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
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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