REGION
Thursday, February 21, 2019
East Oregonian
A3
Making sense of the cap and trade proposal
Legislators, locals
exchange ideas
during video chat
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
The trio of state legisla-
tors on the video screen in
the Blue Mountain Com-
munity College conference
room left no doubt they are
not in love with Oregon’s
cap and trade proposal.
Nine people sat around
the BMCC conference
room table sipping cof-
fee and chatting with Sen.
Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, Rep.
Greg Barreto, R-Cove, and
Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena,
early Wednesday morning at
the college’s bimonthly leg-
islative video session. The
lawmakers sat inside the
Oregon Capitol in Salem.
Normally, only Hansell and
Barreto appear, but this day
they brought Bentz along
to explain the complicated
cap and trade system in the
works.
Bentz, who sits on the
Joint Committee on Carbon
Reduction, gave a 10-minute
primer on the subject, call-
ing it incredibly complex.
The program would push
industry to find cleaner ways
to do business by charging
companies for their carbon
emissions. He said the pro-
gram could bring in an esti-
mated $550 million a year.
California’s 10-year-old pro-
gram and others in Quebec
and British Columbia pro-
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Jeff Blackwood, Eastern Oregon Climate Change Coalition board member and retired Umatil-
la National Forest supervisor, shares about local effects of climate change, such as longer fire
seasons, increase of invasive species, drought-stressed trees and higher spring runoff, during
a video session with three Eastern Oregon legislators at Blue Mountain Community College.
vided models for the Oregon
legislation.
Proponents say such a
program would help rein
in carbon emissions, fund
green technology and help
protect the world for future
generations. On the other
hand, critics say cap and
trade could drive business
from the state and boost
fuel prices without making
reducing carbon emissions.
As a committee member,
Bentz said he worked harder
on developing this program
than “anything I’ve done
since law school.” Yet, he
said he doesn’t personally
support the idea of cap and
trade, preferring adaptation
(predicting the effects of
climate change and taking
action to minimize damage).
He worries about farmers
and ranchers and said rural
Oregon could bear too much
of the burden with cap and
trade. He knows from polls
however that the majority of
Oregonians favor the bill.
“We can spend a lot of
time saying, ‘Hell, no,’ but
this train has kind of left the
station,” he said.
He said he respects Dem-
ocratic colleagues on the
carbon committee, he just
sees things from a different
angle.
“I don’t want to attribute
bad motives to my Demo-
cratic friends who are work-
ing on this bill,” Bentz said.
“They are receiving incred-
ible pressure from constitu-
ents to do something.”
Barreto said cap and
trade isn’t the answer and
will burden the business
community.
“This is adding more
straws on the camel’s back,”
he said.
As special taxes, fam-
ily leave requirements and
the like stack up, he said, “it
doesn’t paint a rosy picture
about what’s coming down
the pike.”
Pendleton businessman
Winston Hill, co-owner of
Buckin’ Bean Coffee Roast-
ers, asked measured ques-
tions about data from Cali-
fornia’s experience with cap
and trade. Hill soaked in the
answers, and then told the
lawmakers the bill could
bring dire consequences for
small businesses and family
farms, like the one on which
he grew up.
“Has anyone looked at
the price of wheat lately?”
he asked. “The breakeven
point is right there. The
margin is gone. Just where
is all this money supposed
to come from? Eventually
these types of programs will
drive people across state
lines. Oregon is not a planet
unto itself.”
Hansell said he wor-
ries about Oregon’s nursery
industry, one of the state’s
top earning crops. The sen-
ator said he recently visited
with industry representa-
tives who commented on
effects of Alberta’s cap and
trade program on the prov-
ince’s nursery business.
“They said Alberta
pretty much lost their nurs-
ery industry because of the
added expense they had
with natural gas,” Hansell
said.
Jeff Blackwood watched
one of the two screens from
his place at the conference
table. Blackwood, former
supervisor of the Umatilla
National Forest, sits on the
board of the Eastern Oregon
Climate Change Coalition,
a non-partisan, non-politi-
cal group that looks at ways
to mitigate climate change
on a local level. Change is
already happening, he said,
ticking off a list of them:
earlier runoff, longer fire
seasons, increasing tem-
peratures, drought-stressed
trees and an increase of
invasive species.
“We know the change
is happening,” Blackwood
said. “We know it’s going
to take sacrifices from all
sectors.”
Chuck Wood, retired
engineer and former Pendle-
ton city councilman, said he
recently found the bill online
and has been digesting it
slowly. He said he remains
unsure whether cap and
trade is the answer instead
of a carbon tax, sequestra-
tion or another alternative.
“I’m really in favor of
doing something about cli-
mate change,” he said. “It’s
a big problem.”
That was a sentiment no
one in the room disputed.
“I understand there’s a
need to focus on the envi-
ronment. We’re all in the
same ship, for crying out
loud,” Hill said. “When it
sinks, we all sink.”
The community video-
conferences, sponsored by
BMCC and the Pendleton
Chamber of Commerce, are
at 7 a.m. every first and third
Wednesday of the Legisla-
tive Session in the college’s
Pioneer Hall Boardroom.
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0810.
BRIEFLY
IMAC to serve
hearty breakfast
IRRIGON — The reg-
ular monthly fundraising
breakfast of the Irrigon
Multicultural Arts Center
is this weekend.
A hearty meal will be
available on Saturday from
7:30-10:30 a.m. at Stokes
Landing Senior Center,
150 Columbia Lane, Irri-
gon. The cost is $4.50 per
person.
The group is dedicated
to the preservation of Irri-
gon’s 1921 school building
and developing a regional
art venue. For more infor-
mation, call Peggy Price
at 541-567-3806.
Contributed photo
Pendleton High School’s Rhythmic Mode dance team is hosting Hearts in Motion. The dance
competition is Saturday at Warburg Court. In addition, the team was recognized by Les
Schwab Tire Centers and the OSAA as the January team of the month.
Dance team hosts competition
Rhythmic Mode
receives honors
By TAMMY MALGESINI
East Oregonian
Dance teams from across
the region are coming to
town to participate in the
Hearts in Motion dance
competition.
In its 32nd year, Pendle-
ton High School’s Rhyth-
mic Mode dance team is
hosting the event.
Nearly two dozen school
and club teams will partici-
pate. The doors open Satur-
day at 11 a.m. at the school’s
Warburg Court, 1800 N.W.
Carden Ave., Pendleton.
The grand march starts at
11:45 a.m. and competi-
tion begins at noon. Admis-
sion is $10 each and free for
ages 5 and under. A con-
cession booth will be avail-
able for food and beverage
purchases.
“It’s always so much fun
to see all the teams in cos-
tume on the floor at the same
time,” said Lora Franks
about the grand entry.
The event also serves
as a fundraiser for the
team, which placed first
in the 2018 OSAA Dance
Schmidt
Gilsdorf
and Drill State Champion-
ships. Money raised helps
in supporting the team lead-
ing up to the 2019 state
competition.
Also, Rhythmic Mode
recently took the spot-
light, being selected as the
Oregon School Activities
Association January team
of the month. Each month
throughout the school year,
Les Schwab Tire Centers
and the OSAA recognizes a
varsity team for each of the
six classifications. Teams
are chosen based on per-
formance on the court/field,
academic work in the class-
room and service to the
community. In addition to
the recognition, the team
received a trophy and $100
for its program. Anyone can
nominate a team.
For more information,
visit www.osaa.org/awards/
team-of-the-month.
Also, Franks said high
school dance team senior
Imagine The Difference You Can Make
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League to discuss
redistricting
members are invited each
January to audition for the
Dance & Drill Coaches
Association of Oregon all-
state team.
Rhythmic Mode team-
mates Emily Gilsdorf and
Vanessa Schmidt were
selected as two of the 14
dancers for the 5A divi-
sion’s 2019 all-state team.
“It’s a very high honor
and long-standing tradi-
tion among Oregon dance
teams,” Franks said.
For more information
about Hearts In Motion,
contact Franks at lora_
franks@yahoo.com
or
541-377-0675.
———
Contact Community Editor
Tammy Malgesini at tmalge-
sini@eastoregonian.com or
541-564-4539
PENDLETON
—
A gathering to provide
information about voter
redistricting is planned in
Pendleton.
The League of Women
Voters is coordinating a
forum in order to educate
voters on what proposed
changes mean. Voters
will learn about current
problems in the redis-
tricting process and what
the league proposes as a
reform.
The no-host luncheon
meeting is Saturday from
1-3:30 p.m. at Rooster’s
Country Kitchen, 1515
Southgate, Pendleton. The
program begins at 2 p.m.
Candalynn Johnson,
League of Women Voters
of Oregon campaign coor-
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lwvor.org or visit www.
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For more about redis-
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rill said.
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