Page 2 The Skanner December 2, 2015
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
Christen McCurdy
News Editor
Patricia Irvin
Graphic Designer
Arashi Young
Donovan M. Smith
Reporters
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Office Coordinator
Susan Fried
Photographer
2015
MERIT
AWARDS
WINNER
The Skanner has received 20 NNPA awards since 1998
The Skanner Newspaper, es-
tablished in October 1975, is a
weekly publication, published
every Wednesday by IMM Publi-
cations Inc.
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Opinion
Strategic Power of the Black Press in 2016
F
or over 45 million Af-
rican Americans, there
are multiple priorities
that need to be addressed
in order to ensure that the
socioeconomic and political
interests of our families and
communities are accurately
articulated and fulfilled.
We live in a multimedia
world. Too often, however, we
are left with divergent, and
sometimes inaccurate, infor-
mation from so-called “main-
stream” media sources when
it comes to receiving the true
facts about the issues and
challenges that impact our
overall quality of life.
Since the first publication of
Freedom’s Journal in March
1827 in New York City by Sam-
uel Cornish and John Russ-
wurm, Black-owned newspa-
pers and media companies
have been on the frontline of
being the unrestrained trust-
ed voice of Black America.
Both Cornish and Russwurm
were abolitionist publishers
who knew the power of print-
ing the truth to challenge and
abolish slavery. They stated,
“We wish to plead our own
cause. Too long have others
spoken for us, too long has
the public been deceived
by misrepresentations…We
deem it expedient to estab-
lish a paper, and bring into
operation all the means with
which out benevolent creator
has endowed us, for the mor-
al, religious, civil and literary
Benjamin F.
Chavis, Jr.
NNPA
President
and CEO
improvement of our race.”
As we approach 2016, the ad-
monition of the publishers of
Freedom’s Journal still rings
true today. We must plead
our own cause for equal jus-
tice. We must plead our own
cause for economic empower-
ment. We must plead our own
“
cratic and Republican candi-
dates who are running to be
the next President of the Unit-
ed States know the impor-
tance of the African Amer-
ican vote in 2016, there has
yet to be any serious national
effort by the various political
campaigns to put as a priority
the mobilization of millions
of African American voters
through the Black Press.
In my opinion there is too
much cynicism and negative
focus only on the deficits and
injustices that are pervasive
in our communities. There
should be more balance to
We wish to plead our own cause.
Too long have others spoken for
us, too long has the public been de-
ceived by misrepresentations
cause for cultural solidarity
and spiritual unity. And we
must plead our own cause in
the upcoming national politi-
cal elections.
We should not permit our
communities to be unaware
of all that is at stake in the
2016 elections. There are still
millions of unregistered el-
igible voters in the African
American community. The
Black Press has the proven
track record of helping na-
tionally and regionally to get
out the vote.
While many of the Demo-
include more about the as-
sets and triumphs of African
Americans even in the face of
racial inequity and injustice.
This is where the Black
Press comes in forcefully and
strategically. The National
Newspaper Publishers Asso-
ciation (NNPA) is the nation-
al trade association for the
Black Press and the NNPA is
the custodian for insuring
the effective legacy of Black-
owned newspapers and me-
dia companies.
In 2016, the Black vote nor
the Black Press can be taken
for granted. African Amer-
icans spend in excess of $1.2
trillion primarily as con-
sumers in the U.S. economy.
Most of the major Fortune
500 companies enjoy a sig-
nificant profit margin from
African American consumer
spending. But power is just
not in spending money. Real
economic power is measured
in real estate holdings, invest-
ments, and the ownership of
businesses and institutions
that serve the interests of
one’s community.
Every African American
family should have an annual
subscription to a Black-owned
newspaper. In fact, if you are
contemplating a gift for some-
one during this year’s Kwan-
zaa celebrations, you should
give a Black-owned newspa-
per subscription as a mean-
ingful and useful gift. The
Black Press of America not
only has a definite future, it
has a powerful strategic place
in the world as long as mil-
lions of African Americans
continue to push forward for
equality and empowerment.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is
the President and CEO of the
National Newspaper Publish-
ers Association (NNPA) and
can be reached for national
advertisement sales and part-
nership proposals at: dr.bcha-
vis@nnpa.org; and for lectures
and other professional consul-
tations at: http://drbenjaminf-
chavisjr.wix.com/drbfc
Reducing Emissions Locally and Internationally
P
acific Power, through its
parent company Berk-
shire Hathaway Ener-
gy, was the first energy
company to sign the Ameri-
can Business Act on Climate
Pledge in a ceremony at the
White House. Apple, Google,
Microsoft, Alcoa and others
joined in this commitment to
act to address climate change.
We talk about climate
change in our Portland neigh-
borhoods and we are all com-
mitted to making our air
cleaner. We are working lo-
cally on energy efficiency and
bringing more solar and wind
energy into the mix. A good
local example is the solar ar-
ray atop the Maggie Gibson
Center on Northeast Alberta.
Our Blue Sky Renewable En-
ergy customers contributed
$34,000 to that project.
A larger example is on the
roof of the Oregon Conven-
tion Center, which we were
happy to help dedicate in
mid-November. Blue Sky cus-
tomers helped put 5,000 ar-
rays atop the Northeast Port-
land landmark.
But we know climate change
is a global problem, so that is
why we are working toward
an achievable and sustain-
able international treaty that
Sheila
Holden
Pacific
Power
drives real global reduction
in carbon emissions during
the climate talks in Paris,
scheduled for late this year.
In our pledge, we commit-
ted to bring more than 1,000
megawatts of new solar and
wind generation, roughly
“
to transition in a measured
way to a lower carbon future
while ensuring reliability
and affordability for our cus-
tomers, the 70,000 in North-
east Portland and the 730,000
throughout the Northwest.
The company’s long-range
plans include the closure or
conversion of 10 units of coal
generation by 2029. We, in
fact, closed two of those units
in April. Our plans reduce
coal generation as a source of
energy by 40 percent over the
next 15 years.
As businesses and popula-
Our plans reduce coal generation
as a source of energy by 40 percent
over the next 15 years
enough power for 164,000
homes, onto our grid over
the next two years. Berkshire
Hathaway Energy also an-
nounced that it will commit
an additional $15 billion to
new renewable generation
projects, on top of the $15 bil-
lion worth that the company
already built.
While these steps are sig-
nificant, they’re only the lat-
est in our multi-year journey
tions grow, demand for elec-
tricity continues to rise, but
we’re investing significantly
in energy efficiency pro-
grams to reduce the need for
new generation facilities. We
expect to address fully 86 per-
cent of that growth with ener-
gy efficiency programs so that
we won’t have to build a new
thermal generating plant un-
til at least 2028.
Most folks don’t know this,
but we are the largest utility
owner of wind generation
in the western U.S. Under
Berkshire Hathaway Energy
ownership, we have invested
more than $2 billion in wind
and solar generation.
Integrating more renew-
ables and maintaining grid
reliably can be a challenge.
Through our partnership
with the California grid oper-
ator to implement the Energy
Imbalance Market across six
western states, we are trans-
forming the way that renew-
ables are integrated into the
electrical grid.
Our job is to generate and
deliver reliable, low-cost elec-
tricity for our customers,
while respecting the resourc-
es we use and the impacts they
have on the environment.
It is all about striking a bal-
ance. We can keep the power
flowing and protect the envi-
ronment. We can transition
away from coal-fired genera-
tion in a sensible, cost-effec-
tive way while continuing to
invest wisely in renewable re-
sources that benefit our cus-
tomers. Working together, we
can create a sustainable en-
ergy future for all of us that
keeps costs low and reduces
impacts on the environment.