BY ANNALISE ROMOSER
Oil
Rush
Oregon timber teaches us about
international trade
O
regonians of my
generation under-
stand the social,
environmental and econom-
ic impacts of a poorly man-
aged natural resource indus-
try. As our timber boom
dwindled and the industry
shrank, we saw rural towns
fall into poverty, we saw
schools close their doors
and we saw our neighbors
move in search of employ-
ment. Most startling of all,
we saw our favorite costal mountains turn from lush green to a dry clear-cut brown.
Due to what we witnessed, we are better positioned than most Americans to under-
stand the impacts our nation’s trade policy can have on natural resource-rich countries.
I recently returned from a journey into the jungle of one such country —
Colombia. Colombia’s jungle is not only rich in resources, it is also inhabited by
numerous salt-of-the-earth homesteaders who have been eking out their livings on
small farms there since the 1960s. In many ways, it is a region comparable to
Oregon — a region whose natural resources represent a potential “boom” for a few
but a “bust” for many.
Recently, the U.S. and Colombia have been hashing out a bilateral free trade
agreement (FTA) that would open Colombia’s economy and environment to U.S.
business interests. Colombia’s agriculture sector and virgin jungle land are at the
heart of this agreement. The FTA provides Colombia with few tools to protect its
rural economy, the environment or the local cultures so intimately tied to the very
lands that are ripe for foreign investment.
The region I visited in Colombia is highly contested. Most recently, private com-
panies have entered the area, and with the help of military and paramilitary forces,
have taken over lands legally titled to local communities. They have done this via
massacres, selective assassinations and threats — all leading to the massive dis-
placement of rural Colombians. Those farmers, who eventually return, have found
their lands completely planted over with African palm.
African palm is the plant from which palm oil is derived. Found in most
processed foods, the oil is in high demand by developed nations. More significant-
ly, the oil can be used as biofuel — now touted as a promising natural energy
resource. Currently, Colombia is the largest palm producer in the Americas with 35
percent of its product exported as fuel. The Colombian government and private com-
panies plan to increase palm production from between 2.5 million and 16 million
acres over the next 10 years, selling to U.S. and European markets.
Palm crops call for the clearing of virgin forests. In addition, they leech water
from the land, destroy topsoil, provide no room for food production and require a
constant application of pesticides via crop dusters. Within 15 years, the plant’s pro-
duction slows to a near halt, and the industry declines. Sadly, palm plantations pro-
vide no longterm development for Colombia’s poorest rural communities.
As vast territory is taken over for palm production, few mechanisms are in place
to protect people’s land rights. Presently, the Colombian government has a backlog
of cases in which peasant farmers were violently pushed off their land by private palm
companies with no compensation. In fact, the government entity responsible for pro-
cessing these cases has been so ineffective it is slated to be dismantled this year.
Palm production in Colombia would skyrocket even further under an FTA with
the U.S. and is already heavily supported by the World Bank, Inter-American
Development Bank and the U.S. Agency for Alternative Development. Yet in the
face of this rapid rural shift, there is no plan in place to protect people, the environ-
ment, local economies or food supplies. Already experiencing the ills of palm pro-
duction, numerous Colombian communities have rejected this crop. Risking death
by massacre, they refuse to leave their land, instead taking a stand for the environ-
ment and a position against the poverty that palm expansion implies.
T
raveling in Colombia, I often thought of home and the important lessons
Oregonians have learned from our own rise and fall in the world of natural
resources. The story I heard in Colombia is not new, it is the story told on
the edge of each frontier, and it is the story of Oregon timber. As Colombians face
continued violence, displacement, perhaps a short economic boom — and a definite
industry demise accompanied by brutal poverty — I call on Oregonians to stand
with them in their defense of land and people.
In the year ahead, when the FTA with Colombia again comes to the floor of
Congress, ask your representatives to vote no. Ask that they take a stand against an
agreement that provides no protection and no planning for the security of
Colombia’s environment, its rural economy or its poorest people.
Annalise Romoser is a native of Eugene and a 2001 graduate of the UO. She has worked as a policy analyst and
educator in Colombia, and is now senior associate at the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Office on Colombia.
4 AUGUST 23, 2007
TO THE EDITOR
DON’T DERAIL THIS PROJECT
It’s not every day in Eugene that the
mayor and six city councilors are on the
same page. It should be a cause for celebra-
tion: our elected representatives working
together to get things done for Eugene!
On Monday night (8/13), the City
Council voted 6-2 to raise the debt ceiling
for Eugene’s downtown urban renewal dis-
trict (URD). This effort was supported by
Mayor Kitty Piercy, who also deserves a
great deal of credit for reaching out across a
broad spectrum of community interests to
advance efforts and encourage public input
on the redevelopment of West Broadway in
downtown Eugene.
As a member of the West Broadway
Advisory Committee (WBAC), I would
like to join the mayor in asking fellow citi-
zens to resist efforts to derail this redevel-
opment effort. People constantly tell me
they are frustrated by the gridlock and split
decisions coming from our city council. On
this occasion we actually have the mayor
and a super majority who favor moving
forward with efforts to revitalize downtown
Eugene.
Many people consider this a positive
improvement in civic discourse. People are
tired of negativity. It’s time to have some
faith in our elected representatives and give
them credit for making an honest effort to
serve the public interest. In this case, they
do deserve our support.
The decision to raise the URD debt
limit does not obligate the city to spend a
single dime on West Broadway. It does not
raise taxes. It does not limit public debate or
public input. In fact, the public is encour-
aged to participate in the process. Check the
city website for details on meetings.
The early West Broadway conceptual
proposals submitted by developers Beam
and KWG are extremely preliminary con-
cepts — they are nowhere close to certain.
There are no final agreements, no concrete
proposals. Nothing is written in stone, con-
trary to what you may hear or read about
the project. The public input process is still
ongoing. Many diverse voices are being
heard. This is the time to engage the discus-
sion, not cut short the process.
The WBAC won’t make its final recom-
mendations to the council until September,
and the mayor and council have pledged to
seek on-going public input every step of the
way. The city has made no commitment to
any amount of public investment dollars
(from federal grants and loans) which may
or may not be used to help finance utility
upgrades, parking, affordable housing sub-
sidies, open spaces or other elements of the
redevelopment effort that would serve the
public interest. These investments should
not be considered subsidies to big, rich
developers. Public investment in infrastruc-
ture and affordable housing subsidies have
been an essential component in attracting
and implementing successful urban redevel-
opment in cities across the county. Why
should Eugene be the only exception?
The developers are proposing to invest
more than $200 million in Eugene to provide
a rich diversity of new housing and retail that
will help breath new vitality into West
Broadway. They have committed to hiring
local workers and creating jobs in Eugene.
Let’s not short-circuit the public discussion
before we’ve even had a chance to see what
the developers ultimately propose.
Eric A. Stillwell
West Broadway Advisory Committee
BETTER THAN BULLETS
The EW’s continued opposition to any
form of effective law enforcement disturbs
me. I’ve been a prosecutor and defense
attorney for nine years, trained military and
law enforcement personnel in the use of
force and have reviewed innumerable inci-
dents involving the use of force by law
enforcement. Tasers fill a critical gap in the
use of force spectrum.
In my experience, cops don’t overuse