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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 27, 2015)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 Maybe youth will stay Get your carbon rebate T he online letter, “Act on climate change” (The Daily Astorian, March 6) says: “A market-based car- bon tax rebated to the public would be (State Rep. Greg Walden’s) smartest choice” in addressing global warm- ing. I agree. And there’s a bill already drafted and ready to be introduced in Congress, making his job easier. The volunteer Citizens Climate Lobby website has the draft of the bill, which would leg- islate a steadily-increasing national carbon tax on all fossil fuels, that would be re- bated, 100 percent, to every American every month. It would phase out fossil fuels, create 2.8 million U.S. jobs, add $75-80 billion an- nually to our Gross Domes- tic Product, and ordinary Americans would make a profit while transitioning to clean energy with this plan, according to Regional Eco- nomic Models Inc. The bill could have bi- partisan support in Congress because not only would it improve our economy and lower the number of prema- ture deaths in the U.S. from carbon pollution (30,000 annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency), it uses conserva- tive, free-market economics, not government regulations, expansion or expense. It’s revenue-neutral. 5A Angels unaware: Volunteers watching out L etters to the editor, such as last week’s “Bigger not always better” (The Daily Astorian, March 13), are emblematic of a larger problem that has faced Clat- sop County as a whole. As a born and raised Clatsop County resident, I interpret the article “How big can you be, Astoria” (The Dai- ly Astorian, March 6) as the first step in ending a horrid tradition experienced by Clatsop County parents for generations: That is, watch- ing their families being sep- arated because of a lack of economic opportunities for their children in Clatsop County, thus outsourcing their children to the con- fines of the Interstate 5 cor- ridor and beyond. So, to have members of the populous who move here expressing reservations about growth in Clatsop County is interpreted by the writer of this epistle to be no less than a slap in the face to his 2-year-old son, and a de- rogatory gesture (involving very specific phalanges) to the generations of Clatsop County youth forced out of the area, and the pain suf- fered by parents. When one walks around downtown Astoria, Youngs Bay Plaza and various parts of Seaside, it can be ascer- tained that Clatsop County’s reliance on a tourist-driven economy is a novelty idea that has run its course. With job and business-killing legislation being pushed in the state legislature, the problem is only going to be amplified in struggling rural economies across the state and here in Clatsop Coun- ty. It is time as a county we at least begin discussing bringing reliable industries to the area — industries that will provide jobs and an economic revival to Clatsop County. It will also lay the groundwork for other busi- nesses to come to the area, giving future generations of Clatsop County youth at least the economic option to return if they wish. In conclusion, if things do not economically change in Clatsop County in 16 years, at least I will join the past generations of Clatsop County youth and parents in a horrid tradition of ex- porting my child from Clat- sop County. I plan to fight like hell to change that, and I urge you all to do the same. No more every cou- ple of month weekend vis- its, Skyping, telephone calls and loading/watching of U-Hauls leaving for the cor- ridor. I plan on being able to tell my son I did everything I could — will you be able to do the same? JASON KOST Astoria FRIDAY EXCHANGE S ometimes we are given and blessed by miracles that we never recognize for what they are. As a member of the As- toria Senior Center, I was very disturbed by the delay in the remodel of the build- ing at 1111 Exchange St. What a blessing that I did not recognize until I saw home- less men and women using the vacant building as shelter from the storm. The door to the Astoria Warming Center has closed for the season and, as with all miracles, a new door will open and there will be angels looking out for human beings who appear to be, not just homeless but also, helpless. That angel will become an advocate and a voice for someone less fortunate. There has been way too little media coverage about those angels who have volunteered above and beyond what any- one could ever imagine. These are some of the ones who need to be recognized for what they do, not for monetary gain or personal acclaim. They see a need and a job to be GRQH DQG WKH\ DUH ¿UVW LQ OLQH WR KHOS with hours of cleaning dirty and soiled Perhaps the most import- ant part of this bill is that it can create major carbon emissions cuts in China, which is vital if we are to re- ally combat global warming. As the carbon tax in- creased annually, people would, naturally, use their rebate checks to buy cheaper clean energy. We can put the same fee on imports from carbon polluters like China, till they cut their emissions. We’ll get this import fee re- bated to us too, so U.S. prod- ucts will be more affordable for Americans, revitalizing our manufacturing sector. This plan has worked successfully in British Co- lumbia for six years, It’s cre- ated jobs, lowered taxes and their GDP has been higher than the rest of Canada. (The Economist, “The Evidence Mounts”) If we act on climate change now, we can may still have time to avert the catastrophic climate change the world’s best climate sci- entists are warning about, but scientists have recent- ly moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock, which is used to measure our proxim- ity to nuclear annihilation, back up to three minutes to midnight, due to the threat of global warming annihila- tion. Tick tock. LYNN GOLDFARB Northglenn, Colo. FORWKHVÀRRUVDQGWRLOHWVKRXUVRIVWD\- ing awake looking after the welfare of someone who may be a complete strang- er; and hours of collecting and providing nourishment for someone who is proba- bly a stranger. When there is no warming FHQWHURSHQWKH\GRJRRXWWR¿QGWKHVH strangers who are cold and hungry to see how they are holding up and providing, at their own expense, food and clothing. Individuals in the community stepped up to the plate and provided so much in terms of clothing, bedding and mon- ey for the warming center because they heard the alarm and they cared. But, did you know about the individuals in the community who have been doing this on their own for years, using their own ingenuity and resources, when the truth be told, they sometimes live below the poverty line themselves? They are out there not just talking- the-talk but they are also walking-the- walk. They know homeless people by their names, they shake their hands, they give them hugs and they demonstrate on a personal level that people really do ranchers left (“Agriculture matters most,” March 17) The op-ed paints an idyl- lic picture of farmers and ranchers tilling the soil and paving the way for civili- zation by freeing humans from hunting and gathering. Those farmers and ranchers are anachronisms. Today, the cultivators of food and meat do not deserve the ti- tle of farmers and ranchers. They are industrial entre- preneurs devoid of respect for living things. Animals are penned shoulder to shoulder with- out room to exercise. They wallow in their own waste and are pumped full of an- tibiotics so they can survive their living conditions. They are fed growth hormones and grains they were never intended to eat leading them to suffer chronic diarrhea. “Ranchers” are unable to manage the amount of urine and diarrhea produced by so many animals in one place and are obliged to create massive ponds of animal waste. This waste is poorly care for other people. There are individ- uals who have for years been passing out food gift cards, not as Christmas gifts, but whenever they think someone is hungry. We even have to give thanks to those who are disgusted by the sight of home- less people in the downtown area and have called the city and police depart- ment to complain about someone sleep- ing in a downtown doorway. Good for them, it has brought home, even more so, the need for a remedy to a silent social disgrace. In 1953, Dale Evans Rogers wrote a best selling little story about losing a child and she called her book Angel Un- aware, taking inspiration from the book of Hebrews 13:2: “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for hereby some have entertained angels unawares.” The next time you have someone over for coffee, be aware, Astoria and Clatsop County have many angels disguised as your neighbors. God Bless them All. LARRY ALLEN Astoria sequestered and gradually leeches into water systems. The rice mentioned af- fectionately is so full of cancer-producing arsenic that Consumer Reports rec- ommends that rice no lon- ger be used as a staple food. Even so-called “organic” rice is high in arsenic. These patrons of civili- zation now want to splice the genes of other creatures into fruit and vegetables so the resulting Franken- foods will not turn brown, no matter how long they sit on the counter. So they are “Roundup ready” and can withstand a thorough dous- ing with deadly glyphosate without visible damage. I might celebrate more reverential forms of animal husbandry and agriculture. But they are gone. The cele- bration on Wednesday hon- ored earlier times. We are not in Mayberry any more. I will not celebrate the abuse of animals and the creation of plants that can tolerate higher concentra- tions of pesticide, herbi- cide and arsenic. I will not celebrate the trivialization of genetics. And I will not celebrate foods that must be irradiated to ensure they won’t make us sick. RODNEY MERRILL Astoria The real bubble W hen bubbles, or excess populations of a spe- cies occur, doesn’t nature respond by increasing the population of that species’ natural predators? So, ex- cess mice bring about an ex- cess of mouse-eaters, which brings about excess eaters of mouse-eaters, etc; the population bubble passes up the food chain until it goes away. We are inputting millions of hatchery-raised salm- on into the river, which has naturally brought about in- creased populations of seals and cormorants, who eat them. And that makes us mad. We ourselves are the real bubble distorting the earth’s population, of course. And not content to occupy the top of the food chain, we interfere in it at every level, any way in which we think we can make a buck. Well, it’s not popular to advocate reducing the human population, but I like the idea of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife introducing about a dozen coyotes out on Sand Island where the cor- morants nest. In a couple of years the cormorant part of the bubble would be gone, and ODFW could return the coyotes to the boondocks. That would be much more humane, “natural” and dig- QL¿HG ZRUN IRU 2'): WKDQ shooting cormorants. As for the seals, I guess bringing orcas into the riv- er to eat them is out of the question. But I think maybe all we need are some reci- pes. I read in the paper that Kennewick Man, the 13,000 year old cadaver found way up the river, had a bellyful of not salmon or sturgeon or venison, but seal meat. I doubt he carried it up there with him. I bet he killed them in the river where they were eating salmon, just as they’re doing now. Maybe the Baked Alaska Restaurant can be persuaded to live up to its name, stand up, and put those guys on their menu. JOSEPH WEBB Astoria Loss of charm I completely agree with Ter- rie Powers’ letter “Bigger not always better” (The Dai- ly Astorian, March 13). Like many others, I retired to Asto- ria to escape the rat race. Astoria is currently a re- laxing and charming place to live. To allow Huy Ying Chen to convert it to a major tour- ist attraction, complete with an international airport would be massively destructive to the charm of Astoria (“How big can you be, Astoria?” The Daily Astorian, March 6). Astoria would become the rat race of the North Coast. KAREN ELDER Astoria New climate video T hank you for publish- ing the piece “Polluters should pay” (The Daily As- torian, Jan. 16) by Camila Thorndike and Dan Golden of Oregon Climate. Oregon Climate recently unveiled a new video from an award-winning film- maker. The video features Oregonians from across the state explaining the need for a price on pollution and a solution that could put thou- sand of dollars back in resi- dents’ pockets. Oregon Climate, a new organization working to address climate change and end free pollution in Ore- gon, recently premiered a mini-documentary from Di- rector Christopher Smith. The 5-minute film explores the current ways that cli- mate change is negatively affecting state businesses, such as oyster farmers and ranchers. The film offers a model that charges a fee to major polluters, returning all of the money to Orego- nians in the form of a div- idend. The Oregon Climate vid- eo can be seen at www.ore- gonclimate.org “This is a win-win solu- tion for our state” said Or- egon Climate Executive Director Camila Thorndike. “We can reduce pollution and put money back in Ore- gonians’ pockets, modeling the national policy that can stabilize the climate.” GORDY MOLITOR Portland The real ag picture I feel compelled to say that The Daily Astorian opin- ion piece celebrating Agri- culture Day does a disser- vice to citizens, consumers and the few real farmers and Get your remodel rolling today. Introductory rate for 5 months Home Equity Line of Credit 1.50 % APR* Rate available 2/14/15–4/24/15 Rates are subject to change Rates as low as 3.99 % APR* Variable rate after Introductory Period With competitive rates and flexible terms, a U.S. Bank Home Equity Line of Credit may help you make your dream kitchen a reality. 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