4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| AUGUST 7, 2019
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respect-
ing an establishment 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 Govern-
ment 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)
Just another day of fl ags at half mast
shootings has already
outpaced that with 255
incidents since Jan. 1,
averaging more than one
mass shooting a day.
This is according to the
Gun Violence Archive
should count.
If you are a gun owner,
you probably assume I say
all of this as an argument
against gun ownership.
However, that would be
hypocritical since I, too,
yell “Fire!” in the middle
of a crowded theater.
There are common
sense rules that come with
all freedoms in order to
assure that those freedoms
are not misused or manip-
ulated to the detriment of
The flags were once
others.
again at half mast as I
The current number of
drove to work Tuesday
mass
shootings in Amer-
Ned Hickson
morning, continuing a
ica — and acts of gun
solemn and what has
violence in general — has
become an all-too-often
(GVA), a non-partisain,
am a gun owner.
us on a trajectory for the
acknowledgement of those not-for-profit organization
I’m also a motorcycle
deadliest year since ...
whose lives have been tak- that defines mass shoot-
owner and realize that
... 2016, which was the
en during mass shootings ings as “an incident in
the days of riding helmet- first time the number of
in America.
which at least four people less without any formal
mass shootings in a single
In the past nine days,
are shot, excluding the
training or certification
year (382) topped the
37 people have been killed shooter.”
are long gone. That’s
number of days in that
and 79 wounded, ranging
I realize there is some
because laws and rules
same year.
in age from 3 to 90 years
controversy over this
were changed and adopted
It’s time we stop
old.
number, which some
in order to decrease the
focusing on the division
The attacks have oc-
gun proponents argue is
number of senseless
between who does and
cured from Ohio to Texas, inflated by including those deaths that occured each
doesn’t — or who should
California to Mississippi
wounded and not killed,
year as a result of not hav- and shouldn’t — own
and New York.
as well as shootings that
ing any real oversight or
guns, and instead rec-
And they have taken
occur in relation to gang
personal accountability.
ognize that the current
place at shopping centers, and domestic violence.
While I fully support
laws and rules regarding
during festivals and at
I would argue that any- the Second Amendment,
our Second Amendment
community block parties. one who has been a victim I also support the First
right are being misused
As of Monday, we were of gun violence — wound- Amendment — but un-
and manipulated — to the
217 days into the year
ed or killed, gang member derstand that free speech
deteriment of us all.
and the number of mass
or family member —
still doesn’t allow me to
From the Editor’s Desk
LETTERS
Keep up contributions
to the community
The feature, “Dangers, rewards
of crabbing,” (Aug. 3) by Siuslaw
News intern Victoria Sanchez was
local, educational and composed
nicely.
Effective use of photos, inter-
views and quotations made good
reading for both longtime residents
and newer folks alike. My wife and
Enid and I have enjoyed Novelli’s
award-winning [clam chowder]
entries in the annual Florence Area
Chamber of Commerce chowder
contest in recent years.
We encourage the Novelli fami-
ly and Victoria Sanchez to keep up
their valuable contributions to the
community.
—Ken Deibert
Florence
Cause of our own demise
While one might agree generally
with Mr. Eales’ view (“We Are The
Architects Of Our Own Demise,”
July 24) that U.S. energy policy
needs revision (though certain-
ly not in the ways he implies), his
comments on climate change are
filled with errors of fact and inter-
pretation.
In my view, the most serious
problem in his statement relates
to the role of greenhouse gases
(GHGs) as casual agents in global
warming.
Mr. Eales cites research done in
the 1950s at Harvard and in Brit-
ain concluding that “…CO2 has
very little greenhouse effect as it is
swamped by water vapor.”
More recent research agrees with
these nearly 70-year-old findings
that water vapor accounts for the
largest share of warming. Based on
a 2010 study by NASA scientists
and the Fifth U.N. Global Climate
Change (IPCC) Report, water va-
por accounts for some 50 percent
of recent warming — but persists
in the atmosphere for only about
eight days. CO2 accounts for 20
percent of warming and persists for
30-95 years.
Methane and other GHGs ac-
count for about five percent of
warming and persist for 12 years.
By these more recent results, wa-
ter vapor is 2.5 times more import-
ant in warming than CO2. But the
key item being overlooked is the
persistence of the various GHGs in
the atmosphere.
Water vapor lasts only about
eight days. CO2 and other GHGs
continue to augment warming for
decades. Water vapor doesn’t accu-
mulate in the atmosphere but the
other GHGs do.
And that is exactly the point.
Human actions generate new
GHG emissions faster that they
dissipate from the air.
So atmospheric CO2 has reached
415 parts per million this year, the
highest level estimated in more
than 800,000 years with a contin-
ued rise in average global land-sea
temperatures.
Worse, atmospheric water vapor
and the GHGs are positively related
(per NASA research). Higher levels
of GHGs are associated with higher
water vapor levels.
We may well be the cause of our
own demise, as Mr. Eales suggests,
but certainly not for the reasons he
proposes.
—Darius Adams
Florence
Term limits is best way to
‘drain the swamp’
For the “swamp” to be cleaned
we first need to get rid of the old
critters that have swum around in
Congress and the Senate for years.
We need to implement term limits
for those in both houses. Our Pres-
ident is elected to a four-year term,
which gives him/her time to learn
how to be a president. If all goes
well, and if re-elected, the president
can serve one more term and try to
put his/her policies in place.
By comparison, Senate members
are elected for six years without any
term limits; those in Congress are
elected for two years without any
term limits. That is why, over the
years, we have had the following
members serve and thrive for de-
cades in the same silty swamp:
• Daniel Inouye: 53 years
• Storm Thurmond: 47 years
• Robert Bird: 51 years
• Ted Kennedy: 47 years
Currently, we have some serving
in Congress who are I think are out
of touch with our present reality:
• Richard Shelby: 85 years old
• Dianne Feinstein: 86 years old
• Mitch McConnell: 77 years old
• Nancy Pelosi: 77 years old
• Richard Shelby: 85 years old
• Chuck Grassley: 85 years old
This is where term limits need
to come into to play. I do not think
anyone in the Senate or Congress
should be able to serve more than
24 years — or even 18 years. That
would give them time to learn the
workings of Washington and how
to communicate with those from
the right and left.
Then, we would have a better
chance of getting rid of special
interest groups and lobbyist who
have so much influence imbedded
into the our government swamp
because of decades-long relation-
ships.
We need young voices and new
ideas infused into our government
on a regular basis.
—Win Jolley
Florence
USPS# 497-660
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WHERE TO WRITE
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
@oregonlegislature.gov
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