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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 2020)
letters but this virus is not the only crisis we have been facing. Throughout many years we have been facing the climate crisis, which is affecting all of us and everywhere. We have seen all kinds of disasters such as the bushfires in Australia and people dying because of pollution, not to mention how many animals have suffered. But now that the world has slowed down, we can see a lot of improvement in our environment. We can maintain those improvements! This pandemic provides a wonderful opportunity to work on decarbonizing our world and make the switch to 100 percent renewable energy. We can create millions of green jobs worldwide, and we can mend our damaged economy. We are all in this together and we can make a change! Anybody interested in getting involved and making a difference should give it a shot and join the 100 Percent Renewable Energy campaign with OSPIRG Students. vironmental, economic, moral and mental collapse. And it’s happening again at 435 River Road. Could it be that the City Council, which has control over ordinances and code, has no clear plan or strategy for increasing lo- cal jobs, not building in flood plains, main- taining visual privacy, preserving green space along the river or codifying designs that provide space for the type of thought- ful developments that help people coexist with nature? We need these values to be respected as much as the rights of a “low income housing” developer who has made a bad decision for this community. Many have tried to make the case in ra- tional and reasoned terms to no avail. I en- courage us to do something besides watch this go down again. This is not the history that should be repeated. Juliet A Thompson Eugene Karolina Dow Thomson Eugene REPEAL THE BAN If there is a special session of the Legis- lature to address the fallout from the novel coronavirus contagion, I recommend that the 2019 ban on single-signature petition sheets be repealed. The contagion has shown us that the ban was shortsighted. Circulating signature sheets for 20 sig- natures is now virtually impossible. Our ability as citizens to move forward with initiative and referendum measures is now at a standstill, thanks to a heavy-handed move by the Legislature. We can improve our democracy by repealing the ban on single-signature petition sheets. This year we will be voting on a record low number of initiative measures. The reasons are the contagion and the legislature. James K. Walsh Eugene BE COURTEOUS OUT THERE We’re mighty fortunate that it’s spring as we deal with the doom and gloom around us. Fortunate, too, that we have so many trails to invite us outside. I bicycle on the river trails every day, and it’s wonderful to see so many folks running, walking dogs, biking, pushing strollers. Sometimes it gets crowded, and I fear collisions, but luckily people are gen- erally pretty careful. But paying attention is critical, or col- lisions will happen. One basic protocol is for bikers to call “Passing on the left” as they approach others from the rear — since DON'T BE AN IDLER even when paying attention, walkers can’t know what’s coming up behind. This is good for both the biker and the walker — it’s safe and courteous. There’s a problem here, though, that of- ten makes the situation unsafe: headphones. I might call out “Passing on the left” from a distance, and get no response, so I call again as I get closer — and sometimes still no response — so then I’m right up behind the person and have to shout “Hey!” and then maybe they, startled, jump to the right and glower as I pass. This is especially a problem with skat- ers, who understandably fill the path as they glide right and left down the middle of the path; getting around them is tough if they don’t move right when I call out. So as we escape our home sojourns in whatever ways we manage, and enter the world of others, let’s be safe and courte- ous, always. Jeff Harrison Eugene CUTTING HOURS NOT THE ANSWER Some businesses are operating on shorter hours during COVID-19. While for some this creates no problem, for others it does. Say, for example, there are 1,000 people who shop at a business at its current eight hours, which would mean an average of 125 people will be there per hour. Mean- while, if it usually operates nine hours per day there would be an average of 111 peo- ple per hour. And even better, if they are usually open 10 hours, it would be an aver- age of 100 people per hour. For example, when it comes to a busi- ness such as Bottle Drop, it’s a bad idea. With shorter hours it creates a problem with social distancing. With the same num- ber of patrons using Bottle Drop there is a funneling effect where more people are at the location at a given time than when the hours are not shortened. Bottle Drop was usually open until 6 pm (now 5 pm), and it would even be better if it went to its sum- mer hours, closing at 7 pm. At this time, it being unusually busy, social distancing is difficult, and many do not bother with wearing masks. And at Bottle Drop the staff has little interaction with patrons, so they are safe. This is true for any business that has a steady stream of numerous customers, be- cause shortening their hours means more peo- ple are there at a given time, and therefore, less social distancing. Not a good idea! Richard Pasichnyk Eugene WORK FOR CHANGE According to the U.S. Department of En- ergy, “Personal-vehicle idling wastes about 3 billion gallons of fuel, generating around 30 million tons of CO2 annually in the U.S.” I'd like to ask EW readers to please turn off your engines while sitting in your car, texting, talking or whatever. Yes, I know, you paid for the petrol, so youable to do whatever the heck you want. It's true, but you wouldn't take a hose and attach one end to the tail pipe and put the other end in the back window while you sit there idling in the car park would you? Heavens no, that would harm you or your child or the elderly person you're waiting for to come out of the pharmacy with their inhaler. I've politely asked many people why they do it. Some people ignore me, some are rude, some explain that the heat’s on because it's cold, or AC is on be- cause it's hot inside the car and their baby's sleeping. People old and young, female and male, farmers and office workers do it. But our actions have consequences. If you care about children, people or climate change facts, can you just turn off your engine please? If it's cold wear a jacket, if it's warm go stand in the shade. You'd save money, re- duce pollution, help the old and young and conserve energy for the future generations sleeping in the car seat behind you. For the past few months, we have been struck by the COVID-19 global pandemic, Tim Moxley Eugene read us online at eugeneweekly.com E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M M A Y 2 1 , 2 0 2 0 5
