4A | wednesday edition | JULY 25, 2018
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
C
The First Amendment
ongress shall make no law respecting an es-
tablishment of religion or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press, or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
EMAC's continued commitment to local environment
(Editor’s Note: Viewpoint submis-
sions on this and other topics are always
welcome as part of our goal to encourage
community discussion and exchange of
perspectives.)
rants and the local government for quick-
ly making the ban — which took effect on
April 1 — a success. Over 80 percent of
the local food establishments and grocery
stores have complied with the ordinance
Here are a few ways members of the
community can help transition away
from EPS packaging:
• Ask local restaurants and businesses
to provide other options for food storage
and take away.
The members of the Environ-
• Bring your own safe “doggie
mental Management Advisory
bag” containers and reusable bev-
By Maureen Miltenberger & Britte Kirsch erage cups when you go out to eat.
Committee (EMAC) of Florence
Environmental Management Advisory Committee
have been hard at work fulfilling
• When shopping, refuse to buy
their commitment of addressing
food in any Styrofoam container
environmental concerns in our
(i.e. Cup-O-Noodles, Ramen noo-
city. As many residents know, last year the and have discontinued the use of all EPS dles, etc.) and encourage the store to dis-
Florence City Council passed Ordinance food container products.
continue selling them.
12, which banned expanded polystyrene
It is a testament to our community’s
• Bait cannot be sold in foam contain-
foam (EPS) food containers from our awareness and dedication to the protec- ers. A good alternative option is biode-
community based on the recommenda- tion of our important coastal resources.
gradable Bait Cups (www.bait-cups.com)
tion from EMAC.
As part of the enforcement of this ban,
• If you are hosting a meeting or fund-
This ban was designed to protect the any local business that has not discontin- raiser or have a coffee break room, please
waterways, beaches and wildlife in Flor- ued the use of EPS food containers was use alternative non-EPS food containers
ence and the surrounding areas. It has sent a letter from the City of Florence re- and coffee cups.
been shown that by banning the EPS questing adherence to the ordinance or
• Ask to have your fresh meat or fish
products from the businesses and homes fines will be charged effective Aug. 1.
wrapped in butcher paper instead of on
in an area, there is a substantial decrease
There is a fine of up to $250 for the foam trays.
in pollution and contamination within first offense and up to $500 for any subse-
These simple actions take a little plan-
the environment and coastal habitats.
quent offense. Please visit the city of Flor- ning and management but, like bringing
For example, in San Francisco one year ence website at www.ci.florence.or.us/bc your own reusable shopping bags, it can
after its ordinance implementation, the -emac/polystyrene-phase-out-informa easily become a habit!
city experienced a 36 percent decrease in tion for more information about the or-
By eliminating EPS from our environ-
EPS litter.
dinance.
ment, EMAC and the City of Florence
EPS food packaging is non-recyclable,
With so many alternative options have committed to protecting the oceans,
non-biodegradable and non-renewable. available now, transitioning away from rivers, coastal parks, recreation areas and
Most often, it ends up as one of the most EPS food containers is surprisingly sim- roadways from pollution and contamina-
common forms of beach and floating ple and becoming more cost effective. tion. It is an important step in creating a
ocean debris.
There are containers made from alumi- sustainable and healthy environment for
EPS is made using Styrene, a possible num, non-coated cardboard, bio-plastics our community and visitors.
human carcinogen and neurotoxin. It made from corn, potato and other plant
It’s just another reason why Florence is
doesn’t make sense to have it in our com- materials, and bagasse products made the special place we call home!
munity. And over 85 percent of surveyed from sugar cane. Plastic food containers
Florence residents agreed.
should be considered as a last resort be-
As members of EMAC, we want to cause currently the local haulers are not
—Maureen Miltenberger,
thank all of the committed community able to provide recycling for those types
EMAC Chairperson and
residents, local businesses and restau- of products.
Britte Kirsch, EMAC member
Guest Viewpoint
LETTERS
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Jenna Bar tlett
Ned H ickson
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Publisher, ex t. 318
Editor, ex t. 313
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Pro d u c t i o n Su p e r v i s o r
Pre s s M a n a ge r
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Je re my G e n t r y
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Emal letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
Definitely
headed in wrong
direction
“They can’t be fair. Can’t
be honest. They’re bi-
ased,” now assert President
Trump’s defenders, attack-
ing our federal intelligence
agencies and Special Coun-
cil Mueller’s investigators.
There is such a thing as
being biased for the truth,
for valuing honor and in-
tegrity, and for being com-
mitted to the discovery of
facts.
Propagandists like Sean
Hannity are paid hand-
somely to incite, distort,
and erect fantasies built
on tall foundations of far-
fetched lies. In my opinion,
he and President Trump
have much in common.
We who recognize the president and
his cabinet appointees for what they are
are labeled as “deranged,” “duped” ac-
cording to letter writer David Eckhardt
(“Wrong Direction, Mr. Hickson?” July
21). Indeed, we are angry — furious —
that the GOP seems to be working as-
siduously to make our country a Koch
brothers’ inspired oligarchy; engenders
dishonest elections through gerryman-
dering and voter disenfranchisement;
that it lies continuously to ordinary folk
about how it has their welfare at heart;
that it continuously vilifies whoever gets
in its way; and that it places feeding its
donors everything they want at the ex-
pense of human life — all of which is
horrific.
Now we have what could prove to
be a law-breaking president whose vir-
tues are greed, egotism and dishonesty
whose base loves him — and whose GOP
office-holders abide him.
Thomas Friedman, in his latest New
York Times column (www.nytimes.
com/2018/07/17/opinion/trump-putin
-republicans.html) stated it this way: “…
what makes Trump even more powerful
and problematic is that this president
with no shame is combined with a party
with no spine and a major network with
USPS# 497-660
WHERE TO WRITE
no integrity.”
We do live in perilous times, Mr. Eck-
hardt. And we are definitely headed in
the worst direction.
— Harold Titus
Florence
Leftist media is unhinged
Various polls I’ve seen put trust in the
media below 50 percent. Back in April,
left -leaning Politico found that as many
as 77 percent of people believe media
outlets produce fake-news (www.po-
litico.com/story/2018/04/02/poll-fake
-news-494421).
Such numbers are typical for repres-
sive regime state-controlled media. Pos-
sibly the last time such low trust in me-
dia occurred was in Nazi Germany as the
Russians rolled back the German army
from the Volga to the Elbe were reported
“victories.”
Dennis Prager opined, “If truth mat-
tered to the media, their ongoing narra-
tive would be ‘... the Left still do not ac-
cept Trump victory.’ If truth mattered to
the media, every American would know
Trump has been harder on Russia than
former President Barack Obama was.
“If truth mattered to the media, ev-
ery American would be reminded that
Obama sent army meals to Ukraine and
Trump has sent anti-tank missiles and
other arms to repel the Russians.
“If truth mattered to the media, ev-
ery American would be reminded that
Obama watched Syria burn and Russia
come to dominate that country, while
Trump has bombed Syrian military in-
stallations, including one where Rus-
sians were killed.
“If truth mattered to the media, ev-
ery American would be reminded that
it is Trump who has weakened Rus-
sia’s ally Iran, while Obama immeasur-
ably strengthened it. Instead the media
scream ‘treason,’ ‘impeachment’ and the
like 24/7... Meanwhile, left ist mobs shout
at administration offi cials and Republi-
can members of Congress while they eat
in restaurants, shop in stores and sleep in
their homes...”
Any thinking person has to fi nd the
left ist media hysteria unhinged.
Trump’s foreign policy pronounce-
ments can be described as impulsive, na-
ive and chaotic.
Any thinking person has to ask: “Why
on earth would Putin assist a mercuri-
al quantity like Trump over a reliable
known quantity?”
—Ian Eales
Florence
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
(4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
(Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email: Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us