KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
TueSday, apRIl 5, 2022
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Oregon
mired in
political
swamp
I
t is time for Oregon voters to get serious
about what exactly they want to repre-
sent them as governor.
Those of us who follow the gover-
nor’s race all know who the main players
are, and we all know that — for the most
part — each of those candidates is firmly
entrenched in the values of their party. The
Democratic candidates tow the party line
as do the GOP hopefuls. Some are some-
what middle of the road in their devotion
to dogma and others are far to the left or
far to the right. Mostly what voters hear is
the same old wide sweeping proclamations
triggered by events — and concepts — first
rolled out onto the national political stage.
Yet there is a barely detectible undercur-
rent of discomfort out there among voters.
A sense that the old ways of doing business
are beginning to falter. A feeling that party
politics are fine but only as far as they can
go and now they are not going far enough.
From our standpoint the avenue of party
politics doesn’t seem to answer the press-
ing questions of our day but, instead, create
more division and more strife. Now, much
of that we concede is front-loaded into the
very nature of our political system, which is
based on a competitive template. Also, the
primaries in Oregon are set firmly within
party bounds.
We recognize those factors, but it seems
to be more and more evident that voters are
growing weary of the same old dogma and
venom spat between lawmakers. Instead of
careful political compromise — a hallmark
of our system — for the past decade, the
norm has been for lawmakers on both sides
of the aisle to die on every single political
hill the encounter. There is no cooperation
on the big issues but only a war to the knife.
That means voters are not served well.
Lawmakers surely would disagree and
point to countless successes and exam-
ples of bipartisanship. Again, there is
some validity to the notion lawmakers
do often work together. But “often” isn’t
good enough anymore. Voter — except for
those on the lunatic fringe of both parties
— are weary of the same old fighting with
little getting done. Perhaps that feeling by
many is simply a perception but in this case
perception is reality.
Oregon needs a middle-of-the-road
governor who isn’t beholden to a party, who
will get things done, who sees all sides.
That, we realize is going to be a tall order.
But we believe it is the only way forward for
a state mired in a political swamp.
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
Unusual coalition unites for clean energy
MATT
WITT
OTHER VIEWS
C
ommunities in the rural West
can stand up to giant outside gas
companies, if they work together
despite their differences. That’s how the
Jordan Cove gas pipeline project was
finally killed in Oregon by a coalition
of conservative ranchers and farmers,
climate activists, Indigenous tribal lead-
ers, anglers and coastal residents.
The victory occurred last December,
when a Canadian energy company called
Pembina announced it would halt plans
to build a 230-mile pipeline through rural
southwestern Oregon, crossing more
than 400 streams and rivers along the
way. The pipeline was to carry fracked
gas from the Rockies to a huge terminal
proposed for the coastal town of Coos
Bay, where it would be loaded onto ships
bound for Asia.
When the Jordan Cove export project
was first announced some 15 years ago,
the odds of stopping it appeared slim.
Supporters included the state’s governor
and its two U.S. senators — all Demo-
crats — plus most of the Republican
political establishment.
But community organizers in Coos
Bay and beyond didn’t give up.
“The last thing we needed was another
giant fossil-fuel project and another
major fire hazard just to profit an outside
corporation,” recalls Allie Rosenbluth,
campaigns director of Rogue Climate, a
grassroots group in southern Oregon.
Rogue Climate contacted hundreds
of landowners whose property would be
affected, while also working with local
environmental groups like Rogue River-
keeper.
They quickly found many ranch-
ers were angry about threats from the
company. If landowners didn’t let the
pipeline cross their land in return for a
one-time payment, they were told, the
power of eminent domain would be
invoked to impose it on them anyway.
Congress granted this power to gas pipe-
lines in 1947.
During a seven-year period, an
unlikely coalition grew in strength, turn-
ing out thousands of residents to public
hearings and spurring more than 50,000
people to submit written comments to
regulatory agencies. A delegation repre-
senting all parts of the coalition even held
a sit-in in the governor’s office.
Seven rural landowners from across
the political spectrum also published a
column in the state’s largest newspaper,
The Oregonian. It was blunt: “We are sick
and tired of the pie-in-the-sky specula-
tion by these for-profit corporations. We
can’t build, we can’t plan, and we can’t
sell if we choose because of the threat of
eminent domain.”
Don Gentry, chair of the Klamath
Tribes, protested that the pipeline would
“strip shade from streams and pollute
them with sediment, harming fish central
to the Klamath’s traditions and way of
life.”
Bill McCaffree, a lifelong Republi-
can, and longtime president of the local
electrical workers union in Coos Bay,
also publicly disagreed with construction
union leaders who wanted the short-term
work for their members.
“Everyone who works in the building
and construction trades wants to build
things that benefit communities and don’t
cause harm,” McCaffree said. “Since I
was a kid, there have been jobs here in
Coos County from fishing, clamming
and oyster farming. What would happen
to those jobs when the bay is disturbed by
construction and operation of this export
terminal?”
A better strategy for creating good,
stable jobs, McCaffree said, would be
investing in energy efficiency and renew-
able energy development. That sector
is “creating jobs at a rate 12 times faster
than the rest of the U.S. economy.”
In the wake of this broad and vocal
resistance, state agencies finally
announced that the pipeline and terminal
failed to qualify for necessary permits.
That led Pembina to tell federal regula-
tors it was dropping the project.
The coalition didn’t stop with its
victory. Members convinced the Oregon
Legislature last year to pass bills to
transition the state to 100 percent clean
energy by 2040, provide $50 million for
community-based resilience and renew-
able energy projects outside of Portland,
and appropriate $10 million for ener-
gy-efficient home repairs for low-income
households. The Legislature also banned
any new natural gas power plants in
Oregon.
“Most of us who live in small towns
and rural areas all want the same things,”
said Rogue Climate’s Hannah Sohl.
“Good jobs, a healthy climate, commu-
nities that work for everyone. We can
accomplish a lot when we talk to each
other and organize.”
———
Matt Witt is a contributor to Writers
on the Range, writersontherange.org,
a nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively
conversation about Western issues. He
is a writer and photographer in Talent.
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
REPRESENTATIVES
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Cliff Bentz
2185 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
SENATOR
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us