Eugene weekly., October 11, 2007, Page 9, Image 9

TO THE EDITOR
biodiesel with interest. This sort of disinfor-
mation seems to be making the rounds. I’ve
read almost the exact same words on conser-
vative blogs and have to wonder who is be-
hind these bogus “talking points.”
Some of what Mr. Porter wrote may in-
deed apply to corn-based ethanol, which has
a disturbingly strong lobby in Washington.
Biodiesel isn’t made from corn.
Hopefully the “middle class liberal elite”
Porter is addressing do educate themselves. An
educated person would know that it’s low corn
prices, not high ones, that have encouraged
dumping U.S. corn on “poor people all over
the world,” driving their indigenous farmers
out of business and into desperation and forc-
ing many to illegally cross our borders.
Most of the
biodiesel I use is
made from restau-
rant waste oil, which
would otherwise be treated
as toxic waste and
dumped. The carbon it
releases when burned was absorbed from
the atmosphere only last year, meaning there
is little net gain in atmospheric CO2. This is a
key difference from the “nasty and disgusting
gas” Mr. Porter burns in his eco-friendly
Hummer. Fossil fuels release carbon that has
been sequestered for millions of years.
Biodiesel can also be made from algae
grown with nonpotable water on unproduc-
tive lands, and probably soon will be, a really
exciting development.
In the meantime, individuals, co-ops or
neighbors so inclined can get together and
make their own biodiesel processors and
make fuel from waste oil for about 60 cents a
gallon. I’ve done it, and it isn’t that hard.
It’s true that we need to change the way
we live and not drive so much. Merely re-
placing fossil fuels with biofuels isn’t going
to save our asses. But biodiesel is clearly a
step in the right direction.
Rob Nelson
Santa Rosa, Calif.
Parking lots attract cars. Parks attract people.
People have money, which they enjoy ex-
hausting. Cars have exhausts, which, for the
most part, are killing everything.
Communicate while we still have Mayor
Piercy listening. Let’s do this while we get to.
Then, let’s do another cool thing as soon as
it’s done. Ya know how and why we will do
that? Because we will have, when the park is
done, about $70 million in the bank, after in-
terest, to play with.
Don’t be late! Don’t be late!
Loren M. Mohler
Eugene
ROLL CALL!
The correct question to be asking our-
selves is no longer, “How can we revitalize
downtown?”
The correct questions are:
1) How will a $40 million public park
across from the Library revitalize me and my
experience of downtown as: a library card
holder, a shopper, a shopkeeper, a nonprofit, a
symphony-goer, a Saturday Market/Tuesday
Market/Eugene Celebrator, an art-walker, a
gallery owner, a leasing agent or real estate
agent, a diner, a dreamer, an employee
downtown who sometimes prefers
a bag lunch and a stroll to patron-
izing one of downtown’s many
fine eateries?
2) How will $105 million in additional
parking, yet another Borders and a private
park revitalize me and my experience of
downtown? (In this $105 million revitaliza-
tion scenario, none of us gets to laptop lunch
in the “anti-public park” unless we own or
rent an attached, multi-user housing unit.)
Compare your answers.
Now write the Mayor’s West Broadway
Advisory Committee, c/o City Hall. Demand
(nicely, of course) that City Hall spend our
revitalization money building Library Park.
LET FREE
SONGS RING.
<h[[Jkd[i9^[Ya_d] 0
=[joekhi[b\iec[f[hai$
*<h[[_Jkd[i Yh[Z_ji[l[hocedj^
'&<h[[_Jkd[iYh[Z_jiWji_]d#kf
Ki[Wdo7JC\eh\h[[
Dec_d_ckcXWbWdY[ehcedj^bo\[[i
®
Ikf[hi_cfb[h[gk_h[c[djiWffbo$
I_]dkfWj<h[[Jkd[i9^[Ya_d]$YecjeZWo
D[m9Wcfki
8hWdY^dem
ef[d_di_Z[j^[
:kYaIjeh[
Fem[h[ZXo8WdYLk[
Jeh[Y[_l[_Jkd[iYh[Z_jie\kfje)$/,*ied]in&$//%ied]WdZh[_cXkhi[c[dje\WbbmehbZm_Z["ekj#e\#d[jmeha7JC\[[i_dYkhh[ZZkh_d]j^[cedj^boYoYb["oekckijc[[jj^[i[j^h[[[Wiocedj^bo h[gk_h[c[dji0''(Yb[Wh[Z
Z[X_jYWhZjhWdiWYj_edi1(ed[be]#_dje?dj[hd[j8Wda_d]1WdZ)WYj_l[[dhebbc[dj_d[IjWj[c[dji$?\cedj^boh[gk_h[c[djiWh[dejc[j"oekm_bbdejh[Y[_l[Wdo_Jkd[iYh[Z_jiWdZde7JC\[[h[\kdZi\ehj^Wjcedj^$Jeh[Y[_l[j^[_Jkd[i
Yh[Z_ji"oekckijcWa[j^[fkhY^Wi[i\hec_Jkd[im_j^oekhEh[]ed9ecckd_jo9h[Z_jKd_edZ[X_jYWhZ$J^[i[Yh[Z_jim_bbX[WlW_bWXb[Wjj^[X[]_dd_d]e\j^[cedj^boYoYb[\ebbem_d]j^[YoYb[_dm^_Y^j^[cedj^boh[gk_h[c[djim[h[c[j$
_Jkd[iYh[Z_jiWh[[Whd[Zedj^[ZWoX[\eh[j^[bWijZWoe\j^[cedj^WdZ[nf_h[_d)&ZWoi$ J^[WYYekdjef[d_d]Xedkie\kfje/$/&_d_Jkd[iYh[Z_ji'&ied]in&$//%ied][nf_h[i,&ZWoi\hecj^[ZWj[oekhWYYekdj_ief[d[Z$Je
h[Y[_l[j^[_Jkd[iYh[Z_ji"oekckijcWa[j^[fkhY^Wi[i\hec_Jkd[im_j^oekhEh[]ed9ecckd_jo9h[Z_jKd_edZ[X_jYWhZ$_Jkd[ifkhY^Wi[iedoekhWYYekdjm_bbj^[dX[h[\kdZ[Zkfje/$/&$_Jkd[i_iWh[]_ij[h[ZjhWZ[cWhae\7ffb["
?dY$7ffb["?dY$_idejWiieY_Wj[Zm_j^"WdZ^WidejWffhel[Z"ifedieh[Z"eh[dZehi[ZEh[]ed9ecckd_jo9h[Z_jKd_edehj^_ifhe]hWc$Cedj^bo 3\hecj^[bWijZWoe\j^[cedj^jej^[ZWoX[\eh[j^[bWijZWoe\j^[\ebbem_d]cedj^$
OCTOBER 11 2007 9