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OPINION
East Oregonian
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
OTHER VIEWS
Contributed photo
The water next time
Who’s afraid of A
the big, bad eagle
If a wolf kills a calf out on the
from the door.” Wolves are dangerous
predators that might be admired from
range, the rancher is sure to let
a distance but must be avoided under
out a yell and report it to wildlife
all circumstances.
offi cials. But when sheep producers
Eagles are the symbol of liberty
lose hundreds of lambs each year to
and independence. A bald eagle
depredation by eagles, no one says
adorns the Great Seal of the United
anything.
Last week the Capital Press made States.
Eagles are also an important
public what has been an open secret
symbol of the conservation
among sheep producers for years —
eagles love to feed on newborn lambs movement, one of the fi rst animals to
be placed on the endangered species
and there’s not much they can do to
list. While bald eagles have since
stop them. If you didn’t know it’s
been recovered and
because many sheep
been removed
producers would just
One producer have
from the list, they
as soon everyone kept
and other raptors
quiet.
in Oregon
are protected under
Peter Orwick,
executive director of
reluctantly told separate federal law.
And that’s the rub.
the American Sheep
the
While ranchers on
Industry Association,
the range have many
said raptors are a huge
she loses
unregulated tools
problem for producers
their disposal to
and that eagles are
300 lambs a at scare
wolves away
a particularly tough
year to eagles. from their herds,
challenge. One
even the most gentle
producer in Oregon
ruffl ing of an eagle’s
reluctantly told us she
feathers without a permit could land a
loses 300 lambs a year to eagles.
Producers don’t report and wildlife producer in federal court.
Getting a permit to haze eagles
offi cials stopped asking questions.
is a Byzantine exercise involving
In 2004, the last year the federal
the USDA and the Fish and Wildlife
government collected separate data,
Service. As reluctant as producers
eagles killed 6,300 sheep and lambs.
are to allow the feds access to their
Eagles present as great a problem
property, they fear more the prospect
to producers as wolves and other
of becoming the targets of over
predators, and farmers need better
zealous conservation groups.
tools to deal with them.
We concede that allowing
It’s diffi cult to say much against
producers to shoot problem eagles
eagles because they enjoy a special
is a non-starter, and giving federal
place in our collective psyche.
wildlife offi cials that authority would
Had Little Red Riding Hood
be an uphill battle. The optics of such
and her grandmother fallen victim
a thing would enrage even those most
to an eagle instead of a wolf our
sympathetic to agriculture.
perceptions of the animals might be
But producers should be given
quite different.
freedom without federal intervention
The dejected are “thrown to
to scare eagles off by means that
the wolves.” Those practicing a
don’t harm the birds. If it works for
dangerous deception are “wolves in
the protected wolves, it should work
sheep’s clothing.” Families in dire
for the protected eagles.
straits struggle to “keep the wolves
Capital Press
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.
Culture Corner
I
n Rachel Caine’s latest series for
young adults, the Royal Library of
Alexandria remains an all-powerful
infl uence over the world, tightly
restricting information it deems
dangerous. Personal ownership
of original books is expressly
forbidden.
“The Great
Library” is a
fast-paced and
suspenseful
read, set in this
reinterpreted
version of
modern times.
The series’
fi rst book, “Ink
and Bone,”
introduces Jess
Brightwell,
a boy from
England whose
family traffi cs
illegal books
on the black market. He is sent to the
Library in order to become a scholar
and, more importantly, a mole for the
family business.
But Jess has a love for books and a
thirst for knowledge that threatens to
clash with his family loyalties — and
the Library itself. As he arrives in
Egypt to train for his new career, we
meet a group of secondary characters,
fellow postulants and scholars, who
begin to question the Library’s sinister
motives. When one of them devises
a machine that threatens
the Library’s
very existence,
it sets off a
chain of events
that carries
into the series’
second edition,
“Paper and Fire,”
released just last
month.
A third book,
“Ash and Quill,”
is expected to be
published next year.
“The Great Library”
dabbles in elements
of romance, fantasy
and science fi ction,
inviting comparisons to Harry Potter
but with a unique spin that makes it
truly original. The characters are multi-
cultural, hailing from countries across
the globe, and their mission should be
one that appeals to bookworms young
and old. — George Plaven
disaster area is no place for
the knowledge to deal with that danger.
The problem is politics — which brings
political theater. The governor of
us back to Trump and his party.
fl ood-ravaged Louisiana asked
It probably won’t surprise you to
President Barack Obama to postpone
hear that when it comes to climate
a personal visit while relief efforts
change, as with so many issues, Trump
were still underway. (Meanwhile, by
has gone deep down the rabbit hole,
all accounts, the substantive federal
asserting not just that global warming
response has been infi nitely superior to
is a hoax, but that it’s a hoax concocted
the Bush administration’s response to
Paul
Katrina.) He made the same request to
Krugman by the Chinese to make America less
competitive.
Donald Trump, declaring, reasonably,
Comment
The thing is, he’s not alone in
that while aid would be welcome, a visit
going down that rabbit hole. On other
for the sake of a photo op would not.
issues Republicans may try to claim that their
Sure enough, the GOP candidate fl ew in,
presidential nominee doesn’t speak for the party
shook some hands, signed some autographs,
that nominated him. We’re already hearing
and was fi lmed taking boxes of Play-Doh
claims that Trump isn’t a true conservative,
out of a truck. If he wrote a check, neither his
indeed that he’s really a
campaign nor anyone else
liberal, or anyway that
has mentioned it. Heckuva
liberals are somehow
job, Donnie!
responsible for his rise.
But boorish, self-
(My favorite theory
centered behavior is
here, one that has quite
the least of it. By far
a few advocates, is that
the bigger issue is that
I personally caused
even as Trump made
Trumpism by being nasty
a ham-handed (and
to Mitt Romney.)
cheapskate) effort to
But when it comes to
exploit Louisiana’s latest
denial of climate change
disaster for political gain,
and the deployment of
he continued to stake
bizarre conspiracy theories
out a policy position that
to explain away the
will make such disasters
evidence, Trump is squarely in the Republican
increasingly frequent.
Let’s back up for a minute and talk about the mainstream. He may be talking nonsense,
but anyone his party was likely to nominate
real meaning of the Louisiana fl oods.
would have been talking pretty much the same
In case you haven’t been keeping track,
nonsense.
lately we’ve been setting global temperature
It’s interesting to ask why climate denial
records every month. Remember when climate
has become not just acceptable but essentially
deniers used to point to a temporary cooling
after an unusually warm year in 1998 as “proof” required within the GOP. Yes, the fossil-fuel
that global warming had stopped? It was always sector is a big donor to the party. But the
vehemence of the hostility to climate science
a foolish, dishonest argument, but in any case
we’ve now blown right through all past records. seems disproportionate even so; bear in mind
that, for example, at this point there are fewer
And one consequence of a warmer planet
than 60,000 coal miners, that is, less than 0.05
is more evaporation, more moisture in the air,
percent of the workforce. What’s happening,
and hence more disastrous fl oods. As always,
I suspect, is that climate denial has become a
you can’t say that climate change caused any
sort of badge of right-wing identity, above and
particular disaster. What you can say is that
beyond the still-operative motive of rewarding
warming makes extreme weather events more
donors.
likely, so that, for example, what used to be
In any case, this election is likely to be
500-year fl oods are now happening on an
decisive for the climate, one way or another.
almost routine basis.
Obama has made some serious moves to
So a proliferation of disasters like the one
address global warming, and there’s every
in Louisiana is exactly what climate scientists
reason to believe that Hillary Clinton would
have been warning us about.
continue this push — using executive action
What can be done? The bad news is that
drastic action to reduce emissions of greenhouse if she faced a hostile Congress. Given the
technological breakthroughs of the last few
gases is long overdue. The good news is that
years, this push might just be enough to avert
the technological and economic basis for such
disaster. Donald Trump, on the other hand,
action has never looked better. In particular,
would do everything in his power to trash the
renewable energy — wind and solar — has
planet, with the enthusiastic support of his party.
become much cheaper in recent years, and
So which will it be? Stay tuned.
progress in energy storage looks increasingly
■
likely to resolve the problem of intermittency
Paul Krugman joined The New York Times
(the sun doesn’t always shine, the wind doesn’t
in 1999 as a columnist on the Op-Ed Page
always blow).
and continues as professor of Economics and
Or to put it a different way, we face a clear
International Affairs at Princeton University.
and present danger, but we have the means and
Trump would do
everything in his
power to trash the
planet, with the
enthusiastic support
of his party.
YOUR VIEWS
November vote critical
for climate change
Your vote in November is crucial to
the ability of the U.S. to implement timely
signifi cant action on climate change issues.
Delaying strategies of many elected offi cials
are costing taxpayers untold amounts in
dollars and human suffering, but more
importantly delay lessens our ability to affect
required changes.
Many Republican candidates adhere to
party lines regarding climate change issues
but many Democrats also refuse to prioritize
climate issues either out of ignorance or fear.
I believe if a candidate does not have climate
change as a priority they are irrelevant and
unable to function in current and future
political arenas.
I ask while considering a candidate to be
mindful that immediate and effective action
on climate should be a declared priority
by the candidate as this will determine the
quality of life on the planet for current and
future generations.
Require that your candidate detail
their understanding of climate issues
and commitment to action. This applies
to all elected offi cials at every level of
government.
On the state level we have opportunities
to design/implement effective paths (put a
price on carbon) to transition away from
fossil fuels and to implement effective
mitigation and adaptation strategies that
may serve as models for national programs.
Nationally, implementing realistic pricing
schedules on carbon emissions (studies show
this to be the most effective method for
immediate reductions) is a top priority for
moving us towards an emission reductions
trajectory that may provide a chance to
stabilize the rate of climate change.
If you have trouble elevating this in your
priorities try to have a discussion with your
children/grandchildren or a youth group
and explain to them the consequences of no
action by your candidate of choice.
Chuck LeBold
Union
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
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letters to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
or email editor@eastoregonian.com.