OREGON & NATION
BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2022 A5
Oregon congressional races
tighten, according to forecaster
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Three open congressio-
nal seats in Oregon are less
firmly in Democratic control,
according to a report on Fri-
day, Aug. 5. The day also saw
a GOP legislative candidate
find an innovative ad strategy
and the biggest little political
party in the state issue its can-
didate list.
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald, File
Phillips Reservoir southwest of Baker City was holding about 12% of its capacity on May 15, 2022. The
reservoir’s capacity was at 11% on Aug. 8, 2022.
Do we have enough water in
Oregon? Depends who you ask
dents agree that there is suf-
ficient water while the num-
ber was 47% in the Portland
area and 46% in the rest of
the state.
The online survey con-
sisted of 1,572 Oregon res-
idents ages 18 or over. The
independent and non-par-
tisan organization said this
is a sufficient sample size to
assess Oregonians’ opinions,
generally, and to review find-
ings by multiple subgroups.
The survey was taken July
8-16. The survey’s margin of
error is plus or minus 2.5%.
Survey participants were
also asked their opinions
about water conservation.
“I think it’s time to reframe
the norm, given where our
water levels are and are likely
to be in coming years,” said
Sienna Fitzpatrick, a De-
schutes County resident. “We
can’t continue with business
as usual, or our rivers won’t
be able to recover.”
Survey results show that
Oregonians are almost evenly
split between those who are
willing to pay more in order
to support drought-related
infrastructure improvements
and those who are not (49%
to 40%).
About two-thirds of Dem-
ocrats say they’d be willing to
pay more (65%) compared
to about one-third of Repub-
licans (35%). Independents
fell somewhere in between
at 42%.
Across Oregon, there isn’t
a strong feeling that the agri-
cultural community is doing
enough to conserve water.
Just 37% of Oregonians agree
that decisive action is being
taken while 34% said they
don’t know.
But some of those sur-
BY MICHAEL KOHN
Oregon Capital Bureau
Ask a few Oregonians if
their state has enough water
to meet its needs and you
may get some varying an-
swers. The differing views
on the question may be
tilted based on where people
live, or even their gender.
Roughly half of all Ore-
gonians (48%) agree there
is enough water in Oregon
to meet current needs while
37% disagree with this and
15% are unsure, accord-
ing to a survey conducted
by the Oregon Values and
Beliefs Center, a Port-
land-based non-profit orga-
nization.
This number has shifted
over the past 12 months —
a year ago 56% of Orego-
nians said their state had
enough water to meet cur-
rent needs.
The survey reveals there
is a gender divide when it
comes to who thinks there is
enough water — 56% of fe-
male Oregonians believe we
have enough water while just
42% of their male counter-
parts agreed with them.
Younger people tended
to agree with the statement
more than older people —
54% of those 18 to 29 agreed
that Oregon has enough wa-
ter for its needs, while just
39% of those in the 45 to 54
age category agreed.
There was also a split of
opinion down party lines —
just 40% of Democrats agree
that there is enough water to
meet the needs of the state
while 62% of Republicans
agreed with the statement.
Attitudes were based on
where people live, too — 54%
of Willamette Valley resi-
veyed, especially those from
Central Oregon, complained
that housing and infrastruc-
ture growth are causing water
shortages and farming com-
munities are paying the price.
“They keep building
homes and approving mega
resorts and golf courses when
farmers can’t grow food. It is
ridiculous,” said Deschutes
County resident Susan Mat-
ney.
Elizabeth Kirby, another
Deschutes County resident,
agreed. “Small farmers are
really hurting in my area of
Oregon to maintain needed
water supplies while a huge
amount of water goes to un-
necessary places, for exam-
ple golf courses and resorts,”
Kirby said.
Thirty-six percent of
Oregonians think there is
enough water to meet future
needs while 46% disagree. A
year ago, Oregonians were
more evenly split on this
question, with 42% saying
Oregon has enough water
while 45% said there’s not
enough water. This question
also revealed a gender split
— this year 45% of men said
there is enough water to meet
future needs while just 28%
agreed with the statement.
The survey also revealed
a political divide over
whether or not the gen-
eral public is doing enough
to conserve water during
droughts. The research
showed that 41% of Re-
publicans said the public is
doing enough to conserve
water while just 21% of
Democrats agreed with the
statement. In total (men and
women), only 28% agree that
the general public is doing
enough while 56% disagreed.
Top forecaster says
Oregon U.S. House races
tightening
The Cook Political Report,
a top national election fore-
caster, on Friday reported that
it was now rating three open
congressional seats in Oregon
as less of a lock for Democrats
in November. The races are
key to which party will control
the U.S. House of Representa-
tives after the Nov. 8 election.
Democrats currently hold a
220-210 majority, with five
vacancies. The party of a new
president has lost seats in the
first midterm after their elec-
tion in the past 100 years, with
the exception of 1934 (amid
the Great Depression) and
2002 (after the 9/11 terrorist
attacks).
The softening of the out-
look for Democratic wins in
Congress is part of a nation-
wide trend that The Cook Po-
litical Report, as well as other
top political forecasters such
as FiveThirtyEight and the
Center for Politics at the Uni-
versity of Virginia, say reflects
voter dissatisfaction with Pres-
ident Joe Biden and Congress
for their handling of a record
increase in inflation. Oregon
Democrats say the forecasts
do not take into account the
deeply conservative GOP
candidates who won the pri-
maries, particularly following
the U.S. Supreme Court rul-
ing overturning Roe v. Wade
abortion rights. The GOP
candidates, Democrats say,
will not appeal to swing voters
in a traditionally Democrat-
ic-tilting state.
The Cook Report on Friday
moved:
• The 4th Congressional
District rating from “likely
Democratic” to “leans Dem-
ocratic.” The retirement of
longtime U.S. Rep. Peter De-
Fazio, D-Springfield created
an open seat in the district,
which includes Eugene, Cor-
vallis and Roseburg. Labor
Commissioner Val Hoyle
dropped her re-election cam-
paign to run for Congress in-
stead. She was endorsed by
DeFazio and won the Demo-
cratic primary. She now faces
Alek Skarlatos of Roseburg,
who has been the recipient of
national GOP financial aid
after giving DeFazio the clos-
est race of his career in 2020.
Though the new political
maps were drawn to make the
district easier for a Democrat
to win, national GOP groups
have continued to heavily fi-
nance Skarlatos’ second bid.
• The 6th Congressional
District moved from “likely
Democratic” to “leans Dem-
ocratic.” Oregon was awarded
a sixth congressional district
for 2022 due to its population
growth. The district, with no
incumbent, was placed in the
Salem area. Rep. Andrea Sali-
nas of Lake Oswego won the
Democratic primary and faces
Republican Mike Erickson. In
order to create the 6th district,
the 5th district was pushed
east and realigned to run from
Portland, over the Cascades,
to Bend.
• The 5th Congressional
District had already been
moved from “leans Demo-
cratic” to “toss-up” following
the May 17 primary defeat
of incumbent U.S. Rep. Kurt
Schrader, D-Canby, by Ter-
rebonne attorney Jamie Mc-
Leod-Skinner.
During redistricting, major-
ity Democrats in the Legisla-
ture drew political maps that
were opposed by Republicans.
Kyle Kondik of the University
of Virginia Center for Poli-
tics was among independent
analysts who said the maps
were drawn in a way to en-
sure that Democrats would
likely win five of the six seats,
including the new 6th district
around Salem. Two districts
— the 1st Congressional Dis-
trict in northwestern Oregon
held by U.S. Rep. Suzanne
Bonamici, D-Beaverton, and
the 3rd Congressional District
centered on Portland held by
U.S. Rep Earl Blumenauer,
D-Portland — are considered
overwhelmingly Democratic
seats. The 2nd Congressional
District seat of U.S. Rep. Cliff
Bentz, R-Ontario, is prohibi-
tively Republican. It takes in
nearly all of Eastern, Central
and Southwestern Oregon.
Legislative candidate
spends big for fair
sponsorship
Bend Republican Michael
Sipe took an unusual cam-
paign advertising step in his
bid for House District 53.
Along with the usual digital
ads on Facebook and televi-
sion commercial buys, Sipe
paid $25,000 to be one of the
“title sponsors” of the De-
schutes County Fair and Ro-
deo last weekend.
Sipe is seeking to win the
seat currently held by Rep.
Jack Zika, R-Redmond. Ma-
jor population growth and an
influx of Democratic voters
have shrunken and changed
the demographics of the dis-
trict. It has gone from favoring
Republicans to a slight Dem-
ocratic tilt, according to maps
filed with the Oregon Legisla-
ture last fall. Zika opted not to
run for re-election. Sipe will
face Bend attorney Emerson
Levy, the Democratic nomi-
nee, in November. Levy ran
a strong race against Zika in
2020 before the district was
shorn of Republican enclaves
such as Sunriver.
Candidates crossing over
The Secretary of State has
reported that 10 candidates
for the Legislature have qual-
ified as write-ins for the No-
vember general election. The
largest number are officehold-
ers or candidates of one party
who received enough write-in
votes to also be listed with an-
other party. Rep. Bobby Levy,
R-Echo, can also be listed as
a Democrat on the ballot.
Same for Rep. Mark Owens,
R-Crane, Rep. Greg Smith,
R-Heppner, and Rep. Christine
Goodwin, R-Canyonville. Flip-
ping the political cross-pollina-
tion the other way is Sen. Floyd
Prozanski, D-Eugene, who
qualified to also receive the Re-
publican line under his name.
IPO election line-up
is in place
Oregon’s largest mi-
nor party has rolled out its
list of 51 nominees for the
2022 election. The Indepen-
dent Party of Oregon, which
counts 137,790 registered vot-
ers, mostly cross-nominated
Democrats, including U.S.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon.
Republican Sen. Bill Ken-
nemer and a few other excep-
tions made the list.
“We cross-nominated two
other Republicans, Mark Ow-
ens in House District 60, who
is unopposed in any case, and
John Velez in Senate District
13,” said Andrew Kaza, an
IPO board member from Sis-
ters.
Owens’ district is the larg-
est by area in the state, taking
up most of the southeast-
ern quarter of Oregon and
stretching from the Idaho bor-
der to southeastern Deschutes
County. Alistair Firmin, a Re-
publican running in House
District 38, was also added to
the IPO nominee list.
Not so fast: California’s last nuke plant might run longer
BY MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — An ag-
gressive push toward renew-
able energy has run headlong
into anxiety over keeping the
lights on in California, where
the largest utility is consid-
ering whether to try to ex-
tend the lifespan of the state’s
last operating nuclear power
plant.
California is the birthplace
of the modern environmental
movement that for decades
has had a fraught relationship
with nuclear power, which
doesn’t produce carbon pollu-
tion like fossil fuels but leaves
behind waste that can remain
dangerously radioactive for
centuries.
Now environmentalists find
themselves at odds with some-
one they usually see as an ally:
Democratic Gov. Gavin New-
som, a green energy advo-
cate who supported the 2016
agreement calling for the Di-
ablo Canyon Nuclear Power
Plant to close by 2025 but now
is a leading voice to consider a
longer operating run.
Newsom often is mentioned
as a possible presidential can-
didate and an attorney for a
consumer advocacy group
that routinely challenges plant
operator Pacific Gas & Elec-
tric in rate cases believes “na-
tional political ambitions” are
at play.
The push to keep Diablo
Canyon running “is clearly
coming from the governor’s
office,” said Matthew Freed-
man of The Utility Reform
Network. Newsom “is mind-
ful that problems with electric
system reliability can become
a political liability and he is
determined to take all possible
actions to avoid any possibility
that the lights go out in Cali-
fornia.”
Newsom certainly wants
to avoid a repeat of August
2020, when a record heat wave
caused a surge in power use
for air conditioning that over-
taxed the electrical grid. There
were two consecutive nights
of rolling blackouts affect-
ing hundreds of thousands of
residential and business cus-
tomers.
In a statement, Newsom
communications director
Erin Mellon didn’t address the
question of politics but said
the governor is focused on
maintaining reliable energy
for households and businesses
while accelerating state efforts
to meet his aggressive goals
for reducing carbon pollution.
He continues to support shut-
tering Diablo Canyon “in the
long term.”
The debate over the plant
comes as the long-struggling
nuclear industry sees climate
change as a reason for opti-
mism. President Joe Biden has
embraced nuclear power gen-
eration as part of his strategy
to halve greenhouse gas emis-
sions by 2030, compared to
2005 levels.
Nuclear power provides
roughly one-fifth of the elec-
tricity in the country, though
generation produced by the in-
dustry has dropped since 2010.
Saving a plant in green ener-
gy-friendly California would
carry symbolic weight but the
window to make an abrupt
turnaround appears narrow.
PG&E CEO Patricia “Patti”
Poppe told investors in a call
last month that state legisla-
tion would have to be enacted
by September to open the way
for PG&E to reverse course.
She said the utility faced “a
real sense of urgency” because
other steps would be required
to keep the plant running,
including ordering more re-
actor fuel and storage casks
for housing spent fuel that re-
mains highly radioactive.
Extending the plant’s op-
erating life “is not an easy
option,” Poppe said. “The
permitting and relicensing of
the facility is complex and so
there’s a lot of hurdles to be
overcome.”
The plant on the coast
midway between Los Angeles
and San Francisco produces
9% of the electricity for Cali-
fornia’s nearly 40 million res-
idents. The state earlier set
aside up to $75 million to ex-
tend operation of older power
plants scheduled to close, but
it’s not yet clear whether tax-
payers might be covering part
of the bill — and, if so, how
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much — to keep Diablo run-
ning.
The Newsom adminis-
tration has been pushing to
expand clean energy, as the
state aims to cut emissions
by 40% below 1990 levels
by 2030. California installed
more clean energy capacity in
2021 than in any other year in
state history, administration
officials say, but they warn re-
liability remains in question
as temperatures rise amid cli-
mate change.
For Diablo Canyon, the is-
sue is whether the Newsom
administration, in concert
with investor-owned PG&E,
can find a way to unspool the
2016 closure agreement agreed
to by environmentalists, plant
worker unions and the utility.
The decision to close the plant
also was endorsed by Califor-
nia utility regulators, the Leg-
islature and then-Democratic
With summer
here, there is
lots of traveling.
Be safe &
have fun!
Baker
County
Veterans
Baker
County
Baker
County
Service Office office
will be
Veteran’s
Veterans
closed
from
has
moved!
Service Office
December 20, 2021
2200
4th closed
Street
will through
be
Baker City, Oregon
May
12th-20th,
2022
97814
December
27, 2021
Gov. Jerry Brown.
Plant workers now support
keeping the reactors open for
an extended run while an-
ti-nuclear activists and envi-
ronmentalists have rejoined a
battle they thought was settled
six years ago.
“It only makes sense keep-
ing Diablo open,” said Marc
D. Joseph, an attorney for the
Coalition of California Utility
Employees, which represents
plant workers. “There is no
one involved who wants to see
carbon emissions in Califor-
nia go up.”
Critics question if it’s feasi-
ble — or even legal — for the
utility to break the agreement.
“I don’t know how to un-
wind it, and I don’t think it
should be unwound,” said
Ralph Cavanagh of the Natu-
ral Resources Defense Coun-
cil, one of the groups that ne-
gotiated and signed the pact.
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