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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 4, 2015)
VIEWPOINTS Saturday, July 4, 2015 Quick takes Heat is doing damage My rearview mirror in my car fell down from the heat!!! — Fran Mortier First the power, now the sidewalks! — Andrew Keimig We have driven in heat so bad that the freeways buckle like this and your car goes Àying or crashing — Bonnie Endrizzi Hermiston rock stacker Hikers have done this for years to mark the trail ,t¶s cool that he does in in town for others to enMoy — Jennifer Hamlin Love seeing these stacks around Hermiston and even in 8matilla where , live .eep it up and , hope you achieve your dreams one day! — Conni Hull Love to go see them , miss my home- town so much, thank you for bringing in something new to add to our beautiful home area — Jessica Allan Wild chase through Blues Pretty sure this guy has played some *7$ — Coldy Duchek *reat Mob to that of¿cer that ended the pursuit 7he idiot driver started wrong way on a freeway! — Anna Ford One of the great lessons of the Twitter age is that much can be summed up in just a few words. Here are some of this week’s takes. Tweet yours @Tim_Trainor or email editor@eastoregonian. com, and keep them to 140 characters. Page 5A Everything you think you know about Republicans and climate change is wrong H ere¶s what we know about ,n meeting after meeting with climate change: 97 percent Republican of¿ces, the unspoken of climate scientists agreement seemed to be: “Let¶s not are convinced, based upon the argue about the science let¶s talk evidence, that human-caused about solutions and where we might global warming is happening ¿nd common ground” The popular narrative in the But what about everything media these days, however, is that we¶re hearing on T9 and reading Republicans in Congress don¶t in newspapers about Republican Mark accept this fact and that the GOP is Reynolds presidential candidates pushing back in denial about the science around on the Pope¶s Encyclical? What Comment climate change about a certain member of Congress Well, , have some surprising who tossed a snowball on the Senate news: Everything you think you know Àoor to dispute global warming? about Republicans and climate change is a These are the more sensational reactions myth that , will now e[plode that make the news because the media Our organi]ation, Citi]ens¶ Climate thrives on conÀict No conÀict No news Lobby, recently sent 800 volunteers to Despite the headlines, CCL has found meet with more than 500 House and in the past year that the propensity among Senate of¿ces in Washington This was our congressional Republicans to dispute opening in those meetings: climate science has waned considerably “We¶re here to talk about a policy that So, why has that changed and why were we can grow the economy, add jobs, increase ever arguing the science to begin with? our competitiveness with China, and make The answer, , believe, lies with the our air and water cleaner” solutions being proposed, which all That policy, our volunteers would go involved more government, more red tape on to e[plain, is to place a gradually rising and more regulations — things that are fee on carbon and return the revenue to anathema to conservatives Whether it was households They also shared the results the 1,600-page cap-and-trade bill that failed of a non-partisan study that found such a to pass the Senate or the current Clean policy would cut CO2 emissions in half Power Plan to regulate carbon dio[ide at within 20 years, while adding 28 million electrical plants, Republicans aren¶t seeing jobs to the economy and saving 13,000 solutions to climate change they can readily lives annually because of reduced air embrace pollution Don¶t like the solutions? Don¶t admit So, what happened when our volunteers there¶s a problem engaged Republicans in this conversation? But what if there was a solution in ,n most instances, there was keen harmony with the conservative values of interest, active listening, productive less government and doing things that grow discussions and — in some cases — the economy, a market-friendly approach e[pressions of support for our proposal that doesn¶t dictate which technologies win ,n very few instances, however, was there or how we should conduct our lives? pushback from the staff or member of Such a solution e[ists with Carbon Congress about the science of climate Fee and Dividend, the policy , described change earlier By returning all revenue from the Oregon¶s shameful treatment of blacks F East Oregonian While 1,081 white or a brief period men voted for “free in the early Negroes” in Oregon, 2000s, my 8,640 voted against family did a stint in them Mississippi University of There are two Oregon history things you see in professor .evin abundance down South: the Confederate Jonathan Hat¿eld e[plained the minority vote no Àag, with its de¿ant Bach bars and stars, and doubt came from a Comment plantation houses sect of abolitionists in %ack then, , had Oregon country a 10-year-old¶s grasp on Though a majority of the ideals for which those Oregonians then voted symbols once stood against having a slave state That is to say, none at all — 2,645 in favor to 7,727 $s an adult in Oregon, , against — they wouldn¶t have still feel that grip is uncertain non-white men and women %ut , do know historic racism walk freely among them pervades the country, not just ,n fact, the founding the South constitution¶s wording is Do a little digging, and quite blunt when it comes you¶ll soon ¿nd even here, to race relations generally: where people are jokingly “No Negro, Chinaman, or called “Oregon nice,” Mulatto shall have the right non-whites were once of suffrage” willfully oppressed And a colleague The .u .lu[ .lan once mentioned that Pendleton thrived here, for instance is even named after Ohio “Fiery crosses and senator “Gentleman George” marchers in .u .lu[ .lan Pendleton, who opposed the regalia were common sights banning of slavery during the in Oregon and the nation Lincoln era during the 1920s,” wrote the “There¶s a perception of late historian Eckard Toy Oregon as a liberal place,” He continued, “Racism, said Hat¿eld over the phone religious bigotry, and He acknowledges the great anti-immigrant sentiments strides Oregon has made in were deeply entrenched in promoting equality since the the laws, culture, and social Antebellum period However, life of Oregon, and few he said, “Sometimes it¶s Oregonians questioned the dif¿cult for Oregonians to .lan¶s doctrines of white engage in conversation about supremacy, Protestantism, the state¶s whole past” and ‘One-Hundred Per Cent One way we can stimulate $mericanism¶” that conversation is to add a Toy¶s observation is lesson day to public schools supported by the fact statewide about our forested that Oregon¶s founding state¶s sordid history constitution forbade Yes, we need to continue “1egroes” from settling here to place students, through The Oregon Statesman story, ne[t to Rosa Parks published the results of an on that Montgomery bus, 1857 vote on whether or at sit-ins with some of our not blacks should be free in nations ¿nest citi]ens and in Oregon — and the numbers the crowd on that August day are unsettling in Washington when Dr .ing gave his momentous speech They should recogni]e the gravity of the Civil Rights Movement for this nation¶s short-but-comple[ history But we cannot sidestep Oregon¶s role in perpetuating racist ideals historically, even if it¶s shameful Because, the truth is, this nation has a long way to go in eradicating racism Five decades after Dr .ing¶s “, Have a Dream” speech, a signi¿cant portion of the American population — 49 percent — still believe “a lot more” had to be done to achieve racial equality, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center study The tragedy of South Carolina — during which one white male, a self-styled vigilante, ripped nine of our fellow Americans from the world — speaks to the fact that much more remains to be done Eradicating racism is not just South Carolina¶s problem Nor is it just Missouri¶s Or that of Massachusetts ,t¶s our issue, too Young ones in Oregon should feel a welling up of emotion as they read about black men and women suffering the cotton ¿elds on plantation plots They should get angry about the Confederate Àag, a symbol of institutionali]ed oppression, blowing freely at public buildings — and beg policy makers to tear it down But they should also grow up to proudly defy their own state¶s history ——— Historical texts provided by University of Oregon SURIHVVRU.HYLQ+DW¿HOG with whom the author used to work. Contact Jonathan Bach at jbach@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0809. carbon fee to households, we accomplish two things: .eep the federal government from getting bigger and add jobs by putting money into the pockets of people who will spend it Republicans, by and large, like the sound of that, and a funny thing is happening as our volunteers talk to more and more members of Congress The conversation is shifting away from the so-called “debate” about climate change and toward ¿nding suitable ways to address the problem The premise that Republicans can talk about solving climate change comes as no great shock when you consider the following: During his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt protected appro[imately 230,000,000 acres of public land President Ni[on signed the Clean Air Act in 1970 Under President Reagan¶s leadership, the US entered into the Montreal Protocol, which phased out o]one-depleting chemicals Sen John McCain R-A= introduced the Climate Stewardship Act in 2003, 2005 and 2007 Sen Susan Collins R-ME was the co-sponsor of the CLEAR Act in 2009, legislation to reduce carbon emissions through a cap-and-dividend system So, everything you think you know about Republicans and climate change is, for the most part, wrong The chance that Republicans will lead on this sooner rather than later has never been more obvious And if Republicans are looking for a dramatic moment to lead on climate change, September 24 — the day Pope Francis speaks to Congress — would be the perfect time to introduce a Carbon Fee and Dividend bill Ŷ Mark Reynolds is executive director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Finding my way back to me By GRANT WIDEMAN Writers on the Range , lived on Padre ,sland, Te[as, during my formative years , knew the names of all the plants, animals — vertebrates and non — the weather and best ¿shing and sur¿ng spots , surfed, ate and lived from the sea , served as an Air Force Munitions Specialist Staff Sergeant, with two deployments in service of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation ,raqi Freedom, and one year in .orea Afterward, , spent nearly ¿ve years stateside under the inÀuence of multiple, doctor-prescribed medications One after another, , received each and every anti-depressant, an[iety and sleeping aid they offered By 2012, my personal life had fallen apart, leaving me alone to deal with my moral injury This was a term , only learned about last year My diagnosis of PTSD didn¶t ¿t the te[tbook e[planation My job did not involve boots on the ground, and , never had to shoot or be shot at All , did was build bombs None of us knew what happened when the planes came back empty None of us even thought about it So like many veterans, , ¿nally had to save myself, moving alone to Colorado and ¿nding immediate solace in the mountains ,t was quiet there, and so much bigger than my problems , found myself after so long feeling alive and in the moment , cried every day and every night while on an eight-day solo camping trip Responding to a call to from a long-distant home ,¶d forgotten about, , walked through the woods ,¶d never seen and wandered like , did as a child, peering up at the stars , was home alone and ¿ne with it ,t was the medication that , wanted and needed My e[perience led me to work closely with organi]ations dealing with conservation and threats to our lands For most of us, the war, the ¿ght and the need to serve never leave us ,t wasn¶t long after ¿nding like-minded veterans here in Colorado that , once again found my purpose, my ¿ght and a new sense of mission ,f someone had told me that , would return from my service to face a ¿ght to protect the public land , have relied on for my personal and emotional health, , would have laughed ,t is almost comical Some members of Congress are proposing legislation to sell off America¶s forests and recreation lands, block the president¶s ability to designate new monuments, and gut the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the hugely successful program that has preserved the Flight 93 National Memorial, Civil War battle¿elds, national parks and forests, and local parks and trails in every county and in every state in the nation ,¶m not laughing anymore ,n fact, , recently traveled with a delegation of veterans to Washington, DC, to meet with members of Congress to let them know that , see this as a serious, and offensive, assault on the very land , swore to protect During my visit, , emphasi]ed the deep relationship between veterans and America¶s landscapes — tens of thousands of American veterans visit public lands every year These are the lands on which service members are able to hunt, ¿sh, camp and most importantly, heal as they transition from active duty Service members have a unique understanding of the importance of protected public lands as a place for men and women to recreate after returning from strenuous military missions, to recover and reconnect America¶s national forests, wildlife refuges, parks and public lands are part of our national identity That¶s why our public lands should be protected and open to everyone to e[perience and enjoy, not sold off to special interests Now, our powerful American idea of preserving our open spaces for current and future generations — defended by generations of bipartisan leaders and American soldiers — is under attack Powerful special interests are encouraging our congressional leaders to sacri¿ce our most treasured parks, wilderness and wildlife areas and national monuments for short-term economic gain Public lands are one of our nation¶s proudest and most sacred traditions, and a gift that we give to our children and grandchildren As veterans, the protection of these special places is a promise that we cannot let this Congress walk away from Ŷ Grant Wideman is a contributor to High Country News.
