4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | MAY 26, 2021 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) Thank you all for the last 23 years ... launched 18 years as the and obligation to the Siuslaw News sports ed- community that came with it. On the surface, itor. In the nearly two de- a newspaper is a time cades that followed, capsule chronicling life I often found myself in our community — in- standing out on a sunlit forming those of today In late October 1998, I field or listening to the and offering its history sat across from the same desk I’m now sitting be- From the Editor’s Desk hind, back when Bob Serra was editor. I had Ned Hickson applied for the sports editor position earlier that week and, being up roar of the hometown for those tomorrow. But it’s more than against two journalism crowds at Siuslaw and grads from the U of O, Mapleton high schools, that. A newspaper is also a I didn’t hold out much unable to believe my good fortune doing member of the commu- hope. No journalism back- what I did for a living: nity it serves, contrib- ground. No degree of chronicling the games uting what it can to its any kind, just a high and careers of our local neighbors and the com- student athletes, coach- munity conversation in school diploma. the same way we each I’d spent the last 10 es and their families. People welcomed me do as individuals. years as a corporate chef Over the past five coordinating restau- into their lives in a spe- rant openings through- cial way that continues years, those conversa- out the Deep South for today when I see an ath- tions haven’t all been lete — now grown and pleasant ones as the Morrison, Inc. However, I’d been with their own family changing dynamics of writing most of my life — sitting in the stands our world, society and and had a few things watching their young community have chal- published in magazines. Viking or Sailor com- lenged us — as individ- Maybe it was my peting on the field, bas- uals and, ultimately, as y o u t h f u l o p t i m i s m ; ketball court or around a newspaper. Yet, one of the most maybe it was my writ- the track. When I became editor rewarding aspects of ing samples; maybe it in 2016 and found my- being editor has been was sheer pity. Whatever the reason, self sitting behind the the conversations with Bob offered me the job desk I once sat across people who have differ- and I quickly accepted. from during that 1998 ent opinions. That’s be- T h a t m o m e n t job interview, I under- cause, ultimately, it’s not changed my life and stood the responsibility about changing some- one’s position; its about understanding their po- sition — particularly when it is different from your own. As I approach my last day here on May 31, I’ve had ample time to re- flect on what this career has meant to me — and it really comes down to one simple word: You. Whether an athlete or coach from my early days as a sports reporter, or a community mem- ber who agrees or dis- agrees with some (or all) of my decisions as edi- tor, I deeply appreciate each of you for the expe- rience and opportunity to serve as a member of your local newspaper. And while I certainly look old enough to retire thanks to all this grey hair, I’m still some years away from that and will instead be working part time delivering your mail for our local post office. So, while I may no longer be working at the newspaper, I can still be a part of getting it to you — and serving our community in a differ- ent way. Thank you all for the last 23 years ... LETTERS Climate change isn’t our fault — it’s the Earth’s According to Mr. Michael Al- len’s recent Guest Viewpoint (“Is Florence Essential In the Fight To Curb Climate Change?” May 22), the local climate petition has 391 signatories. Those numbers indicate that there are 391 folks who “care a lot” about climate change, enough that they are willing to put their names to a declaration. Let’s look at the number. If 391 folks “care a lot,” then let’s suppose there are another 391 folks who only “care” but not that much. That means the rest of us don’t care very much at all. The Florence population and surrounding territories that the Siuslaw News covers is maybe 10,000 folks. I can only surmise that less than 10 percent of the surrounding area cares about climate change. Is that a fair assumption? Here is a statistic that might give us all pause when we think about climate change and the causes and effects. The Earth’s continents move about .6 inches per year. Cali- fornia moves about 2 inches per year. After say 100 years then, Ore- gon has moved 60 inches to the left. We can’t move right because Idaho is blocking us. So we have to keep moving to the left. Sorry righties, you are doomed. Which brings me to my con- clusion that the sky and the clouds and the sun and the rain stay right where they are while the Earth moves out of their way. Therefore, on the west side of my house (the left), I get more or less rain, more or less sunshine, more or less clouds than the east side (the right). I can turn one way and be right, or I can turn the other and be wrong. Maybe I’ll just stay in the middle and watch. —Dana Rodet Westlake Read the data, let it sink in Scientific research announced last month underscores the May 22 Guest Viewpoint (“Is Flor- ence Essential In The Fight To Curb Climate Change?”). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) posted the highest-ev- er recorded level of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). It is the primary greenhouse gas that heats up the planet, melts gla- ciers and polar ice, and produc- es extreme weather phenomena (www.nationalgeographic.com/ climate-change/how-to-live- with-it/weather.html). On April 3, atmospheric CO2 reached 421 ppm (parts per mil- lion) — the highest in 3.6 mil- lion years, when sea level was 78 feet higher than today and the average temperature 7 de- grees warmer (https://research. noaa.gov/article/ArtMID/587/ ArticleID/2742/Despite- pandemic-shutdowns- carbon-dioxide-and-methane- surged-in-2020). When industrialization began 250 years ago, atmospheric CO2 was 280 ppm, about as high as during the previous 800,000 years. With the addition of the glob- al population explosion from 1 billion in 1800 to 8 billion to- day, CO2 climbed steadily to 315 ppm by 1960, then sharply to over 400 ppm by 2015 and to 415 ppm last year (www.sea level.info/co2.html). The cause of climate disrup- tion is obvious. A NOAA Glob- al Monitoring Lab official puts it bluntly: “Human activity is driving climate change. If we want to mitigate the worst im- pacts, it’s going to take a delib- erate focus on reducing fossils fuels emissions to near zero — and even then we’ll need to look for ways to further remove greenhouse gases from the at- mosphere.” Check out the websites. Read the data, look at the graphs and let them sink in. — Rollin Olson and Madelyne Barnett Florence Thank you for your support The Pregnancy and Parent- ing Center (PPC) would like to thank the Three Rivers Founda- tion for their 2021 grant of $500 and the Western Lane Commu- nity Foundation for their 2021 grant of $1,000, which enables the PPC to provide quality preg- nancy, parenting and life skills education, both in person and online — free of charge — to anyone interested in learning skills that build stronger parents and families in Florence and the surrounding area. We are grateful for your sup- port. —Susan Kirby Executive Director Pregnancy and Parenting Center USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2021 © Siuslaw News Siuslaw News Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax 541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com. Jenna Bartlett Ned Hickson Ron Annis For Advertising: ext. 318 Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Production Supervisor For Classifieds: ext. 320 DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Display classified ads, Friday noon. 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Email letters to: nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com WHERE TO WRITE President Joseph Biden The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 TTY/TDD: 202-456-6213 www.whitehouse.gov 900 Court St. NE - S-417 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1705 Email: Sen.DickAnderson@ oregonlegislature.gov Oregon Gov. Kate Brown State Rep. Boomer Wright (Dist. 9) State Sen. Dick Anderson (Dist. 5) 160 State Capitol 900 Court St. 900 Court St. NE Salem, Ore. 97301-4047 Salem, OR 97301 Message Line: 503-986-1409 503-378-4582 Email: Rep.BoomerWright@ www.oregon.gov/gov oregonlegislature.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 Lane County Dist. 1 Commissioner Jay Bozievich 125 E. Eighth St. Eugene, OR 97401 541-682-4203 Email: Jay.Bozievich@ co.lane.or.us 313 Hart Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753 | 541-465-6750 Florence City Council www.merkley.senate.gov & Mayor Joe Henry Florence City Hall, 250 U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio Highway 101, Florence, 97439 (4th Dist.) 541-997-3437 2134 Rayburn HOB ci.florence.or.us Washington, DC 20515 Email comments to Florence 202-225-6416 City Recorder Kelli Weese at 541-269-2609 | 541-465-6732 kelli.weese@ci.florence.or.us www.defazio.house.gov