for $11,000. They paid around $20,000 for the inventory of the store. They had to borrow $750 from Arnie’s parents to buy a truck to haul their freight. Craig started working in the store when he was eight. After high school, Craig left Vernonia to attend Oregon Institute of Technology and spent a few years after that working in the woods. But he came back and joined the family business in 1996. The family added the True Value Hardware name brand about twenty years ago, and became just True Value Hardware in 2000. Craig and Tonya took over in 2015. While a lot has changed over the past 50 years, much has remained the same. The business has remained in the same location at 834 Bridge Street, although things look a bit different, both inside and out. The old red and white striped awnings over the sidewalk, that could be rolled in and out, have been replaced with a permanent cover. They have expanded the store over the years, adding the auto service bay on the east side and a continued on page 10 Digging Deeper into Oregon’s Cap-and-Trade Proposal Part 3: Oregon Democrats saw a need to do their part to address climate change with HB 2020 but the costs to Oregonians were just too high. That leaves us with some big unanswered questions. By Scott Laird In the last several issues of the Voice, I’ve been writing about Oregon’s proposed plan to set goals and reduce green house gas emissions by 2050. The proposal took shape as House Bill 2020, which was passed by the Oregon House before being halted in the Senate in June. The proposal was massive, and inside 7 a word from the watershed 8 my fair lady 10 columbia county fair would have made Oregon a world lead- er in attempting to slow global climate change, but it also had numerous flaws, creating many new layers of bureau- cracy, driving up household and vehicle energy costs, and creating unknown eco- nomic impacts for large portions of Or- egon’s citizenry. Why did Oregon Democrats think HB 2020 was necessary? In April 2016, the United States signed onto the Paris Agreement, a trea- ty between 196 member countries of the United Nations. The Paris Agreement has a long-term goal of keeping the in- crease in global average temperature below 2°C above pre-industrial lev- els. The United States accepted it by Executive Order by President Barak Obama in September 2016. President Obama then committed the United States to contributing $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund. The Fund has a goal of raising $100 billion a year by 2020. Carbon dioxide (CO2) accounts for about 76 % of total greenhouse gas emissions. Methane and nitrous oxide, primarily from agriculture and indus- try together contribute 22% of green- house gas emissions. According to the World Re- sources Institute, China is by far the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, emitting almost 28% in 2017. The United States, with just 4.4% of the world’s total population, is the second largest contributor in the world, adding 15%, followed by India (6%) , Russia (5%), and Japan (3%), Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, Canada, and Mexico round out the top 10, all contributing 1-2%. The Union of Concerned Sci- entists looks at the data in a different way, comparing the per capita carbon dioxide emissions of each country from 2015 (the most recent data available), which tells another story. Saudi Arabia leads the way with 16.85 metric tons per capita, followed by Australia (15.83) the United States (15.53), Canada (15.32) and South Korea (11.58). China is far down the list at (6.59) although their emissions have increased 10 fold since 1970, they are recently showing signs of leveling off during the last decade. Meanwhile the United States is show- ing a slow reduction in emissions since 2005. The U.S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency breaks down greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector, showing that transportation and elec- tricity generation are the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, (29% and 28%), followed by industry (22%), com- mercial and residential (12%) and agri- culture (9%). On June 1 of 2017, following his election, President Donald Trump an- nounced the planned withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement; the U.S. withdrawal does not officially take effect until November 2020. On the same day as Trump’s announcement, the governors of three U.S. states (Washing- ton, California, and New York) formed the United States Climate Alliance to continue to advance the objectives of the Paris Agreement at the state level; seven more states joined the alliance that same evening, including Oregon. As of April 29, 2019, 23 states and Puerto Rico have joined the alliance. Those member states make up 50% of the U.S. population. “The ‘America First’ doctrine should put our children first,” said Gov- ernor Kate Brown following Oregon’s announcement to join. “Future genera- tions will judge us not on the facts of global climate change, but what we’ve done to tackle it. Strengthening the com- mitment to combat climate change sends a strong message to our global allies. The Paris Agreement is a blueprint for job creation and prosperity, and despite the decision by the White House to retreat, I will continue to work with leaders on the West Coast, across the country, and around the world in pursuit of green- house gas reduction goals and working toward the development of a greener, cleaner energy mix of the future.” Shortly after joining U.S. Cli- mate Alliance Brown also committed Oregon to participating in the Climate Change Conference (COP 23) in Bonn, Germany in November 2017, joining other jurisdictions around the world that are committed to climate action. Called the “Under2 Coalition” it is an international pact among cities, states, and countries committed to limiting the increase in global average temperature to below 2°C by either reducing their greenhouse gas emissions from 80% to 95% below 1990 levels, or holding emissions to less than 2 annual metric tons per capita by 2050. A total of 15 na- tions are part of the global pact, includ- ing Sweden, Mexico, and Canada, and it includes more than 220 governments who represent over 1.3 billion people and 43% of the global economy. Previously the Oregon State legislature created the Oregon Global Warming Commission in 2007 through HB 3543, under the Oregon Department of Energy. Oregon’s Governor appoints 11 voting members to the Commission, who recommend administrative and policy actions and changes to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, protect the continued on page 3