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
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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
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