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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 2006)
TO THE EDITOR The FHWA withdrew its previous (1990) ap- proval of the highway and declined to defend their decision in a court of law. June 19 is the fifth anniversary of the “no build” consensus for the WEP that was agreed to by the city of Eugene, Lane County, ODOT, FHWA and the BLM — a decision that was never implemented. This forum will focus on the legal hurdles that have prevented the WEP and the WET- LANDS alternative to the WEP (largely based on the 2001 “No Build” consensus). The forum will include time for dialogue and strategy to develop approaches to raise awareness of the practical solutions that have been ignored by the divisive debates about the highway. WEP proponents have “framed” the issue as one of protecting wetlands versus solving traffic problems, which parallels sim- ilar campaigns to sabotage forest protection efforts as a choice between spotted owls vs. jobs (even though selective forestry creates jobs). The WEP would not only decimate the West Eugene Wetlands — it would also worsen traffic problems, violate federal laws, drain transportation budgets and fuel ugly sprawl. The WETLANDS alternative includes a combination of approaches: fixing existing roads, small connector links, improved transit, and sane land use plans. It also addresses the need to shift trans- portation policies to prepare for “peak oil,” which will probably create “peak traffic” as gas prices continue to increase. For more information, visit www.permatopia.com/wet- lands.html Mark Robinowitz Eugene FAILED SATIRE As I trudge through my umpteenth re-read of J.K. Larkin’s “Pesky Immigrants” Viewpoint (5/25), I become more sure that he’s trying, however futilely, to write satire. Just as Mel Brooks didn’t aim to degrade the Jews with his caricatures, I believe Larkin didn’t start his piece intending to write a vi- cious attack on those of Mexican heritage. Unfortunately for him and everyone ex- posed to his writing, he failed miserably. Satire is incredibly difficult to write. Sarcasm doesn’t come through well in writing, be- cause you can’t wink with sentence structure. What he’s succeeded in doing is writing the most offensive screed since The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. What has Larkin’s piece taught us? Mexicans are functionally illiterate, drink beverages that no civilized person would let touch their lips, and make great unskilled la- borers, but lazy soldiers. Aside from broad brush of racism, Larkin has the worst writing I’ve ever seen. Instead of following a structure, he’s chosen to place sentences in apparently random order. I’m sure that his teachers are all weeping over his inability to keep his tense straight or even logically place his thoughts. I would under- stand his lack of skill had his credentials (which have no bearing at all on his chosen topic) been “J.K. Larkin is an unemployed glue sniffer who specializes in making fart jokes.” But he is a man of supposed high re- gard in this community, which is truly an un- fortunate reflection on Eugene. Incidentally, no one sober enough to real- ize what he is saying would refer to South Dakota as “SoDak,” Hispanic is not a nation- ality and no one cares what Larkin’s sons and daughter-in-law do for a living. Hopefully, Larkin will be able to take a break from stroking himself over how multi- racial and accepting he is and realize that no matter whom his son marries or what his grandson chooses for a profession, he’s just a deluded, failed revolutionary whose time has passed. Jef Stout Eugene DO SOMETHING The slant in the last edition (5/25) of EW was correct. In order to be an ef- fective governer Ted Kulongoski actually needs to DO something about the environ- ment. He has started to make some prom- ising gains in that area, showing that he might be getting the message that ordinary citizens care about our en- vironment, but more can defi- nitely be done. Suing the federal government over gas mileage standards was a great step, but more needs to be done to protect our environment and cut down on the fossil fuel pollution that wreaks havoc on our beautiful green state. These fossil fuels are one of the leading causes of global warming ,and burning them to generate electricity in our state is a huge problem that is easily fixed with some proper leadership. Oregon currently only gets 1 percent of its power from wind and solar even though we have the nation’s second largest wind farm! Meanwhile, global warming creates rising sea levels that threaten our coast and a de- creasing snowpack in the Cascades that threaten our water supply and farming. Supporting more clean energy and requiring our utilities to come from renewable sources would start getting us off of oil and help our environment. Kulongoski should spearhead the effort to establish clean energy standards that have al- ENERGY: Wave in Oregon for an Amazing New Solution Friday, June 9 • 11:50AM at the DOWNTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB with JOE PRUDELL $3 admission • Free to City Club Members 485-7433 www.cityclubofeugene.org JUNE 8, 2006 5
