letters
TO THE EDITOR
EW recently [7/19] published in its
Slant column a piece about Rep. Val
Hoyle, which called into question her
environmental leanings and pointed out
her environmental voting score from the
Oregon League of Conservation Voters.
Hoyle has received one of the highest scores
for representatives of that district, and she
has been someone we can consistently
work with in the Legislature. We have
none of the concerns that were alluded to in
that piece and think Hoyle is doing a great
job at making sure her constituents have
access to clean water and air and protect
the natural legacy in Oregon.
Karen Booth,
Chair of the Lane Co. Chapter,
Oregon League of Conservation Voters
to work, or live in an apartment, or get
a job! And that they are not on the street
by accident but by choice. He also states
that those who are mentally defi cient made
themselves that way by drug abuse (alcohol
is a drug). This is in some cases true;
however, this not true for the majority of
homeless persons. As a homeless disabled
vet I am not a drunk, tweek, liar or thief.
Yes, I do have a 36-year-old motorhome to
live in, and by the grace of God and a lot
of help from St. Vincent de Paul, I have a
place to put it.
I would love to be able to work as
would many, many other homeless folk.
Get a job? What job? There are no jobs. No
phone, no home equals no job or apartment.
I can’t afford an apartment with the income
I receive from Uncle Sam.
Mentally defi cient by choice? No! As
in all groups of people there are good and
bad; that’s life. I challenge Mr. Zekas to
come see for himself the other side of the
coin. Come see just what is possible when
homeless men are given a chance. Come see
me, sir, at the corner of Elmira and Iowa, the
vacant lot with the white motor home.
R. Hightower
Homeless in Eugene
SPENDY BUS LANE
DUST NOT THE ISSUE
I wanted to support the West Eugene
EmX. I spent years exposing the problems
of the proposed West Eugene Porkway.
Documenting the WEP’s illegalities
helped persuade the Federal Highway
Administration to reject the project. But
I have read the EmX Environmental
Assessment and can’t support this project
either.
Public transit can be planned well and it
can be planned poorly. It can be designed
to be cost-effi cient and it can be grossly
overpriced to give megabucks to road
construction companies. Journalists have
an obligation to describe the difference if
they are watch dogs and not lap dogs.
Oregon law requires coordination of
transportation and land use. In 2002 the
State Supreme Court upheld Hood River’s
restriction on big box megastores. The city
of Eugene rubberstamped more big boxes,
both under Republican Mayor Torrey and
under Democrat Mayor Piercy.
The west Eugene line would be about
$100 million, a bit spendy for a bus lane
that is partly in mixed traffi c, especially
since giant bridges and overpasses are not
planned.
The EmX study ignores the fact that
car traffi c has peaked in Lane County,
Oregon and the U.S., according to the
Lane Council of Governments, ODOT and
FHWA websites. The rise in the price of
petroleum forced some reduction in travel
demand. Nearly all of Oregon’s oil comes
from the almost depleted Alaska Pipeline
and transportation planning — for EmX or
for widening highways — must consider
oil depletion when estimating future needs.
Mark Robinowitz
PeakTraffi c.org
SustainEugene.org
Enough with the dust! I’ve been
following with some amusement the recent
spate of letters worried about coal dust
from trains through Eugene. I grew up near
some of the busier coal-hauling railroads in
the Midwest (from fi ve to 20 coal trains per
day), and I never once saw dust billowing
off a train or accumulations of coal dust
near the tracks.
Yes, coal trains do lose dust, but nearly
all of it happens near the mine when the
trains fi rst get up to speed and the fi ner
particles are caught in the wind. Eugene
is over 1,000 rail miles from the mines,
not especially windy, and trains will be
traveling at reduced speed through town.
Dust losses average out to a pound per
mile from mine to port, but losses through
Eugene will be some tiny fraction of that
— small enough that you will never notice
it and your neighbor’s barbecue smoke will
be more of a health concern.
I make this argument not because I like
coal exports, but rather because baseless
NIMBY worries will be quickly washed
aside when the time comes for decisions. If
you want to stand against coal trains, here
are some valid global-scale arguments:
Coal is the worst fossil fuel in terms
of climate change and air pollution, so we
need to burn less, not more. Fossil fuels are
a fi nite resource and replacements are not
yet adequate; therefore exporting our coal
is not in our national interest.
And some valid local arguments:
Long trains tie up crossings for longer,
preventing access by emergency vehicles.
More trains means increased risk of fatal
collisions with vehicles and pedestrians.
The track to Coos Bay is not maintained
to modern standards and is vulnerable to
washouts and landslides. This means a very
real risk of derailments with environmental
consequences (think diesel fuel and big
piles of coal in salmon streams).
Mark Luterra
Corvallis
Fixing fences is a good plan. Dealing
with our waste in a more evolved way will
solve the bird problems that are the real
source of money lost by Lane County to
control wildlife.
Gail Gould
Pleasant Hill
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Sacramento Bee story cites
nationwide, not California, statistics.
HOYLE’S GOOD RECORD
THERE ARE NO JOBS
Jeff Zekas of Veneta writes [Letters, 8/9]
that all homeless people are narcissistic,
selfi sh, immature folks who choose not
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EUGENE WEEKLY AUGUST 30, 2012
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