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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 2017)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Friday, November 17, 2017 OTHER VIEWS Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN Publisher DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor MARISSA WILLIAMS Regional Advertising Director MARCY ROSENBERG Circulation Manager JANNA HEIMGARTNER Business Office Manager MIKE JENSEN Production Manager OUR VIEW Tip of the hat; kick in the pants A tip of the hat to our soon-to-be robot overlord “Vahana,” which arrived in Pendleton this week. The “uber in the sky” — a flying, unmanned taxi — will be tested at Eastern Oregon Regional Airport and housed at a newly-built hangar there. “It was no easy feat for our bird to leave the nest,” wrote Zach Lovering on the Vahana blog. It made the journey from corporate headquarters via the back of a big truck, not a straight shot through the rainy Oregon sky. That’s because the cutting-edge technology needs to be tested, and its team needs to put the machinery through its paces to make sure it is safe, secure and reliable. It’s pretty cool that those experiments will take place in Pendleton, and lucky spotters at the UAV test range will be among the first to see Jetson’s-era technology operating in real life. We wish it luck and success, and to be among the first to go flying through the sky to pick up our groceries. A tip of the hat to Hermiston football faithful, who were honorable hosts to visitors from La Salle High School earlier this month. Visiting team dad Dennis Kelly of Tigard couldn’t believe how well he was treated both by the opposition, from his hotel clerk to the stadium volunteers. But then came game time, when tension can be high. Here’s an excerpt from Kelly’s letter to mayor Dave Drotzmann and principal Tom Spoo: “I headed to the top row of the visitors section. I was by myself for some time, then suddenly it seemed like 30-plus middle- schoolers (maybe freshman) were all around me. I figured that was their section and avoidance of older kids. Coming from where I live, my first thought was ‘Great, this might not be fun’ surrounded by so many early teens. I stayed up there for the first half, and in all that time I never heard one cuss word, I was spoken to a few times and addressed as ‘sir.’ While the kids were definite teens they were polite and respectful. Big difference from the big city — I can tell you. I later had dinner with my son and he told me how nice the school’s staff and volunteers were and how wonderful they treated the La Salle coaches and players. The dinner prepared and served was an incredible touch. So, this is just my thank you and appreciation for being the town and people you are. In this crazy world we live, you demonstrate the right way to do things.” 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 Hydropower is clean energy Baker City Herald W e understand the disdain some people have for hydroelectric dams. They turn free-flowing rivers into stagnant reservoirs. They interfere with, or block altogether, the migration of anadromous fish such as salmon and steelhead. But these dams also produce copious amounts of electricity, reliably and, unlike coal, without spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. Hydropower also has advantages over other renewable sources, such as wind and solar, most notably that hydro plants can produce power constantly. All of which explains why we hope the U.S. Senate gives serious consideration to a bill the House of Representatives passed last week. The legislation is designed to make it easier for hydroelectric plants to be licensed by the federal government. This doesn’t necessarily mean building dams, though. The House bill was prompted in part by the reality that the nation’s existing dams represent a source of clean, renewable energy that’s barely been tapped. Just 3 percent of the country’s 80,000 dams generate electricity, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The bill, if it becomes law, might not have a major effect on the Northwest, which already relies far more heavily on hydropower than other regions. Almost 70 percent of the electricity generated in Washington is derived from water turning turbines, and Oregon’s and Idaho’s shares both exceed 50 percent. Nationally, though, hydroelectric dams account for just 7 percent of the electricity supply. House Republicans who voted for the bill, including Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, contend that the nationwide share of hydropower could be doubled without building any dams, but by installing turbines at larger dams and locks on major rivers such as the Mississippi, Ohio and Arkansas. The bill’s critics raise legitimate questions about the details. The bill would make the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the lead agency for issuing hydropower licenses, and require states to defer to the agency. This raises the specter of private companies pursuing hydropower projects over the objections of local residents. Still, we’re optimistic about the prospects of Congress formally recognizing the vital role that hydropower can, and should, play in America’s transition to cleaner sources of energy. In addition, we hope the bill will convince Oregon lawmakers to reconsider their peculiar aversion to defining as “renewable” the massive amounts of electricity generated by the federal dams on the Columbia River. That energy is not considered “qualifying electricity” in the state law that mandates large utilities obtain a certain amount of their energy from renewable sources. Hydro accounts for just 7 percent of electric supply nationwide. 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. Send letters to 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com. Billionaires desperately need our help I t is so hard to be a billionaire these haven’t bothered to renew funding days! for CHIP, the child health insurance A new yacht can cost $300 program serving almost 9 million million. And you wouldn’t believe American kids. Ditto for the maternal what a pastry chef earns — and if and home visiting programs that are you hire just one, to work weekdays, the gold standard for breaking cycles how can you possibly survive on of poverty and that also haven’t been weekends? renewed. We mustn’t coddle American The investment income on, say, Nicholas toddlers. a $4 billion fortune is a mere $1 Hey, if American infants really want Kristof million a day, which makes it tough to health care, they’ll pick themselves up Comment scrounge by with today’s rising prices. by their bootee straps and Uber over to Why, some wealthy folks don’t even an emergency room. have a home in the Caribbean and on vacation Congressional Republicans understand are stuck brooding in hotel suites: They’re that we can’t do everything for everybody. practically homeless! We have to make hard choices. Congress Fortunately, President Donald Trump and understands that kids are resilient and can look the Republicans are coming after themselves, so we must along with some desperately focus on the most urgent needed tax relief for needs, such as those of billionaires. hand-to-mouth billionaires. Thank God for this In fairness, Congress lifeline to struggling has historically understood tycoons. And it’s carefully this mission. The tax code crafted to focus the benefits subsidizes moguls with on the truly deserving — the private jets while the carried affluent who earn their interest tax break gives a tax breaks with savvy huge tax discount to striving investments in politicians. private equity zillionaires. For example, eliminating Meanwhile, a $13 billion the estate tax would help the annual subsidy for corporate roughly 5,500 Americans meals and entertainment who now owe this tax each gives ditch diggers the year, one-fifth of 1 percent satisfaction of buying of all Americans who die Champagne for financiers. annually. Ending the tax Our political leaders are would help upstanding so understanding because people like the Trumps who we appear to have the owe their financial success wealthiest Congress we’ve to brilliant life choices, ever had, with a majority of such as picking the uterus in which they were members now millionaires, so they understand conceived. the importance of cutting health for the poor to Now it’s fair to complain that the tax plan show support for the crème de la crème. overall doesn’t give needy billionaires quite Granted, the GOP tax plan will add to the as much as they deserve. For example, the deficit, forcing additional borrowing. But top 1 percent receive only a bit more than 25 if the tax cut passes, automatic “pay as you percent of the total tax cuts in the Senate bill, go” rules may helpfully cut $25 billion from according to the Institute on Taxation and Medicare spending next year, thus saving Economic Policy. money on elderly people who are practically Really? Only 25 times their share of the dead anyway. If poor kids have to suffer, we population? After all those dreary $5,000- may as well make poor seniors suffer as well. a-plate dinners supporting politicians? If That’s called a balanced policy. politicians had any guts, they’d just slash More broadly, you have to look at the services for low-income families so as to reason for deficits. Yes, it’s problematic to finance tax breaks for billionaires. borrow to pay for, say, higher education or Oh, wait, that’s exactly what’s happening! cancer screenings. But what’s the problem Trump understands, for example, that with borrowing $1.5 trillion to invest in urgent health insurance isn’t all that important for tax relief for billionaires? the riffraff. So he and the Senate GOP have Anyway, at some point down the road we’ll again targeted Obamacare, this time by find a way to pay back the debt by cutting a trying to repeal the insurance mandate. The wasteful program for runny-nose kids who Congressional Budget Office says this will aren’t smart enough to hire lobbyists. There result in 13 million fewer people having health must be some kids’ program that still isn’t on insurance. the chopping block. But what’s the big deal? The United States The tax bill underscores a political truth: already has an infant mortality rate twice that There’s nothing wrong with redistribution of Austria and South Korea. American women when it’s done right. are already five times as likely to die in ■ pregnancy or childbirth as women in Britain. Nicholas Kristof grew up on a sheep and So who’ll notice if things get a bit worse? cherry farm in Yamhill. Kristof, a columnist Perhaps that sounds harsh. But the blunt for The New York Times since 2001, writes reality is that we risk soul-sucking dependency op-ed columns that appear twice a week. He if we’re always setting kids’ broken arms. won the Pulitzer Prize two times, in 1990 and Maybe that’s why congressional Republicans 2006. The tax plan is carefully crafted to focus the benefits on the truly deserving — the affluent who earn their tax breaks with savvy investments in politicians.