VIEWPOINTS
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Quick takes
Train collides with truck
You. Can’t. Outrun. A train. Ever. Just
be patient and let it go by. We should know
that, we’re farmers.
— Kolleen Chapa
No bar, no lights at a crossing. Driver’s
responsibility is to come to complete stop,
look left, than right, than again left and
proceed when the track is clear.
— Ingrid A. Hansen
Responsibility of gun owners
What part of “shall not be infringed” is
so hard to understand?
— Bryan N Becky Miltenberger
Well, due to an overwhelming number of
idiots and dangerous people, that sentence
seems to need amending, or reinterpretation.
The authors are right, if there is no common
sense give or take, responsible gun owners
could very well suffer undue consequences
in the long term.
— Presley Pahl
So let’s give up just a little more so we
don’t lose too much? I say hell no. Your
poison will be delivered by degrees.
— Jeff Mills
Voters get say on marijuana
Bout time! Hopefully it won’t be voted
against in November!
— Catherine Johns Devoe
Score one for idiocy.
— Joe Ream
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.
T
he winds of change are blowing
hard across our Western coalields.
Competition from cheaper fuels such
as natural gas, wind and solar has dampened
domestic demand for coal. This trend — plus
a bust in export markets after a brief boom
— has driven ive major coal companies into
bankruptcy court. There, they seek protection
from their creditors in order to “reorganize” by
cutting costs and shedding debt.
At the same time, the Interior Department
has started to face up to the longtime failure of
its federal coal program. By law, it is supposed
to provide taxpayers with a fair return on the
sale of coal that is owned by the public. But
over the last four decades or so, the American
people have lost tens of billions of dollars
because coal leases were undervalued by the
federal government, and corporations often
underpaid royalties.
And the bad news continues: At below-
market prices, the Interior Department has
already leased over 20 years of future coal
production. The Interior Department now
seeks to remedy this failure with tighter
royalty rules and a moratorium in any new
leases while it re-evaluates the coal program
from top to bottom.
Coal industry promoters ask: “Why now?
Isn’t this the wrong time to ix the coal
program when the industry is under so much
stress?”
There are a host of good responses to the
industry’s laments. Reform is rarely easy,
but in this case it’s long overdue, and there
is never a wrong time to start following the
law. The enormous hidden subsidies that have
been given to the industry have not saved it
from the current market-driven pressures. If
anything, you can argue that those subsidies
only discouraged the industry from responding
more quickly to changing markets. There is no
better time to pause and evaluate the leasing
process than during a slow market.
But the best answers as to why the federal
government should ix its coal program
come from the industry’s current economic
struggles. The fact is that the nation is
beginning a major energy transition. Coal
will be produced for decades but will play a
diminishing role in the nation’s energy picture.
Sooner rather than later, coal production
will stabilize at a lower level consistent with
supplying the newer coal-ired power plants
built in the last 25 years or so.
Meanwhile, natural gas, wind and solar
will continue to displace coal. The federal coal
program and a host of other public policies
Page 5A
Jump start your emergency food supply
By DAVE ROBINSON
W
henever a person thinks of
prepping, the irst topic that
usually comes to mind is food.
What to store, how much to store, how to
store, and which store to go to?
There are all kinds of food packages you
can purchase. You can get a year’s supply of
dehydrated or freeze-dried fare for $4,000
or a 72-hour kit for one person at Wal-Mart
for $64.
I’m going to give you a list of items you
can buy at your local grocery store, things
that you would probably have on hand
anyway.
The dehydrated kits you buy generally
tout a 25-year shelf life. So the normal
things you purchase should be rotated out
every few months or so.
One rule of thumb when it comes to
storing up food is to buy food that your body
is accustomed to eating. During a disaster
your system will be on overload anyway,
and there is no beneit to introducing a
whole new menu to your gastric system in a
time of crisis.
Some people lay in backpacking freeze-
dried food to be eaten when the time comes.
That is all well and good, unless you have
never tried those entrees and you experience
a revolt of sorts when you’re already
stressed out anyway. Store food to which
your body is already accustomed.
Here’s the beginning of a shopping list:
▪ 20 lbs of rice. Rice seems pretty
boring, but it is illing, nutritious and
adaptable to a wide variety of entrees.
▪ 20 lbs of pinto beans. Beans are also
a valuable part of every storage plan.
Combined with rice they fulill a protein
need in your menu.
▪ 20 cans of vegetables. Green beans,
peas, corn and canned tomatoes are a good
Federal coal leasing needs
a major overhaul
By DAN BUCKS
Writers on the Range
East Oregonian
need to be retooled to accommodate a reduced
coal future.
The second thing to keep in mind is
that federal and state governments need to
help coal communities and workers remain
productive and prosperous as this energy
transition occurs. Bankruptcies take a serious
toll on worker and retiree beneits and
wages. That toll is an early warning sign to
governments that they need to do more to
prevent even greater economic distress for
these workers and their communities.
New jobs and businesses need to be
developed for displaced coal workers, most
likely in wind and solar energy production, but
also in other ields. Health care, job training,
family education and other services should be
a priority to help communities and workers
adjust to the nation’s new energy realities.
The third consideration is that as the
industry restructures, the Interior Department
has the duty and responsibility to reclaim
its rightful control of the federal leasing
process, making sure that the system functions
correctly under the law. In 1990, Interior
ceded to industry the ability to determine
what coal tracts would be leased and on
what terms. Interior must replace that failed
process with policies guaranteeing a fair
return to taxpayers, balancing coal leases with
future needs, and protecting the environment.
Time is short. The companies that rise out of
bankruptcy — leaner, tougher and perhaps
fewer in number than before — could start
a land rush for acquiring new coal leases at
bargain-basement prices.
That’s why it is so urgent for the Interior
Department to control coal leasing on public
land. If Interior fails to act decisively, the
public interest will be betrayed yet again, and
opportunities for a better energy future will be
lost.
Interior is deciding now the issues it
will analyze during its review of the coal
program over the next three years. The public
can weigh in with their views on future
coal policies by sending comments by July
28 to BLM_WO_Coal_Program_PEIS_
Comments@blm.gov. Ask Interior to ensure
that the American people get paid the right
amount for federal coal, the environment is
protected, mines get reclaimed, and revenues
are generated to help coal communities and
workers transition to a changing energy
landscape.
■
Dan Bucks is a contributor to Writers
on the Range, the opinion service of High
Country News. He was the director of the
Montana Department of Revenue from
2005-2013.
start. Buy what you already eat and enjoy.
▪ 20 cans of fruit. Peaches, pears,
pineapple, fruit cocktail, all to your taste.
▪ 20 cans of meat. Chicken, tuna, shrimp,
salmon, vienna sausages, beef stew and
don’t forget Spam. Those square cans it
really well on the shelf and if it’s fried, you
can make the kids believe it is “camping
bacon.” It worked for my kids anyway. I
even recently found some canned roast beef.
▪ 4 lbs of oats. A warm bowl of oatmeal
can be a welcome meal any time of day.
Topped with some canned fruit, it makes a
refreshing treat.
▪ Two (or more) large jars of peanut
butter. A good source of protein and
surprisingly illing. Tastes good too!
▪ Pick up a supply of powdered drink
mix. Tang, Crystal Light or similar product.
Make sure it’s loaded with vitamin C.
▪ 5 lbs of powdered milk. It’s great
protein and is loaded with other nutrients.
It’s illing and can be used on that oatmeal
as well.
▪ 5 lbs of salt. Salt is an essential for
survival as well as a food enhancer. Our
bodies need salt to survive.
▪ 10 lbs of pancake mix. Buy the “just
add water” variety, such as Krusteaz.
Simple to make, easy to ix and everybody’s
familiar with hotcakes. Don’t forget a jug of
syrup
▪ 2 lbs of honey and 2 jars of jam.
Everybody needs a little sweetness.
▪ 10 lbs of pasta. Again, easy to ix,
familiar to everyone and a great comfort
food.
▪ 10 cans or jars of spaghetti sauce. Goes
great with the pasta. Cheap and satisfying.
It’s not homemade, but it does dress up the
pasta.
▪ 20 cans of soup or broth or soup mixes.
The beauty of soup is that they are a budget
friendly, all-in-one meal solution and most
require only water for preparation.
▪ 1 large jug of cooking oil. Olive
oil, vegetable oil, coconut or some other
cooking oil, but deinitely get some.
▪ Spices and condiments. “Spice” up your
pasta and oatmeal with some of the spices
you already have in your cupboard and are
accustomed to using, but lay in some extra.
Garlic, pepper, Tabasco, all your favorites.
▪ 5 lbs. of coffee and 100 tea bags. For
some of us life just isn’t life without our
coffee. Tea can be therapeutic and soothing
as well.
▪ 2 large bags of hard candies.
Peppermints, butterscotch and lemon drops
can go a long way toward making a hard
situation bearable.
▪ Flashlight and extra batteries. Lots of
extra batteries. OK, I know, this isn’t edible.
But you can never have enough lashlights
and batteries.
Now I know what you’re saying. There
are a lot of essentials I forgot. Remember
this is a “starter” list. Some might say we
need lour, wheat, yeast, and other baking
necessities.
Quite frankly a whole lot of folks today
don’t have a clue what to do with lour, nor
do they have an oven that works without
electricity. Those things, and others, are
important and should be a part of every
food plan so don’t pass them up for your
comprehensive plan.
You don’t need to ill this shopping list
all at once. Watch for sales. Pay attention
to the “buy one, get one” promotions. Use
coupons. One reader told me she saved
several thousand dollars in just one year by
using coupons. At the same time she built a
substantial pantry for use in a disaster.
■
Dave Robinson is the postmaster in
Bandon, and the author of “Disaster Prep
For The Rest Of Us.”
Anti-Trump delegates had
tough time at GOP convention
The (Boulder, Colo.) Daily Camera
T
here was something rich about the
Colorado delegation leading an
uprising and walking out of the
Republican National Convention during
its irst day Monday.
Complaints from Colorado delegates
and others about being
steamrolled certainly
appeared to be well-
founded. In apparent
panic, convention
managers pushed
through the report of
the Rules Committee
on a voice vote without
debate Monday
afternoon. When
dissidents petitioned
for a roll-call vote, they
were irst ignored and
then rebuffed.
“This is a meeting
of brownshirts,” former
U.S. Sen. Gordon
Humphrey of New
Hampshire told NBC.
“What do you
mean?” asked a reporter.
“People who act like fascists,”
Humphrey replied.
The root of the dispute was the Hail
Mary attempt by anti-Donald Trump
forces to change the convention rules to
make it easier for delegates to vote for
someone other than Trump on the irst
ballot. It was not entirely clear whether
convention managers decided not to
permit a roll-call vote because they were
worried about the outcome or because
they didn’t want to give Trump’s critics
the satisfaction of winning a procedural
ight.
“It’s the real ireworks of this
convention,” said Vin Weber, a
former Republican congressman from
Minnesota. “Sometimes you’re better off
if you’re in a position of strength to allow
a vote to occur.”
Of course, it doesn’t help the
credibility of the complainers from
Colorado that they managed to create
a delegation composed entirely of Ted
Cruz supporters through an arcane
selection process of their own. Colorado
Republicans intentionally ditched a
presidential preference poll at party
caucuses in March, preferring a series
of congressional district meetings they
orchestrated into a unanimous Cruz
delegation.
So make no
mistake, this is
not a dispute over
principle. This is
a dispute between
anti-Trump delegates
who avoided an open
process in their own
state and pro-Trump
delegates trying to
avoid an open process
at the convention.
If you’re keeping
score, the dissidents
submitted petitions
with signatures from
enough states to force
a roll-call vote on the
rules. Convention
managers got some of
those delegates to sign
new petitions withdrawing their names
from the irst petitions, leaving the roll-
call vote petitions without the support of
enough states, according to convention
managers.
“They cheated,” said Ken Cuccinelli,
a former Virginia attorney general and
anti-Trump activist. “They just violated
their own rules.”
Procedural details aside, the takeaway
from the GOP convention was that
Republicans have a long way to go to put
the acrimony of their selection process
behind them.
“This action on the loor does not
bode well for wanting to have unity
in the party,” said Kendal Unruh, a
Colorado delegate leading the anti-Trump
movement.
The day began with Trump’s
campaign manager, Paul Manafort,
attacking John Kasich, governor of the
host state of Ohio, for not attending the
Cleveland convention. Kasich looks to
have made a good call.
It doesn’t help
the credibility of
the complainers
that they
managed
to create a
delegation
composed
entirely of Ted
Cruz supporters.
Be heard!
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