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.