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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2019
Secretary of State Clarno
rejects clean energy proposals
By DIRK VANDERHART
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Secretary of State Bev
Clarno has rejected two pro-
posed ballot measures that
would force Oregon to transi-
tion to carbon-free sources of
electricity in the next 25 years.
Setting up a second poten-
tial confl ict with environ-
mental groups, Clarno ruled
Thursday that the two propos-
als violated a constitutional
requirement that they stick to
a “single subject.”
“Both measures speak for
themselves, if read carefully,
that the issues presented are
not limited to a single sub-
ject,” Deputy Secretary of
State Rich Vial said of Clar-
no’s most recent ruling. “The
secretary has the responsibil-
ity to make that constitutional
decision.”
That’s the same contro-
versial rationale Clarno used
earlier this year when she
rejected three separate pro-
posals aimed at protecting
state forests. In that instance,
her decision led to an unsuc-
cessful court challenge from
environmentalists that is cur-
rently being appealed.
“There is now a pattern of
fl agrant abuse of power by
this secretary of state, far out-
side the norms for any Dem-
ocrat or Republican who has
held the offi ce,” said Tera
Hurst, executive director of
the group Renew Oregon,
which is backing the rejected
clean energy measures. “The
secretary of state is siding
with the oil industry, corpo-
rate polluters and anti-worker
special interests to block the
ability of the voters to decide
Bradley W. Parks/Oregon Public Broadcasting
Secretary of State Bev Clarno has used the ‘single subject’
constitutional requirement in her rejection of multiple
proposed ballot measures.
their clean air future.”
The two proposals Clarno
rejected Thursday, initiative
petitions 48 and 49, are seen
as a backstop Renew Ore-
gon and its allies can turn to if
Oregon lawmakers fail to reg-
ulate greenhouse gas emis-
sions next year.
If passed by voters, the
measures would require Ore-
gon to source all of its elec-
tricity from carbon-free or
renewable energy sources
by 2045. That’s a standard
Hawaii and at least six other
states have adopted since
2015.
But the petitions also
include a number of provi-
sions that opponents argue
make them too broad. Both
IP 48 and 49 require that con-
struction projects related to
the new standards pay a pre-
vailing wage, offer bene-
fi ts and meet a number of
other benchmarks. IP 49 also
requires electric utilities to
invest in “benefi cial electri-
fi cation programs” that help
the state meet its emissions
reduction goals.
In comments on the pro-
posals, opponents Willis Van
Dusen and Janet Steele said
they “include extensive new
labor practice requirements
likely appealing to members
of the proponents’ voting coa-
lition who otherwise might
not support the measure.” The
provisions violate a constitu-
tional requirement that initia-
tive petitions deal with “one
subject only,” they argued.
Clarno evidently agreed,
though Vial would not give
specifi cs about her decision.
The rulings mark the sec-
ond time Clarno has tossed
initiative petitions based on
her reading of Oregon’s “sin-
gle subject” requirement.
When she rejected the
three forest-related propos-
als in September, the decision
was questioned by both envi-
ronmentalists and Attorney
General Ellen Rosenblum,
who made clear she didn’t
agree with Clarno’s strict
interpretation of the law.
However, when petition-
ers challenged the decision,
a Marion County judge ruled
that Clarno was correct. That
ruling is being appealed, and
attorneys for the Oregon Leg-
islative Assembly say it could
have major implications for
Oregon’s legislative process
if upheld.
It’s unclear whether
Rosenblum’s offi ce agreed
with Clarno’s rationale for
tossing the clean energy pro-
posals. Vial declined to say
Thursday what advice the sec-
retary had received from the
state Department of Justice,
though he said DOJ attorneys
“discussed the matter” with
her prior to the decision.
Renew Oregon and its
allies were unsparing in their
criticism of Clarno’s ruling
Thursday, issuing a lengthy
release in response.
“Until this election cycle,
the single subject rule has
rarely, if ever, been used to
reject a proposed initiative,”
ballot measure attorney Mar-
garet Olney said in the release.
“By ignoring the analysis of
the Attorney General, Leg-
islative Counsel, the Oregon
Supreme Court and insert-
ing an exceptionally partisan
review into a previously unbi-
ased process, Secretary of
State Clarno is undermining
our initiative process and crip-
pling the power of Orgonians
to take their concerns directly
to the voters.”
Renew Oregon and oth-
ers fi led IP 48 and 49 in early
October. They also fi led a
third petition, IP 50, that
would force Oregon to elim-
inate greenhouse gas emis-
sions from “fossil fuel and
industrial sources.” IP 50 is
arguably the most potent of
the three petitions, and was
approved by the secretary of
state’s offi ce, Vial said.
Feds say no protections needed for red tree vole
Found on the
North Coast
By MONICA SAMAYOA
Oregon Public Broadcasting
The U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service has determined
the red tree vole does not
warrant a listing as threat-
ened under the Endangered
Species Act.
The government said the
small mammal, found on the
Oregon Coast, did not meet
the defi nition of an endan-
gered or threatened species
after reviewing the best and
most recent scientifi c data
available.
In 2011, it determined the
population did warrant list-
ing based on the information
provided then.
But after conducing
yearly species status assess-
ments, known as a candidate
notice of review, the agency
decided to reverse its deci-
sion based on past and pres-
ent information.
“What we discovered was
a lot of that habitat exists on
federal lands and it exists in
large blocks,” U.S. Fish and
Wildlife biologist Sue Liv-
ingston said. That drove her
agency’s analysis that tree
voles are able to persist in a
couple of larger populations
and survive further threats of
loss of habitat.
The primary stress-
ors affecting the population
include habitat loss and frag-
mentation due to timber har-
vest and wildfi res.
Center for Biological
Diversity endangered spe-
cies director Noah Gre-
enwald said the species is
highly imperiled and needs
Endangered Species Act
protections.
“Scientists that have been
doing decades of research
on this species found that it
was in trouble in the N orth
C oast and that that popula-
tion needed protection,” he
said. “Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice previously determined
that it needed protection and
now they have just reversed
course.”
This is the fi rst reversal
for the red tree vole. Green-
wald said his organization
will seek to challenge the
decision is federal court.
Red tree voles are mouse-
sized rodents that live in
older conifer trees. They
spend most of their time in
the forest canopy and typi-
cally move quickly between
the trees.
The red tree voles are
found in Clatsop, Colum-
bia, Tillamook, Washington,
Yamhill, Polk, Lincoln, Ben-
ton and Lane counties.
The U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service also rejected peti-
tions to extend Endangered
Species Act protections to
four other species: the Ozark
chub (fi sh), purple-disk hon-
Merry Christmas
Courtney Ann
My Angel in Heaven
Aug. 21, ‘82 - Dec. 22, ‘01
“The grass withers & the flowers
fall, but the word of our God
stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8
Love always forever
and ever and ever,
Dadio
eycombhead (plant), sand
verbena moth (insect) and the
skiff milkvetch (wildfl ower).
Federal spending plan
to include money for
rural communities
By JEFF MAPES
Oregon Public
Broadcasting
U.S. Sen . Ron Wyden
and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merk-
ley on Friday announced
provisions to improve
infrastructure and jobs in
coastal communities in the
2020 federal spending bill
that passed both chambers
of Congress and is headed
to the president’s desk to
become law.
“I’m in every county
every year, and across
rural and coastal Oregon
I hear about ways we can
create jobs and strengthen
communities,” Merkley
said. “This bill refl ects a
lot of those insights, from
strengthening the coastal
infrastructure to bolstering
salmon recovery efforts to
more money for communi-
ties to hire police offi cers.”
The bill includes money
the Oregon Democrats
promoted for small ports,
research vessels, salmon
management,
climate
change and other coastal
issues.
Wyden told a Portland
business conference Mon-
day that the overall 2020
federal spending pack-
age includes provisions
extending millions of dol-
lars in aid provided through
a 2000 law designed to
help rural counties bat-
tered by declining logging
on federal lands.
Since then, about $3
billion in federal aid has
poured into counties
around Oregon through
the Security Rural Schools
and Community Self-De-
termination Act. But the
level of aid has dropped
over the years and funding
has even lapsed at times. It
expired again earlier this
year. But Wyden said the
new federal spending leg-
islation will keep the pro-
gram going for another
two years, roughly at cur-
rent levels.
Wyden aides said that
should amount to about
$80 million a year to all
but fi ve counties in Ore-
gon. In 2018, Oregon coun-
ties received $76.4 mil-
lion, according to Rocky
McVay, executive director
of the Association of O&C
Counties. That group rep-
resents more than a dozen
w estern Oregon counties
with timberlands controlled
by the federal Bureau of
Land Management.
Wyden told reporters at
the annual Oregon Lead-
ership Summit at the Ore-
gon Convention Cen-
ter that he’s working with
U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, an
Idaho Republican , on leg-
islation to create a perma-
nent endowment for the
counties. That way, coun-
ties could reliably plan for
how much they expect to
receive.
“What Sen. Crapo and
I want to do,” Wyden said,
“is get these rural commu-
nities off what I call the
rural roller coaster.”
McVay said the cur-
rent funding uncertainty
has made it hard for county
governments to give vot-
ers a clear picture of local
fi nances. The federal pro-
gram expired in both 2014
and 2016, and the coun-
ties went for more than a
year without the money.
They eventually received
retroactive payments that
helped ease the pain.
McVay said his group
is pushing for the Wyden-
Crapo legislation, but he
said there’s a lot of skep-
ticism about whether it
can be done. He said the
lawmakers would need
to persuade Congress to
come up with as much as
$8 billion to fund such an
endowment.
SEASIDE AMERICAN LEGION POST 99
Sunday
Dec. 22
WE WOULD LIKE TO BRING
THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY
TOGETHER THIS SUNDAY FOR
A DAY FULL OF CELEBRATING
THE HOLIDAY SEASON!
Breakfast
with
Santa
8:30 am -11 am
American Legion
1315 Broadway, Seaside
Start the day with Santa & his bag
of goodies for all the children!
Breakfast Buffet
Adults $9
Kids FREE this Sun.
Come on back for a
FREE Holiday Dinner @ 1:00 p.m.
Baked Turkey & Ham with Stuffing, Veggies,
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy & more!
WE WELCOME EVERYONE TO THIS EVENT TO ENJOY A MEAL
AND/OR VOLUNTEER IF YOU HAVE SOME EXTRA TIME & ENERGY!
FOR DETAILS CALL 503-738-5111