ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Elected
leaders
work for
the voter
O
regon lawmakers did something
good recently when they approved
Senate Bill 513, a measure that
requires high school students to complete
one semester of civics before they graduate.
The bill goes into effect beginning in the
2025-26 school year.
Lawmakers passed a similar bill in 2017
that strongly encouraged school districts
to offers civics instruction, but it was not
required.
Senate Bill 513 probably will not garner
banner headlines or spark controversy, but
is probably one of the most crucial pieces
of legislation to come down the pike in
decades.
That is because knowledge regarding
how our government works is, at times,
absent from public discourse. All one must
do is look to the recent presidential election
or the tenure of several of our past presi-
dents. Neither former presidents Donald
Trump, Barak Obama nor George W. Bush
could simply rule exclusively. That is not
how our system of government works. Each
president can do a whole lot by themselves
— using such edicts as executive orders —
but in the end they are beholden not only to
the people but to Congress.
A firm, basic knowledge of how our
republic functions, how legislation is
created and who gets to make the final deci-
sion on key issues is crucial for not only our
youths but for all voters.
We in the news business sometimes
make the error that everyone understands
how our government works, and then stand
in dismay when people make what appear
to be outrageous statements about democ-
racy.
The path to work within our system to
make change or to get something done
begins with the knowledge of how the
machinery of democracy works.
Why is it important? Civic education
is critical because if we do not know how
the system functions, we cannot act as
careful observers of our elected leaders.
Our elected leaders — from the local city
council all the way up to the president —
are not bestowed with unlimited power to
do as they choose. They are constrained
by a check-and-balance system brilliantly
conceived by our Founding Fathers.
Many of the recent problems the nation
encountered can be directly traced to an
ignorance of how our government works.
Many do not know how a legislative bill
works. Where it is developed. Others
believe a president carries unlimited power
and can make “things happen” on a whim.
The first lesson in civics education
should be the easiest. That lesson is elected
leaders work for the voter. Period.
EDITORIALS
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.
LETTERS
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. 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:
editor@eastoregonian.com,
or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
Are you willing to pay for the B2H?
FUJI
KREIDER
OTHER VIEWS
P
eople ask, “Is that still going on?”
Yes, it’s true, the massively destruc-
tive Boardman to Hemingway
(B2H) transmission project is still under
review. Each time we’ve asked folks to
speak out, it’s more critical that they do.
The final hearing at the Oregon Public
Utilities Commission on Idaho Power’s
2019 energy plan, which features B2H, is
Thursday, April 15. The OPUC commis-
sioners have been impressed with the
number of public comments already
received, and now is the most important
opportunity to speak out with your reac-
tions to Idaho Power’s power play.
Building the line will guarantee them
cost recovery and a hefty 7.6% profit
based on the project’s $1.2 billion cost.
Good for them. Bad for us.
In 2015, when I started tracking these
plans (integrated resources plans), Idaho
Power claimed it needed 351 megawatts
of energy by 2026 to replace energy from
coal plant closures. Rather than building
its own resources to satisfy this need, the
company wanted to buy energy from the
Mid Columbia energy trading hub and
transmit it hundreds of miles away. That’s
where the B2H comes in.
Closing coal plants is definitely worth
supporting. But destroying hundreds of
miles of private and public lands, habitats
and sacred places — in addition to footing
the bill — is not the way. Contrary to the
company’s green-washing narrative, there
are many ways for it to get or make the
energy it may need.
Now, after six years and three IRPs,
the “need” has been reduced to from 351
MW to 42 MW — and in the Idaho’s
PUC review, the company state the need
will be only 5 MW by 2029! This reduc-
tion has been occurring even with Idaho
Power actively resisting more solar and
wind contracts, battery storage or build-
ing any of its own energy resources. It has
discouraged renewable energy projects
through state legislation and is deincen-
tivizing rooftop solar among customers.
The industry’s innovations, appliance and
building efficiencies, and people’s own
conservation, continues driving down the
need.
That’s right — 42 or 5 MW of energy
need by 2029? They can easily make
that up with a small solar farm or simple
energy efficiencies, respectively. My
point is: There is plenty of energy and
energy generation potential in Idaho. The
“need” can be easily canceled. So without
a need, why the B2H? For Idaho Power
it’s all about profits. Not only through the
guaranteed return on investment on the
capital project (B2H), but the company
can continue to gain profits through trans-
mission tariffs. At the Oregon Public
Utilities Commission, the discussion has
evolved into “regional grid capacity and
resiliency,” and “costs to the ratepayers.”
(Since the Bonneville Power Adminis-
tration is currently a partner in the B2H
that also means that we, as Oregon Trail
Electric Cooperative members, are also
ratepayers in this arrangement.)
I’ve asked for an analysis on upgrad-
ing and reconductoring the three lines that
go from the Mid Columbia Hub to Idaho,
from 230-kilovolt to 345-kV lines. The
increased capacity of these three lines
could yield a total of 345 kV more capac-
ity. These lines could be fire-hardened;
they could be digitized and the corridors
could be cleared out — all benefiting
actions bringing much more security and
resiliency into the current system while
reducing fire risks.
If Idaho Power really needed the capac-
ity in the future, which is questionable,
the Oregon PUC (the regulators in this
case) should order the company to study
upgrading before planning and building
new.
There won’t be another opportunity to
influence the OPUC for at least another
year, and by then much more work will
be completed in the permitting process.
Not good. Therefore, we need to tell the
OPUC: Do not acknowledge this proj-
ect any longer. We can’t afford it and it is
not needed. Write now (before April 15)
to puc.publiccomments@state.or.us. For
more info, check out www.stopb2h.org.
Now is the time to act.
———
Fuji Kreider has lived in La Grande
34 years and is a member of the local
nonprofit Stop B2H Coalition.
YOUR VIEWS
Hansell keeps children at
the forefront
This letter is to introduce Mrs. Sally
Anderson Hansell, who is running for a
position on the Hermiston School Board.
Mrs. Hansell grew up in Hermiston,
graduated from Hermiston High School,
and went on to get her degree in law. She
is a practicing attorney in Hermiston.
She has three children in the Hermis-
ton schools at this time; she also has to
school her husband, Tyler Hansell, occa-
sionally.
Mrs. Hansell has seen what COVID
has done to her children’s education
and believes your children have been
affected too. She believes that school is
more than learning to read, write and
mathematics — it is a place where disci-
pline and respect are taught. School is a
place where children see old friends and
make new ones.
In Hermiston, some children eat two
meals a day at school. In a way, school
is a mirror of society where children
learn to deal with the same problems
that Mom and Dad do every day. Many
of these things have been taken from our
children during the COVID era. How
and when will these losses be replaced?
I haven’t read or heard of any
concrete plan to do that. I don’t believe
this is the fault of the local schools,
educators, board or administration. I do
believe that if you elect Mrs. Hansell,
she will absolutely make sure that these
problems will be solved for our children.
Please join me in voting for Mrs.
LETTERS DEADLINE FOR MAY 18 ELECTIONS
The East Oregonian does not run endorsements of more than 400 words.
The East Oregonian will institute a deadline for letters to the editor, so we can be fair
with all the letters we receive and allow for responses before Election Day, if necessary.
We run the letters on a first-come, first-served basis.
Please submit your endorsement letters to the editor by 5 p.m. on Friday, May 7. You
can email them to editor@eastoregonian.com, or mail them to East Oregonian, c/o
Andrew Cutler, 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton, OR 97801.
We will publish our last letters on Saturday, May 15. Any letters received after the dead-
line will not run. Election Day is May 18.
Hansell in the May 18 election.
Mike Mehren
Hermiston
B2H and environmental
justice
On Thursday, April 15, our public
utility commissioners will hold their final
hearing on Idaho Power’s 2019 energy
plan, which includes the B2H transmis-
sion line.
I’ve urged the Oregon Public Utility
Commission to acknowledge issues of
environmental justice when considering
approval for the B2H transmission line.
I believe Idaho Power is not shoulder-
ing the true environmental cost of the
proposed B2H line, that Idaho Power
is instead passing the cost of impacts
to economically disadvantaged rural
communities.
For instance, Idaho Power claims “no
significant impact” for 150-foot trans-
mission towers that would be built a few
blocks from a beautiful mountain lake,
the key feature of the cherished and
historic city of La Grande Morgan Lake
Park. If the B2H line impacted such a
park in Portland, I do not believe it would
be going forward.
Fire risks are another cost/hardship
passed on to our fire vulnerable rural
communities. Rural residents demand to
be treated fairly and to have our environ-
ment considered and protected!
There are other options to building the
B2H line, even if a transmission line is
determined to be necessary. Concerned
residents with STOP B2H have outlined
many such alternatives at www.stopb2h.
org. I’ve asked the commission to pursue
these options, taking into account envi-
ronmental justice issues and the true cost
of the B2H transmission lines to econom-
ically disadvantaged rural communities.
Please consider doing the same before
April 15. Email puc.hearings@state.
or.us.
Kathryn Andrew
La Grande