LET TERS
THE NEW REALITY
The West Coast is experiencing extreme
drought and heat this year. The question too
few are asking: “Is this the new normal?”
Politicians and planning bureaucrats in
the service of construction companies and
developers keep bleating the “growth is
good” mantra with little thought of future
generations and the planet. The destruction
of the old City Hall and trees cut down for
the new Hilton are but a few examples.
The old City Hall contained tons of
perfectly good concrete, but the building,
judged not good enough, was demolished.
Then comes an odd declaration of a
drought emergency on behalf of two
concrete companies.
The concrete industry is one of two largest
producers of carbon dioxide, creating up to 5
percent of worldwide manmade emissions.
Cement manufacture contributes greenhouse
gases both directly through the production
of carbon dioxide, when calcium carbonate
is thermally decomposed, and the use of
energy, particularly through fossil fuel use.
Why couldn’t the Eugene Planning
Commission include saving the oxygen-
producing trees when permitting the new
Hilton’s construction?
LIVING OUT!
Both short-sighted politicians and
planners need to take into consideration
the new reality of climate chaos before
any new construction or destruction takes
place. With this year looking to be the
hottest year on record and snow now falling
as rain, society as well needs to realize that
economic, population, consumption and
urban growth cannot continue unabated.
As Ed Abbey stated, “Growth for
the sake of growth is the ideology of the
cancer cell.” Humanity itself may be this
cancer’s victim.
Scott Fife
Eugene
GLASSES HALF FULL
In response to your July 16 cover story,
“Radical Predictions,” we’re indeed facing
challenging times, but let me suggest a
strategy for overcoming the maelstrom of
negativity and mass doom-saying. Here it
is: Take a hike!
• To the mountains to collect blackberries,
thereby reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
Heck, dry ’em and reduce dependence on
refrigeration.
• Along the river to harvest stinging
nettles or wild mushrooms. Both are free and
fun activities, and once dried or cooked, both
are highly nutritious.
• With a fi shing pole to catch yourself one
of the many fi sh that populate our streams.
You’ll procure a quality source of protein,
hinder industrial agriculture and witness the
majesty of our irreplaceable watersheds.
• To the Capitol to support a cause. This
will put your “money where your mouth
is,” while sparing the rest of us from
defeatist malarkey.
• To a potluck, where sharing, cooperation
and compassion are fostered. This’ll be
a reminder not to rely on corporations or
industries of consumption for survival and
happiness.
It’s not revolutionary. It’s not radical
activism. Just a way of altering our “hell-
in-a-handbasket” trajectory. And, it may
just reduce childhood obesity, diabetes and
a slew of other social and environmental
maladies in the process.
So, take a hike — not just in body, but in
mind and soul. Hike up one of our vistas and
from that vantage, contemplate the grandeur
of creation that dwarfs our collective trials and
tribulations. And then, although the drought-
stricken lakes and reservoirs may appear half
empty, our “glasses” will be half full.
Phillip Davey
Eugene
RESTORE OUR FORESTS
As I write this we are on day four of
triple-digit temperatures outside, and
multiple wildfi res are burning in Oregon.
The salmon are dying from low-fl owing
and warm waterways, and other wildlife
are stressed from lack of water and food
from the drought. This is a harbinger of
future years with the global warming crisis
intensifying and positive feedback loops
increasing.
At the same time there is a push by
the logging industry and its paid-for
legislators to weaken the Northwest Forest
Plan by decreasing stream buffers and
increasing clear-cut logging on our last
and healthiest forests on federal lands. The
private and state forests have been overcut
and replanted with same age and same
species trees, turning biodiverse forests
into tree farms.
Let’s transition to alternative and
repurposed building materials and restore
our forests. The greed and power of the
corporatocracy must be stopped, and here
in Oregon that is the logging industry.
Pamela Driscoll
Dexter
BY SALLY SHEK LOW
Why I’m Going to Pride
A LITTLE HISTORY ABOUT STANDING TOGETHER
I
’m proud of my peeps. You know who I mean, all of us who are lesbian/
gay/ bi/ trans/ intersex/ two-spirit/ asexual/ pansexual/ queer/ questioning and
allies who have been living, working and fi ghting for our full equal rights and
the freedom to — don’t be shocked by this — be ourselves.
I’m proud of all of us, proud of our resilience, our perseverance, our
creativity, our sense of humor, our courage and our community. I’m always proud of
us, but I admit, I don’t always haul my proud self out to our local Eugene-Springfi eld
Pride Festival. Some years I just haven’t felt like going. It’s hot. It’s crowded. I have
the T-shirt.
I remember our fi rst Eugene-Springfi eld Pride Festival in Amazon Park back in
1992. That was the year Lon Mabon and his nefarious Oregon Citizen’s Alliance
(OCA) put Measure 9 on the ballot which, in case it isn’t burned into your memory
like it is in mine, would have changed Oregon’s Constitution to declare that
homosexuality is “abnormal, wrong, unnatural and perverse.”
Ah, what a campaign year that was. Fighting the OCA brought our community
together. We came out in droves. Our allies took a stand. We should’ve bought stock
in political buttons.
That fi rst Pride festival was all about celebrating just how normal, right, natural
and agreeable (antonym of perverse) we are. The grass was green, the sky was blue
and the rainbows were fl ying. I still recall the platform stage set up behind Amazon
Community Center and all the brave souls who stepped up to address the small but
exuberant crowd. In those days it was risky to side with us, and we cheered like
crazy for the few elected offi cials who dared to speak out for liberty and justice for
all. We played music, sang, danced, hugged and registered to vote.
That campaign was a tough fi ght and much mud was fl ung our way, but that
November we ended up beating the OCA by more than 12 percent. Our ability to
celebrate ourselves proved empowering and powerful.
I can’t count how many local Pride celebrations I’ve been to since then — a LOT.
When there was no specifi c political battle under way it was fun to just soak up the
good vibes. I’d stroll the booths, buy raffl e tickets and wrack my brain to remember
the name of the old friend I was hugging. Being there to witness and be witnessed
made me — and I think all of us — feel stronger and less vulnerable.
I once heard Timothy Leary talk about the power of the be-ins of the 1960s. He
compared it to birds in fl ight that will take turns soaring above the rest of the fl ock
4
A UGUST 6, 2015 • EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
to see how many of them there are. Pride is like that — we get to see ourselves en
masse, living proof that none of us is “the only one.”
Sure, our Pride festival in Alton Baker Park is a little rinky-dink compared to
the big celebrations and parades I’ve been to in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle
and Vancouver, B.C. I recommend planting those vivid images in your memory
if you get the chance. Forever after, whenever you’re the only LGBTI2-SAPQQA
person somewhere, you can summon a mental picture that fuels your queer pride.
Ever since I saw SF Pride’s Dykes on Bikes I have been able to summon up the
sight and sound and swelling pride, which comes in very handy at certain family
gatherings and other times of isolation and alienation. Even the Eugene-Springfi eld
Pride Festival, small townish as it may be, will imprint a colorful gaiety on your
mental hard drive that you can replay in future moments of need.
And this year especially, with so much to be proud of, so much to celebrate,
how can we NOT go? We just had this huge victory
in the Supreme Court. The national tide has
turned and supporters of full equality now
vastly outnumber the bigots. And Alison
Bechdel’s Fun Home won the Tony!
Pride is OUR holiday, and we
happily share it with all people of
goodwill who support and celebrate
freedom. This year I don’t care how
hot and crowded it is. Wifey and I
are going. I might even get another
T-shirt.
The Eugene-Springfi eld Pride
Festival is noon to 7 pm Saturday,
Aug. 8, at Alton Baker Park in Eugene.
Free with a $5 suggested donation. See
facebook.com/EugPRIDE. ■
Award-winning writer Sally Sheklow has shared her
pride with EW readers since 1999.