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OPINION
East Oregonian
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
University of Oregon
Dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers.
Feds running out
of half measures Does Oregon really
OTHER VIEWS
During the decade that U.S.
steps are all worthwhile.
District Court Judge James Redden
These efforts, sometimes coupled
rejected Paciic Northwest salmon-
with favorable ocean conditions,
restoration plans, detractors quietly have produced some decent
pushed the view that he had become salmon runs in recent years. But a
an “activist” judge, blinded by
run considered excellent in these
personal opinions.
times would have been viewed as
disastrous in the pre-dam era. This
Last week, a judge new to
year’s predicted dismal coho returns
the case — Michael H. Simon
demonstrate
of Portland
the fragility of
— ruled
any recovery in
on the U.S.
current salmon
government’s
populations.
latest Northwest
Taking out
salmon plan.
the Snake River
If anything,
dams — or
Simon was
lesser actions
even less
like bypassing
impressed with
one or more,
arguments
or drastically
by NOAA
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
Fisheries, the
Two sockeye salmon swim in the Colum- increasing the
Army Corps of bia River with a Chinook salmon, mid- quantity of
Engineers and dle, at the Bonneville Dam ish-count- water spilled
from them to
the Bureau of ing window near North Bonneville.
mimic natural-
Reclamation,
which claim they are doing enough low conditions — is politically
to stave off extinction for 13 iconic dificult. Even environmentally
minded Democratic politicians are
endangered and threatened salmon
loath to offend powerful economic
and steelhead runs.
Fishing groups and conservation interests lined up to defend dams.
But the judge is right to suggest
organizations say the government
dam breaching as perhaps the
is contorting the plain meaning of
only way to actually obey the
the Endangered Species Act and
clear mandates of the Endangered
the National Environmental Policy
Species Act.
Act, doing all they can to avoid
Salmon face mounting existential
confronting the “original sin” of
erecting four major dams across the challenges. The judge ruled the
agencies’ plan fails to acknowledge
Snake River, the major tributary of
catastrophic impacts they may face
the Columbia.
from climate change. Oficials
The agencies have undertaken
valuable habitat-restoration projects are on thin ice legally when they
assert salmon are “trending toward
here in the Columbia Basin and
recovery” when actual salmon
downriver — basically trying to
returns fail to show a sustainable
do all they can for salmon, short of
recovery, the judge said.
major modiications to the hydro
Simon’s ruling — though
system. The Columbia is healthier
stopping short of imposing an
thanks to the agencies, taxpayers
action plan — is one more in a
and electric ratepayers. Restoring
long series of repudiations of
and protecting tidal wetlands,
half-measures. Federal agencies and
controlling pollution, dramatically
Congress are fast-approaching a
increasing research and the level
time of reckoning when it comes to
of monitoring of river conditions,
ensuring salmon survival.
controlling predation and other
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.
Be heard!
Comment online at www.eastoregonian.com
value affordability?
The Oregonian, May 7
are those who have the least.
The phenomenon repeated itself during the
2016 legislative session with the passage of the
collection of legislative, business and
so-called “coal to clean” bill, which will raise
environmental leaders met for the
rates for Oregonians without doing much for the
irst time on Wednesday to discuss
environment. When state utility commissioners
transportation, The (Bend) Bulletin reported.
tried to point this out, the governor muzzled
The goal of the group, assembled by Gov. Kate
them. Clearly, preserving affordability for
Brown, is to generate support for a funding
lower- and middle-income Oregonians mattered
package to be considered during the 2017
legislative session. Looming in the background, less than securing a win for utilities and
environmental groups.
meanwhile, are the Legislature’s failure to
Even this year’s minimum-wage hike raises
pass a funding package in 2015 and the reason
worrisome questions about affordability, which,
for that failure: the extension of an expensive
naturally, went virtually unexamined during
low-carbon fuel standard, which Republicans
the Legislature’s rush to passage. The hike will
refused to follow up with a hike in the gas tax.
help some lower-income
Their constituents, they
Oregonians, to be sure.
reasoned, could take only
The reluctance of
But it will hurt others
so much.
employers shed jobs.
The governor’s
lawmakers and interest as
Rising labor costs will
timing couldn’t be better.
Brainstorming on some-
groups to consider the have other effects as
well, among them higher
thing as signiicant as road
costs of well-intended expenses for public univer-
funding can’t start early
sities, which are likely to
enough. Let’s hope, too,
policies is all too
respond by either raising
that the discussions will
tuition or cutting the hours
encourage public debate
common,
and
those
of working students.
on two fronts. The irst
So badly did lawmakers
who are affected most
involves transportation
not want to hear about
funding and the trade-offs
are those who
such costs that the
lawmakers will have to
minimum-wage legislation
consider to that end. The
have the least.
bypassed the Ways and
second, long overdue,
Means Committee, where
involves Oregon’s values.
iscal impacts are considered.
Speciically, is affordability a core Oregon
Bad intentions are not the problem, and
value? Do Oregon’s elected leaders — and
Oregonians themselves — believe it’s important policymakers do respond spasmodically to
cost crises involving the most vulnerable.
to consider the cumulative costs of state and
Legislation protecting renters received plenty of
local mandates, fees and so forth on lower- and
attention during this year’s session, for instance.
middle-income people?
It’s about time, however, that policymakers
The question is worth asking at a time when
seek to prevent costs from rising with as much
many Oregonians struggle to make ends meet,
whether because the cost of housing has soared, determination as they pursue measures designed
as it has in and around Portland, Bend and a few to mitigate costs that have swelled, in part, as a
result of past policy choices.
other places, or because lucrative employment
You’ll know affordability has become a
is scarce, as is the case in many rural areas.
core Oregon value when this begins to happen
Affordability is something everyone seems to
regularly.
be talking about these days, but there’s little
You’ll also know it when lawmakers exhibit
evidence it matters to policymakers and interest
the courage to aggressively update institutions
groups nearly as much as, say, environmental
such as the state’s restrictive land-use system,
protection or the preservation of farmland and
which pushes housing prices upward by
forestland.
restricting land supply.
Start with the transportation-funding debate.
You’ll know it, too, when they’re willing
Lawmakers supported a fuel mandate with
to reconsider outdated institutions such as
a minuscule environmental beneit that is
Oregon’s bottle bill, for which per-container
expected to raise fuel costs by up to 19 cents
deposits are likely to double, to a dime, in
per gallon. They did this knowing that the
2017. If the bottle bill didn’t exist today, when
mandate’s passage would erode legislative
curbside recycling is nearly ubiquitous, the state
support for a gas tax increase, which would
surely wouldn’t adopt it. Why, then, do we cling
have been at the heart of a transportation
to it despite the disproportionate burden it places
package. The episode was, and remains, an
on those with modest incomes?
instructive display of relative values: Envi-
Oregon isn’t there yet. Affordability is not
ronmental protection (largely symbolic here)
a core value no matter how frequently elected
mattered more than the maintenance of core
oficials may emote about the struggles of
infrastructure and the price of fuel, which is not
people with moderate incomes. Inevitably, it
a trivial matter to many.
seems, something else just matters more.
Particularly telling is the stock response of
If Oregonians want this to change, they need
the fuel standard’s supporters to the double-tax-
ation problem (a gas tax on top of the mandate’s to start demanding that their representatives
cost). The low-carbon fuel standard has nothing acknowledge the costs of proposed policies
and weigh them honestly against their likely
to do with road funding, they insist, and should
beneits. They also need to push their represen-
be considered separately. This is a convenient
tatives to look honestly at the costs and beneits
iction, as anyone illing his or her tank 10
of existing policies — and, when the former
years from now will attest. Unfortunately, the
outweigh the latter, do something about it.
reluctance of lawmakers and interest groups to
The coming transportation-funding debate is
consider the costs of well-intended policies is all
as good a place as any to start.
too common, and those who are affected most
A
YOUR VIEWS
Pendleton citizens must
do their part
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public is-
sues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The
newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about indi-
vidual 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.
During the public comment section of
the discussion about Resolution 2637 (the
irehouse bond) on May 3, one comment stuck
with me. A gentleman spoke in opposition
to Resolution 2637, and he referred to the
“MacKenzie Report” as some sort of “secret”
document. Also, the time frame he used for the
amount of time it was public was a week.
He went on to be unreasonable and
completely illogical, and I do not feel that he
contributed one iota to the productivity of the
discussion. However, he illustrates a point
that I now wish to make (and I thank the East
Oregonian for providing the platform to do so):
I had the MacKenzie Report a month
ago. How did I get it? Simple: First, I read
a newspaper article that caught my interest,
then I went to Fire Station #1 unannounced
and asked the secretary if there was anyone
available who could give me more information.
Within 10 minutes I was on a tour of the station
and having the MacKenzie Report explained
to me in minute detail. I asked for a copy of
the report and was given a link from the city
website. This was one month ago.
Pendleton citizens are lazy. They can’t be
bothered to ask questions about, or contribute
to, the well-being of their town. The best
mayor, city council, and city manager won’t
be able to save the town if the townspeople
don’t also do their part. The current regime
may need some changing around, but if it’s not
the citizens who bring said change, then it will
last about as long as reverse parking on Court
Street.
James Tibbets
Pendleton