Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Thursday, August 6, 2015
OTHER VIEWS
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
Advertising Director
TIM TRAINOR
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
Pendleton
council owes
us honesty
Pendleton’s city council is talking the more it will cost us to restore
them. Currently, we don’t have
in circles, trying desperately not to
the money to make even minimal
say the only two things councilors
headway on the problem, and that is
can possibly say about the city’s
WUXHDERXWDEXGJHWLQÀDWHGZLWKWKH
terrible roads.
two new sources of revenue (fuel tax
Either:
and utility fee).
1) Sorry, it’s too expensive. We
So what’s the plan Stan?
FDQ¶W¿[\RXUVWUHHW
It’s clear that right now voters are
Or:
suspicious of the council’s ability
2) We’re going to tax you an
to spend their money wisely. We
egregious amount to begin a long,
want better infrastructure, but we
slow slog to getting Pendleton’s
sure as heck don’t
roads back up to
want our dollars to
code.
go toward building
Obviously,
It is going to
a road to an empty
neither of these are
take decades
industrial park, or to
answers residents
a bridge traveled by
want to hear. But
of financial
just a few cars per
what other correct
prudence,
day. And Barnhardt
response is there?
Road and the Eighth
Council members
increased
Street Bridge have
have tried all sorts
taxes and fees, been the costly
of mixed metaphors
infrastructure
and unwieldy
cost cutting
priorities for council
analogies to describe
this crisis. But
and economic recently — along
with the unpopular
enough is enough.
growth to get
upgrades to the
Taxpayers are
Eastern Oregon
owed some honesty
out
from
under
Regional Airport
here, and council
Pendleton’s road and Main Street.
should stop with
Obviously, city
the hemming and
problem.
council is in a
hawing and come
no-win situation. It
out with it.
took decades of mismanagement,
Voters need to know the plan.
poor budgeting and bad leadership
Maybe not the computer algorithm
to get us to this position. It will
that shows where our money is
WDNHGHFDGHVRI¿QDQFLDOSUXGHQFH
best used. But we need to know
increased taxes and fees, cost cutting
how increased funding is going to
and economic growth to get us out
do more than just coat the problem
of it.
with a thin layer of asphalt. We
And city council won’t say it, so
need to know how funds raised by
I guess we have to. The poor souls
a proposed fuel tax and utility fee
will be used. We need to know what who live on Perkins who organized
and stood before council to tell their
WKHFLW\¶VSKLORVRSK\LVIRU¿[LQJ
tale are not going to get a new street.
streets — do we continue to do
Neither are the hundreds of others
upkeep on our best, most-traveled
who live on streets that are just as
thoroughfares, or do we do some
damaged. The city cannot institute
costly renovations and improve our
worst neighborhood cul de sacs? We a gas tax and then take all those
need to know how development and nickels and have just one tiny, shiny
growth will reduce the tax burden on street to show for it.
We need a plan, long term
the city’s stagnant population.
and realistic. We don’t need city
Because unless they see that
plan spelled out, it will be hard to
government to beat around the bush:
convince voters that a gas tax is
we need to know how hard it’s going
something they can get behind. We
to be and how expensive it’s going
DOONQRZWKHFLW\¶VURDGVQHHG¿[LQJ to be. Because it will be both, no
And the longer we delay, the more
matter how long council tries to
decrepit our roads will become and
dance around that fact.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of Publisher
Kathryn Brown, Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, and Opinion Page Editor Tim Trainor.
Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. Senators
Governor
Ron Wyden
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F
Mississippi’s Republican governor,
or many years, I used to spend
Phil Bryant, described the EPA plan as
at least part of the summer in
“burdensome.”
the gorgeous Laurentides region
And then there’s Mitch McConnell,
of Quebec, an hour northwest of
the Senate majority leader, whose
Montreal. By the mid-1980s, with
state, Kentucky, is in the heart of
each return trip, I could see a growing
coal country. He has openly called on
environmental threat to the area’s
states to defy the EPA. On Monday, he
beauty: More and more trees were
described the new rules as “a triumph
dying. When I asked people what was
Joe
happening, the answer was simple:
Nocera of blind ideology over sound policy
and honest compassion.”
“pluie acide,” or acid rain, a form of
Comment
But just as with the acid rain
pollution caused by sulfur dioxide and
controversy, the opponents of
nitrogen oxides that were spewing
the new emission-reduction rules have it
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exactly backward. The EPA rules have a far
A decade or so later, the trees had stopped
greater chance of creating jobs, being less
dying. An environmental disaster had been
burdensome and epitomizing sound public
averted. What had happened?
policy than the opposite.
The answer was that the
The single most
DGPLQLVWUDWLRQRIWKH¿UVW
important fact about the
President George Bush,
new regulations is that they
working hand in glove with
don’t tell utilities how to
the Environmental Defense
get their emissions down.
Fund, devised a market-
Instead, they allow the
based plan, now known as
VWDWHVÀH[LELOLW\WR¿JXUH
cap-and-trade, to reduce
out how to lower their
sulfur dioxide emissions.
own emissions. Some may
Congress passed it in 1990.
choose a cap-and-trade
The brilliance of the scheme
system — as California and
is that while it set emissions
nine states in the Northeast
targets, it did not tell power
have already done to great
companies how to meet
effect. (In California,
those targets, allowing them
for instance, carbon
DJUHDWGHDORIÀH[LELOLW\
intensity — the amount of
,WDOVRSURYLGHGD¿QDQFLDO
carbon pollution per million
incentive: Companies that
dollars of gross domestic
cut their pollution beyond
product — is down 23 percent from 2001,
their caps could trade their leftover emission
while its GDP has grown.) They can stress
allowances to companies that were having
HQHUJ\HI¿FLHQF\RUUHQHZDEOHHQHUJ\7KH\
trouble staying under the limit.
can offer incentives to push innovations that
,QGXVWU\RI¿FLDOVDQGPDQ\VWDWHRI¿FLDOV
would make carbon capture more affordable,
complained bitterly about the new system,
which would allow for the continued use of
saying it would be costly and tie companies
coal, still America’s most plentiful energy
up in regulatory knots. But that’s not what
source. Or they can do all of the above. Since
happened. “Industry had incentive to
many of these things are already happening,
innovate,” recalls Fred Krupp, the president
the new government policy is really just
of the Environmental Defense Fund. As an
giving industry an extra shove in the right
interim measure, power companies began
direction.
using low-sulfur coal while they worked to
Jim Rogers, the former chief executive of
come up with better and more affordable
Duke Energy, told me that he thinks natural
scrubbers. Today, average levels of sulfur
gas could serve as the same kind of bridge to
dioxide pollution are 76 percent lower than
emission-lowering technology that low-sulfur
they were in 1990. The cost has been far less
coal was in the acid rain days. The point is,
than the critics feared.
there is really no reason the Clean Power
On Monday afternoon, President Barack
Plan won’t work — except for political
Obama unveiled his Clean Power Plan,
intransigence, which is far worse today than it
formalizing some tough new rules from
ZDVGXULQJWKH¿UVW%XVKDGPLQLVWUDWLRQ
the Environmental Protection Agency that
In his 2010 book, “The Climate War,” Eric
are aimed at reducing the carbon emitted
by power companies. There is no bigger
Pooley, the former managing editor of Fortune
source of carbon pollution; the goal is that
who has since become the Environmental
by 2030, carbon emissions will be reduced
Defense Fund’s communication chief, notes
by 32 percent from their 2005 level. In the
WKDWWKHZKROHWLPHRI¿FLDOVDWWKHIXQGZHUH
¿JKWDJDLQVWFOLPDWHFKDQJHQRWKLQJLVPRUH working on cap-and-trade to solve the acid
important.
rain problem, climate change was never far
Once again, opponents are up in arms,
from their thoughts. They wanted to prove,
forecasting calamity for the utility industry
ZLWKVXOIXUGLR[LGHHPLVVLRQVWKDWDÀH[LEOH
if the rules are allowed to stand, with at least
market-based system worked — and would
a dozen states planning to sue the EPA. The
work for carbon emissions as well.
attorney general of West Virginia, Patrick
It did. And it will.
Morrisey, has said the regulations would
Ŷ
lead to “reduced jobs, higher electricity
Joe Nocera is an Op-Ed columnist, joining
rates” and increased stress on the power grid.
The New York Times in April 2011.
Once again,
opponents are
up in arms,
forecasting
calamity for the
utility industry
if the rules are
allowed to
stand.
Kate Brown
Washington office:
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office:
541-962-7691
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
Senator
Jeff Merkley
Bill Hansell, District 29
Washington office:
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office:
541-278-1129
Representatives
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
Greg Barreto, District 58
U.S. Representative
Greg Walden
Washington office:
185 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
La Grande office:
541-624-2400
900 Court St. NE, H-38
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.GregBarreto@state.or.us
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public
issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website.
The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns
about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of
private citizens. Submitted letters must be signed by the author and include
the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not
be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to Managing
Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email
editor@eastoregonian.com.
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