release 180 million tons of carbon into the
atmosphere over the next 100 years. That
is equivalent to adding one million more
cars to the road and those cars being on the
road for 132 years.
For our future climate and well being,
we need to protect our forests.
Kim Kelly
Eugene
QUALITY OF SLEEP
Many thanks to Larry Deckman for his
op-ed on train horns in Eugene (R-G, Feb.
15), and to Whitey Lueck for partnering
with him to start a grassroots effort for a
“quiet zone” in Eugene (EW story April
24).
I live a half mile from where the trains
start to blow their horns at the Van Buren
crossing, and depending on atmospheric
conditions, sometimes they seem like
they’re in my backyard. I can’t begin
to imagine the impact it must have on
those who live much closer to the tracks.
How many people are unable to get an
uninterrupted night’s sleep?
This isn’t simply a “noise” issue. An
internet search on side effects of interrupted
sleep reveals how adversely it affects our
VIEWPOINT
health — from babies (see wkly.ws/1qh) to
the elderly.
“It was the quality of sleep that
predicted future cognitive decline in this
study, not the quantity,” said lead author
Terri Blackwell, senior statistician at the
California Pacifi c Medical Center Research
Institute, and everyone in between. H.
Craig Heller, professor of biology at
Stanford University, explained: The
fi ndings “point to a specifi c characteristic
of sleep — continuity — as being critical
for memory.”
It’s truly discouraging to have a
city government that seems to be more
concerned with throwing tax breaks
at developers than it is with the health
and well-being of its citizens. Maybe if
everyone paid their fair share we’d have
the money to fi x the problem.
Ted Chudy
Eugene
OUR CIVIC DUTY
Have you seen the new Voter’s
Pamphlet for Oregon’s May Primary
Election? Nauseating. It’s divided by party
block, not by race or region. Interestingly,
Republicans are listed fi rst. Does R precede
D alphabetically now or was this decided
on a coin toss?
All the candidates, incumbents
included, are woefully underqualifi ed
for public offi ce, each having tantalizing
lists of college degrees and selfi sh jobs
such as lawyer, neurosurgeon, investment
counselor, and one former Marine with
no education or experience. Not one has
credentials I associate with working for
the public convenience, necessity, nor
good. Not one. If the Marine were an
independent, I’d consider voting for him
simply due to his lack of sheeple points.
Seeing as the status quo seek not
to benefi t any group who doesn’t have
degrees, corporate titles, fraternity stints
and otherwise elitist aspirations, maybe
we would do well to encourage the un- and
under-employed, those lacking college
degrees and those who stand to be hurt
the most by the fewest to run for these
offi ces! I see no Democrat challenging
the incumbent corrupt governor nor
congressional posts, only incumbents
seeking record-breaking stints snubbing
the founder’s concept of doing good for all
then going back to the farm.
Perhaps we’ve forgotten that civic
duty does not have a minimum education
requirement. Civic duty is so all might
participate. Why do we all not participate
in such vast numbers?
James Kaplan
Springfi eld
CURTAIN OF SILENCE
“Those who cannot remember the past
are condemned to repeat it.” — George
Santayana. Please bear those wise words
in mind while you consider these names:
Juan Lara, Roger Magana, Sefan Zeltvay.
In honor of sexual assault awareness
month I respectfully remind each of you
who lives here in Eugene, new citizens and
old, that our police have a long history of
obstruction of justice where sexual assault
has been carried out by law enforcement,
because after all, when you are raped by
a cop, who will you report it to? See EW
archives for Dec. 8, 2005, April 20, 2006,
March 29, 2007, July 24, 2013.
If you have been assaulted and need
someone to turn to for help consider
Womenspace, 1577 Pearl St., Eugene, or
call 485-8232.
Tawasi
Springfi eld
BY SCOT T L . P OPE
Laggards And Leaders
UO FALLS BEHIND IN GREEN INVESTMENT POLICIES
U
niversity of Oregon students voted recently to urge the UO
Foundation to divest its fossil fuel stocks. The vote to divest —
which prevailed with yes votes of roughly 73 percent — should
spur the foundation to sell the fossil fuel stocks that reportedly
make up roughly 1 percent of the foundation’s holdings.
Unfortunately, The Register-Guard editorialized on Earth Day, April 22,
against divestment. We should applaud the UO students for showing leadership on
this issue and urge the UO faculty and administrators to join in calling on the UO
Foundation to divest.
Numerous universities and colleges across the country are considering
divesting. The R-G claims the UO Foundation is ahead of Middlebury College
because the UO Foundation adopted an Environmental, Social and Corporate
Governance (ESG) investment policy. However, the UO Foundation declined to
release that ESG policy and I believe the UO Foundation is well behind Middlebury
College, which has worked extensively on the fossil fuel divestment issue for the
last 16 months and has held two large public meetings on this topic. I applaud
Middlebury’s transparency in this distributed investment statement on its home
page: wkly.ws/1qi.
Middlebury’s president says: “This debate has seen Middlebury at its best. The
good faith shown by people on all sides of this question has been extraordinary.
The discussion has raised awareness of our legacy of environmental leadership and
caused us to look for new ways to extend that leadership into the future.”
This thoughtful approach stands in stark contrast to the UO Foundation’s
dismissal of the student vote and reliance on a secret ESG policy.
Divestment campaigns work. Divestment has been a tool since banking and
investment fi rst began. Issues have changed but the techniques have stayed the
same. Indeed, the U.S. government is currently pursuing divestment campaigns
against Iran, North Korea and Russia.
The main purpose of a divestment campaign, like a boycott, is to create
awareness of an issue so that public opinion will move politicians to take
appropriate actions. The R-G dismisses the divestment campaign and says that an
effective response to climate change must come from governments. Governments
are failing us miserably — the divestment campaign aims at moving public opinion
and hastening a transition away from fossil fuels. The campaign is needed because
politicians are not taking appropriate actions or showing leadership on the issue —
6
May 1, 2014 • eugeneweekly.com
we can’t keep waiting.
The divestment campaign against apartheid in South Africa helped bring about
essential, positive changes. The call for divestment in South Africa shined light on
racist, unjust practices and infl uenced the U.S. Congress to pass a divestment bill
in 1986. The fossil fuel divestment campaign can play a similar powerful role in
the eventual transition from fossil fuels.
The goal of fossil divestment is not the elimination of fossil fuels immediately,
but rather reduction in the demand and use of these fuels. Gasoline is currently
cheaper than bottled water and the U.S. is the world’s largest exporter of gasoline.
As the U.S. moves away from a reliance on coal, the stock prices of the two largest
coal producers in the U.S. have dropped more than 70 percent since the beginning
of 2011. The stock of BP has languished due to the Gulf spill. There will be laggards
and leaders in this transition. Reducing the reliance on fossil fuels does not mean
the end of our economy; instead studies suggest it creates even more jobs. We all
benefi t from a cleaner economy.
Divestment of fossil fuel company stocks is not a statement on the morality
of carbon or no carbon. The science is clear that reducing carbon emissions is
about long-term survival, not morality. The U.N. in its latest climate change
report emphasized once again that governments are not doing nearly enough.
The culpability for the use of fossil fuels falls on each of us, therefore it is our
responsibility to act. In speaking up and speaking out we can improve our world.
We vote with our money with every purchase or investment we make.
The UO Foundation has a choice to be a leader, to be ahead of the curve and
to be proactive. In the investment world it is often easier and more cost effective
to be ahead of change and be relevant. The UO Foundation should applaud the
divestment vote by the students and foster a thoughtful, transparent debate about
how the UO can best help move us away from fossil fuels. I urge the UO Foundation
to consider a similar approach as Middlebury College has taken. In coming years,
these students will feel the worst impacts of the damage we are doing our climate
now, and we owe it to them, and future generations, to begin moving away from
fossil fuels. We need to act now.
Scott L. Pope, CFP, is the owner of Sustainable Wealth Management in Eugene and has managed “socially
responsible impact investing and environmental, social, corporate governance screened portfolios” for corpo-
rations, individuals, trusts and nonprofi t organizations since 1989. He is a UO alumni, 1983.