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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2004)
TO THE EDITOR KEEP HOLVEY CHARACTER COUNTS Paul Holvey should be retained as District 8 state representative. He understands the critical need for real reform in this state to provide tax relief for small businesses and working families while increasing revenue to our schools and colleges. With Holvey in Salem, the fat cats and out-of-state, mega corporations may have to start paying their fair share of taxes on the wealth they take from Oregon. Please join me in sending Paul back to Salem to fight for us. Marston Morgan Eugene EWEB Commission races tend to draw little involvement but in this primary there is one contested race — the Wards 1 & 8 posi- tion. On first look the candidates, John Simpson and Paul Conte, appear to be very similar. They both are very intelligent and hard working, but they are opposites in their ability to work with others. I discovered this when they were chairs and I was a board member of our neighborhood association. During my 11-year tenure on that board, John Simpson was one of our most respected leaders. He skillfully developed consensus and implemented the results. When he com- pleted his term and turned his energy to chair the Eugene/Kakegawa Sister City Committee, we were sorry to see him go. Paul Conte, on the other hand, was one of the worst chairs we have had. He was unwill- ing to consider anyone else’s opinion and acted unilaterally several times without board approval. When the board tried to discuss their concerns, Paul resigned rather than par- ticipate — completing only six months of his two-year term. We were not saddened by his departure. You may be wondering if I am alone in this assessment. All I can say is that Paul was a member of another board, EWEB, ap- pointed to complete a vacated position a cou- ple of years ago. He did stay to the end of the term but now four of the EWEB commission- ers are endorsing John Simpson and none are endorsing Paul Conte. You do the math! Jon Belcher Eugene GOOD FOR EUGENE My friend and neighbor, Paul Conte is running for EWEB commissioner for Wards 1 and 8. I plan to vote for him and encourage you to do so, too. Paul has already demon- strated his ability to do the job during his tem- porary appointment as “at-large” EWEB commissioner. He takes the time to under- stand thoroughly every side of the compli- cated issues he makes decisions about and to then propose practical, do-able solutions; like his proposal to eliminate tiered residential electric rates because they are unfairly high to the customers who cannot afford housing that is most energy efficient. And while Paul is a strong conservationist and doesn’t want anyone to pay more than is necessary, he is very aware that the job entails much more than just being “for the environ- ment” or “for lower rates.” Paul is a hard worker who has owned a successful small business and been involved in many efforts over past years to foster Eugene’s livability. Paul is good for Eugene. Jennifer Barwood Eugene EDITOR’S NOTE: For the record, one current EWEB board member we were able to reach, Ron Farmer, says, “Although both are good candidates, I lean toward Paul Conte.” UNCHECKED EXPANSION Wal-Mart on West 11th has submitted a request for a permit to expand into a “super- center.” Do you know that a single “super- store” can generate as many as 20,000 car trips daily? Is this really what we want or need in Eugene? In response to public interest and concern over Wal-Mart’s request, Betty Taylor, Eugene city councilor, proposed that there be a six-month moratorium on building propos- als to allow the community time to consider the impact of this kind of growth. Four coun- cilors voted “yes,” four voted “no,” and Mayor Torrey cast the tie breaking “no” vote. That’s that. But, who really gets to decide whether we continue to have this unchecked corporate chain-store expansion? Who has to live with the negative impact, like traffic congestion, sprawl into precious (and protected) wet- lands, increased air and water pollution, more non-living wage jobs, fewer dollars staying in the local economy, empty local business store-fronts due to Wal-Mart’s well known predatory pricing practices? We do. What would have been wrong with wait- ing six months to facilitate a dialogue be- BY TOM LININGER Potemkin Proponents Many ‘endorsements’ of the Coburg power plant are illusionary. G ary Marcus has proposed to build a huge gas-burning power plant near Coburg. This plant would generate nearly as much power as the now-defunct Trojan Nuclear Plant. The proposed Coburg plant would emit 50 to 100 million tons of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas), along with lesser amounts of other pollutants such as nitrogen oxide, mercury and arsenic. As far as I can tell, the vast majority of north Lane residents oppose the Coburg power plant. On April 1, Eugene Weekly ran a cover story that included the following quote by Gary Marcus, “This plant is backed by the public utilities commission, it’s backed by the governor’s energy office, it’s backed by BPA.” That’s a pretty impressive list. What can opponents do when such credible agencies have lent their support to the Coburg power plant? Then again, I should have looked closely at the date: April Fool’s Day. It turns out that none of the agencies cited by Marcus has actually endorsed the Coburg plant. Kera Abraham, the author of the EW story on April 1, contacted the Oregon Public Utilities commission to verify the PUC’s endorsement. “I talked to a num- ber of staffers and nobody seems to be able to confirm that,” said Bob Valdez, spokesman for the PUC. “It seems unlikely.” I myself contacted the governor’s staff. I spoke with the governor’s communications director, Mary-Ellen Glynn, and also with the governor’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Schneider, who serves as the governor’s energy advisor. Both of these officials made clear that neither the governor’s staff nor the Oregon Energy Office has endorsed the Coburg power plant. I then contacted Paul O’Neal, who is a power account executive with the Bonneville Power Administration. He said he was not aware BPA had endorsed the Coburg power plant. According to O’Neal, the people in his office were surprised to read the EW article in which Marcus claimed that BPA endorsed his proposal. 4 MAY 6, 2004 On April 22, EW published a letter from Gary Marcus indicating that the Sierra Club favors the sort of plant he is building. While the Sierra Club has sometimes supported the replacement of coal plants with natural gas plants, Marcus is not proposing to do that. Nowhere in his proposal has he identified a coal plant that he would take out of commission. The goal of the Sierra Club is to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and the Coburg power plant would significantly increase our reliance on fossil fuels. The Sierra Club routinely opposes gas-fired plants that unjustifiably harm the environment. Recent examples include plants in California, Vermont and British Columbia. I’ve got a suggestion: If Gary Marcus has so much faith in the judgment of the Sierra Club, let’s submit his proposal for binding arbitration by the local chapter of the Sierra Club. If the local chapter approves the proposal, then I’ll grab my shovel and join Marcus at the groundbreaking. W hile the supposed endorsements of the plant don’t withstand close scrutiny, the plant has drawn some strong objections from local experts. The Oregon Toxics Alliance, a non-profit group based in Eugene, has raised concerns about health risks posed by the plant. Former Congressman Jim Weaver and physics Ph.D. Frank Vignola have both criticized the plant for relying on volatile supplies of nat- ural gas. According to EWEB Commissioner Sandra Bishop, “It’s not appropriate to build this kind of plant in this location.” Why do so many people oppose the plant? It’s far bigger than necessary to serve local power needs. It would pollute our airshed in order to sell its output to other power- hungry communities that aren’t willing to build gas plants in their back yards. They’d get the solution, and we’d get the pollution. Lane County doesn’t deserve to have the largest gas-fired plant in any of Oregon’s 12 most populous counties. Don’t let the illusionary endorsements fool you. Tom Lininger is a law professor and former county commissioner who represented north Lane County.
