A4
East Oregonian
Friday, December 13, 2019
CHRISTOPHER RUSH
Publisher
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Editor
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
A voice for fairness
I
n an era of bare-knuckled pol-
itics, it is instructive to reflect
on the career of William Ruck-
elshaus, the first administrator of
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency.
He died in Seattle in late Novem-
ber at age 87, leaving behind an
unblemished career as a voice for
environmental reason.
Ruckelshaus was no stranger to
pitched political battles. His career
in President Richard Nixon’s admin-
istration abruptly ended when Ruck-
elshaus resigned his job at the U.S.
Department of Justice instead of fir-
ing the Watergate special prosecutor.
But after two turns as EPA admin-
istrator — as the agency’s first chief
under Nixon and again under Presi-
dent Ronald Reagan —Ruckelshaus
probably knew more about how the
EPA and statutes such as the Endan-
gered Species Act work than anyone
else.
In 2011, Capital Press interviewed
Ruckelshaus about the EPA, the
Endangered Species Act and issues
related to the protection of species.
Edited for space, here are some of
his thoughts:
On the Endangered Species Act:
If the law is working properly, the
“how to” is an agreement by the peo-
ple who will be impacted by the nec-
essary changes. It doesn’t work as
well as it ought to, because a lot of
time the government comes in and
imposes habitat requirements that
the manager of the land doesn’t find
completely reasonable.
On the Clean Air Act: After a
Capital Press Photo, File
William Ruckelshaus in his Seattle office in 2011.
couple of years of administering it,
I knew it needed change. ... What
has proven really hard is to get these
laws changed, and the reason is, I
think, the people who lobbied the
laws through were primarily out-
side the government, and the gov-
ernment agencies that administered
these laws and the staffs on commit-
tees remain in place for a long time
— they get a vested interest in the
law and they fight furiously against
any changes.
The scope of the Endangered Spe-
cies Act: (Congress) wrote the law
broadly enough, and of course it’s
been interpreted broadly enough, it
encompasses a lot more than they
probably originally intended.
Changes needed in the Endan-
gered Species Act: If I’m a land-
owner and someone is running a
highway through my land, I may not
like it, but at least I’m being com-
pensated for it. If I’m forced to put
buffers alongside streams that run
through my land in order to protect
salmon, sometimes those buffers
take a significant amount of my land,
and I think they should be compen-
sated for that. ... If that’s a public
good and it’s being asserted against
a private property owner, then why
shouldn’t the public pay for it the
same way they do with a highway?
On environmental regulations: In
the first place, some guy writing the
regulation down in Olympia or in
Salem, and not being on the actual
land itself, can’t possibly draft a reg-
ulation that makes sense on every
piece of land. So the landowner has
the regulator from the government
coming on their land, starting to tell
him how to manage it. He’s been
managing for five generations and
this guy’s maybe six months out of
school. Well, they’re not going to be
very pleased with what they’re told
to do. ...
(Let) the individual landowner
have a lot more authority about what
he should do to manage the land in
such a way that it doesn’t adversely
impact the environment. And com-
pensating them where there are sig-
nificant costs involved.
On collaboration: If they’d see
themselves as part of a family, they’d
begin to make progress. But if they
see themselves as adversaries, as
enemies, then you don’t make any
progress. ... My experience of listen-
ing to farmers and environmental-
ists when they finally let their guard
down, they are not nearly as far apart
as they think they are. I’ve heard
farmers say, “Well, if that’s what you
want us to do, that’s not so hard.”
And here the environmentalists
would say, “Well, I guess that’s not
really the problem, is it?”... Once you
see those interests come together, it
really is remarkable.
These words, spoken from expe-
rience, offer wisdom to all sides of
many issues, whether they involve
the environment or other topics.
Maybe, just maybe, the world
needs more voices for reason like
William Ruckelshaus. We’ve seen
plenty of the alternative.
OTHER VIEWS
Supporting arts and
culture in Oregon
D
YOUR VIEWS
Walden making
a difference in
prescription costs
As someone with a long
career in nursing, I know how
important it is that my patients
have access to the prescriptions
they need to live healthy lives.
I appreciate the good work that
Rep. Greg Walden is doing to
lower prescription drug costs
and increase access for patients.
Walden’s work to help
import FDA-approved drugs
into the U.S. would help lower
the price of critical drugs like
insulin, while providing Amer-
icans with greater choice in the
marketplace. Walden has also
used his post on the Energy
and Commerce Committee to
get legislation passed that goes
after high prescription drug
prices. In 2018, he helped pass
legislation to increase price
transparency and allow phar-
macists to inform patients that
their drug would be cheaper if
they paid for it out of pocket
rather than through insurance.
This year, he doubled down on
that by introducing the “Lower
Costs, More Cures Act of 2019.”
The bill would lower out of
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of
the East Oregonian editorial board. Other
columns, letters and cartoons on this page
express the opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
pocket spending for patients
and ensure that the U.S. will
continue to lead the world in
developing new cures.
I have personally taken part
in meetings Greg has held with
constituents in his district as
well as health care professionals
that deal with pharmaceutical
drugs every day. The message
is always the same — lower
prescription drug prices. He
has worked hard to carry that
message back to D.C. and get
results.
Sam Palmer, Grant County
commissioner
John Day
o you value public radio,
payers. While the new tax laws
music, libraries, muse-
reduced the number of Orego-
ums and monuments?
nians who itemize deductions
If so, please take advantage of
at the federal level, the benefits
Oregon’s most generous offer to
of investing in Oregon culture
support them.
remain the same. Whether or
Every Oregonian has the right
not you itemize, your donation
to direct a portion of
to the Cultural Trust
their state taxes to fund
still prompts a 100%
arts and culture, but
tax credit on your state
only a small percentage
taxes.
act on it.
Contributions to the
Here’s how it works
Cultural Trust are easy
to make and can be done
— make a donation to
online at www.cultural-
one or more of Ore-
gon’s 1,400-plus cultural
trust.org. The Trust can
C harles
accept appreciated stock
nonprofits, then make a
s ams III
as well as IRA distribu-
matching gift to the Ore-
COMMENT
gon Cultural Trust by
tions, which may pro-
vide additional tax ben-
Dec. 31. You get 100%
efits. For clients using Donor
of the Cultural Trust donation
Advised Funds to make dona-
back when you file your state
tions, their matching gift to the
taxes — by claiming the cultural
Trust must come from an alter-
tax credit — and the state legis-
lature invests that same amount
nate source of funds to qualify
in Oregon culture.
for the tax credit. The tax credit
Since its creation in 2001, the
is limited to $500 for individual
Cultural Trust has awarded more
filers, $1,000 for joint filers and
than $30 million to Oregon cul-
$2,500 for C-corporations.
tural nonprofits. In Umatilla,
If you enjoy Oregon’s arts
Morrow, Union and Wallowa
and culture community, partici-
pating in the Cultural Trust tax
counties those grant awards have
credit program is the best way to
exceeded $1.2 million, including
give back. Make sure a portion
a FY2020 award of $33,764 to
of your state taxes supports arts
the Athena Gem restoration proj-
ect. A 10-year impact study by
and culture. It’s a win-win for
ECONorthwest calls the Trust’s
everyone in our great state.
geographic reach “remarkable.”
———
Charles Sams III is the board
And now, the Cultural Trust
chair of the Oregon Cultural
tax credit is an even more
Trust.
important tool for Oregon tax-
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Pendleton, OR 97801