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OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JANNA HEIMGARTNER
TIM TRAINOR
Business Manager
Opinion Page Editor
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OUR VIEW
What we’d like to hear
from governor candidates
Kate Brown and Bud Pierce are
squaring off for the top job in state
government.
While the incumbent Brown has
the advantage in name recognition
and political afiliation, it could be
one of the closer governor’s races
that Oregon has seen in some time.
Thankfully, both Brown and
Pierce have agreed to ive debates
in the run-up to November. Of
course, we’d love for journalists
and the public to have even more
opportunities to ask questions and
watch the two interact on stage in
front of cameras. But we’ll make do
with ive, for now.
The East Oregonian will help
sponsor and moderate a Sept. 24
debate in Bend, where the focus
will be on rural issues. And we are
disappointed that we weren’t able
to move that event farther east so
more of our readers could attend.
But it was as close as we could get
to Eastern Oregon while still having
a television station to broadcast the
event live, which is a requirement
for a little while longer. The post-TV
world is fast approaching, and it will
arrive none too soon.
The other conirmed debates at
this time are Sept. 30 in Portland,
Oct. 6 in Eugene, Oct. 13 in Medford
and Oct. 20 in Portland. Brown’s
campaign told our Capital Bureau
reporter that additional debates,
forums or appearances will still be
considered.
We’re starting to craft questions
that will elicit clear, newsworthy
responses from both candidates.
And we’re looking forward to those
responses. There is still a lot to learn
from both candidates, who remain
unknowns to a large percentage of
Oregonians.
It’s good to remember that
although she is the current
oficeholder, Gov. Brown never won
We’d like to hear from
you too:
Do you have question you’d like
to ask the candidates? Email it to
editor@eastoregonian.com
an election for the state’s highest
ofice. She took over shortly after
John Kitzhaber’s name successfully
led the Democratic ticket in 2014 and
then was abruptly forced to resign.
Pierce, a medical doctor from Salem,
is a newcomer to statewide politics.
Brown has made her voice clear,
if belatedly, in support of Measure
97. But she will have to make a more
forceful argument of the measure,
which has been begun to slip in the
polls, if both she and it are successful
in November.
From a rural perspective, we’re
also interested in hearing her explain
her stance on a possible Owyhee
Canyonlands National Monument,
the behind-schedule, over-budget
Blue Mountains forest plan, the anti-
government lavor brewing in some
of the state’s smallest counties and
the myriad resource, transportation,
cultural and economic issues.
Brown has questions to answer,
but all the pressure is on Pierce. He
has to outshine Brown considerably
in order to make up ground in a
state that votes reliably Democratic.
He must come off likable but also
capable, a newcomer worthy of
skipping a few rungs on the ladder
to the top. He must be aggressive
and show the job was too big for
Brown. Brown, on the other hand,
has to show she deserves to stay at
the controls.
It will be fascinating to see the
two debate, each trying to push
and validate their policy positions
but also trying to deine the state of
our state.
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.
OTHER VIEWS
Columbia River talks
need to get going
Tri-City (Wash.) Herald
O
ur Northwest congressional
delegation has pleaded with
federal State Department oficials
since 2014 to set up a process so the U.S.
and Canada can renegotiate the Columbia
River Treaty.
And time and again the request seems
to go nowhere. We hope the lawmakers’
latest appeal inally will lead to some
action.
U.S. senators and representatives from
Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana
recently sent a letter to Secretary of State
John Kerry asking him and the State
Department to create parameters for the
treaty talks, and to insist Canada appoint a
lead negotiator.
According to U.S. Rep. Dan
Newhouse, R-Wash., the State
Department said it intended to start treaty
negotiations in 2016. But despite multiple
letters from Congress urging action,
progress has yet to be made.
This is discouraging and, frankly,
irritating. The lack of immediate deadline
pressure is no reason to delay setting the
course.
The Columbia River Treaty is a
complex document between the United
States and Canada, and has provided the
framework for hydropower production
and lood control on the Columbia River
since it was ratiied in 1964.
It has turned the 1,243-mile Columbia
into one of the most tightly controlled
rivers in the world.
The treaty hit its 50-year anniversary
in 2014 and that opened the door for
review. Portions of the agreement expire
in 2024, but oficials with either the U.S.
or Canada can give a 10-year notice that
they wish to modify the agreement.
And that is what our Northwest
delegation is trying to do.
With an expiration date now eight
years away, State Department oficials
may not believe there is a sense of
urgency surrounding this issue. But they
are wrong.
The Columbia River Treaty is bound
to take time to re-negotiate and our
Northwest lawmakers are right to want
the process started as soon as possible.
Their latest letter says that the
Columbia River plays a “critical role in the
economy and the culture in the Northwest
region” and that “potential management
changes initiated through the treaty could
have major impacts far into the future.”
One of the priorities for the U.S. will
be to re-negotiate the amount paid to
Canada for the role it plays in producing
hydropower. Native American tribes in
the U.S. and in Canada also have been
pushing for the treaty to include the return
of ish runs that were destroyed by some
of the dams.
These are complicated issues by
themselves, but there also are agriculture,
recreation, navigation and environmental
concerns to consider. Reaching an
agreement will be a monumental task.
Management of the Columbia River is
a huge responsibility for both countries,
and there is too much at stake to risk
putting these crucial negotiations off any
longer.
Time is running out. Federal oficials
need to set up treaty talks with Canada
before another year goes by.
OTHER VIEWS
The art of gracious leadership
L
him radically hopeful and gave him
ately I’ve been thinking about
conidence and tenacity. His capacity
experience. Donald Trump lacks
to ight grew out of his capacity to
political experience, and the
receive.
ineptitude caused by his inexperience
Such people have a gentle strength.
is evident every day. On the other
They are aggressive and kind,
hand, Hillary Clinton is nothing if
free of sharp elbows, comfortable
not experienced. Her ship is running
revealing and being abashed by their
smoothly, and yet as her reaction to
transgressions.
the email scandal shows once again,
David
The U.S. military used to be pretty
there’s often a whiff of inhumanity
Brooks
good at breeding this type of leader.
about her campaign that inspires
Comment
In the years around World War II,
distrust.
generals often got ired. But they
So I’ve been thinking that it’s not
were also given second chances. That is, they
enough to be experienced. The people in
endured brutal experiences, but they were
public life we really admire turn experience
given a chance to do something with those
into graciousness.
experiences and come back
Those people, I think, see
stronger and more supple.
their years as humbling agents.
They were also reminded
They see that, more often than
very clearly that as members
not, the events in our lives are
of an elite, they had the
perfectly designed to lay bare
responsibilities that come with
our chronic weaknesses and
that station. Today, everybody
expose some great whopping
is in denial about being part of
new ones.
the establishment, believing
Sooner or later life teaches
the actual elite is someone else.
you that you’re not the center of
Therefore, no one is raised with a code of
the universe, nor quite as talented or good as
stewardship and a sense of personal privilege
you thought. It teaches you to care less about
and duty.
what others think and, less self-conscious, to
Hillary Clinton has experience, but does
get out of your own way.
People who are gracious also understand
not seem to have been transformed by it. Amid
the accuracy of John Keats’ observation
the email scandal she is repeating the same
that “Nothing ever becomes real ‘til it is
mistakes she made during the Rose Law Firm
experienced.” You can learn some truth out
scandal two decades ago. Her posture is still
of a book or from the mouth of a friend, but
brittle, stonewalling and dissembling. Clinton
somehow wisdom is not lodged inside until
scandals are all the same. There’s an act of
its truth has been engraved by some moment
unseemly but not felonious behavior, then the
of humiliation, delight, disappointment, joy or futile drawn-out withholding of information,
some other irsthand emotion.
and forever after the unwillingness to ever
The mistakes just have to be made.
come clean.
Gracious people are humble enough to
Experience distills life into instinct. If you
observe that the best things in life are usually
interpret your life as a battleield, then you
undeserved — the way the pennies of love
will want to maintain control at all times. You
you invest in children get returned in dollars
will hoard access. You will refuse to have
later on; the kindness of strangers; the rebirth
press conferences. You will close yourself off
that comes after a friend’s unexpected and
to those who can help.
overawing act of forgiveness.
If you treat the world as a friendly and
The gracious people one sees in life and
hopeful place, as a web of relationships, you’ll
reads about in history books — I’m thinking
look for the good news in people and not the
of the all-time greats like Lincoln, Gandhi,
bad. You’ll be willing to relinquish control,
Mandela and Dorothy Day as well as closer
and in surrender you’ll actually gain more
igures ranging from Francis to Havel — turn
strength as people trust in your candor and
awareness of their own frailty into sympathy
come alongside. Gracious leaders create a
for others’ frailty. As Juan Gabriel Vásquez
more gracious environment by greeting the
wrote, “Experience, or what we call
world openly and so end up maximizing their
experience, is not the inventory of our pains,
inluence and effectiveness.
but rather the learned sympathy towards the
It’s tough to surrender control, but like
pain of others.”
the rest of us, Hillary Clinton gets to decide
They are good at accepting gifts, which is
what sort of leader she wants to be. America
necessary for real friendship, but is hard for a
is desperate for a little uplift, for a leader who
proud person to do. They can be surprisingly
shows that she trusts her fellow citizens. It’s
tenacious in action.
never too late to learn from experience.
Think of Martin Luther King Jr. The
■
grace that lowed into him from friends and
David Brooks became a New York Times
supporters and from all directions made
Op-Ed columnist in September 2003.
Experience
distills life
into instinct.
YOUR VIEWS
Boardman transmission line
continues to move forward
The Boardman to Hemingway
Transmission Line Project is moving forward
to meet the energy needs of the Paciic
Northwest region. Since 2002, Idaho Power
has regularly analyzed the need for this
regional transmission connection.
Analysis shows the need for the project
is still strong and the project will beneit the
entire area by allowing more electricity to
move throughout the Paciic Northwest. In
fact, B2H was identiied as a priority project
by the Obama Administration as part of
the Interagency Rapid Response Team for
Transmission.
Major permitting milestones are on
the horizon for B2H. The Bureau of Land
Management expects to release its inal
Environmental Impact Statement this year.
Following the federal Record of Decision,
which is the next step after the inal EIS, we
will continue to gather information on the
selected route to develop the detailed design
needed for Oregon’s Energy Facility Siting
Council Process.
Idaho Power continues to work with local
communities, permitting agencies, and other
partners and stakeholders. For example,
routing variations were developed for analysis
in response to comments on the draft EIS
received from Union County and the County’s
B2H Advisory Committee in January 2016.
Similar efforts have occurred throughout
Malheur, Baker, Umatilla and Morrow
counties since the BLM issued their draft EIS
in December 2014.
Idaho Power and its contractors are out
in the ield surveying plant species, bird and
wildlife habitat and cultural resources. Federal
and state permitting requires this data to assess
potential environmental impacts of each route
alternative. We are not conducting engineering
surveys to inalize locations of transmission
towers or other related facilities such as
roads at this time. We are also not seeking to
negotiate easements with landowners right
now, but will begin those conversations once
necessary permits are in place.
Idaho Power sends requests to enter
property to survey lands potentially crossed
by the project. We rely on each county
Assessor’s ofice for information necessary
to send requests to landowners. We respect
landowners and other stakeholders and
partners and do not share any information that
may be considered private.
You can ind more information on
B2H at boardmantohemingway.com or
by contacting the project team at ipc@
boardmantohemingway.com or 1-877-339-
0209.
Idaho Power
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.