News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
A3
Climate change group presents its case
Warmer winters,
hotter summers
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
Adults who joined middle and
high school students in the John
Day Fire Hall to hear a presenta-
tion on climate change Oct. 26 were
asked if they had personal experi-
ences with climate change.
Adele Cerny, a resident of Bear
Valley since 1978, described how
winter temperatures commonly
dipped to 40 below zero and snow
accumulated to four feet. She re-
called telling her students at Sene-
ca School, “OK, it’s warmed up to
zero, you can go out to play.”
“We don’t get that anymore –
maybe a foot of snow and 20 be-
low,” Cerny said.
A woman in the audience said
she’s seen warmer temperatures in
the 45 years she’s lived in Grant
County. Water tanks for livestock
don’t freeze any more, and 100-de-
gree summer days were unheard of
until now, she said.
“I don’t need to use chains on the
highway in winter,” she said.
Eric Means, a computer engineer
from the Beaverton area, said he in-
stalled air conditioning at his home
for the first time this past summer.
He said he was an avid skier and
fisherman, and both activities were
threatened by climate change.
“That was what motivated me to
get involved in preventing climate
change,” he said.
Means joined Brian Ettling to
lead the local presentation. Both are
members of the Citizens’ Climate
Lobby, a nonpartisan nonprofit or-
ganization with thousands of volun-
teers across the United States who
meet with members of Congress
and their staffs, submit letters to of-
ficials and opinion pieces to media
and hold public meetings in an ef-
fort to effect political change.
The goal is to rein in carbon di-
oxide emissions and prevent global
climate change, and their focus is
on reducing consumption of fossil
fuels, such as coal.
Ettling, who has appeared on
the Comedy Central television net-
work, presented a slide show about
impacts to Crater Lake National
Park, where he has worked as a park
ranger. Air and lake water tempera-
tures at the park have increased 5
degrees, and winter snowpack has
fallen from around 500 inches to as
low as 196 inches two years ago, he
said.
Crater Lake is isolated from
other watersheds and dependent on
area snowfall, Ettling said. Western
states obtain 75 percent of their wa-
ter from snowpack, and states that
rely on snowpack produce about 75
percent of the nation’s fresh fruit,
he said.
Across the U.S., spring snow-
pack has declined by 60 percent
since 1950, Ettling said. Declining
snowpack means lower stream-
flows, which creates conflicts be-
tween fishermen, irrigators and oth-
er water users.
The Citizens’ Climate Lobby has
a simple plan to cut back on the use
of fossil fuels – impose a $15 fee on
every ton of carbon dioxide emitted,
with all the collected money going
Operation Christmas Child shoebox
campaign deadline is Nov. 12
to U.S. households as a dividend.
According to Regional Eco-
nomic Models Inc., the group’s
plan could result in a 52 percent
reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas-
es, creating 2.8 million new jobs
in the U.S. economy, and avoiding
230,000 premature deaths.
“This plan will not add to the
federal deficit or increase the size
of government,” Ettling said.
Ettling said the Citizens’ Climate
Lobby would like to see fossil fuel
usage replaced by alternative ener-
gy sources, such as solar and wind,
but the organization has taken a
neutral position on nuclear power.
When asked about “clean coal,” Et-
tling replied, “It doesn’t exist.”
Another political group, Renew
Oregon, proposes a cap and price
plan to reduce fossil fuel usage. En-
tities that emit 25,000 tons or more
of greenhouse gases – equivalent
to burning 133 train cars of coal –
would be required to purchase at
auction a state permit for each ton
of carbon dioxide emitted.
The proposed initial price would
be $16 per ton, but the number of
state permits would shrink each
year, lowering the overall cap and
driving up demand – and therefore
price – for each permit.
Revenue from the permit fees
would be reinvested in clean ener-
gy solutions for communities across
Oregon – such as lowering the cost
of solar panels, helping low-income
households retrofit their homes,
helping farmers pay for advanced
irrigation systems and assisting cit-
ies and towns with transit options.
According to Renew Oregon lit-
erature available at the Oct. 26 pre-
sentation, 10 states have success-
fully used cap and invest programs.
California, for example, is part of
the North American Carbon Mar-
ket, which includes the Canadian
provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
California has cut emissions
while growing its economy, Renew
Oregon states – the state has invest-
ed $3.2 billion in clean energy solu-
tions and cleaner transportation.
For more information on the two
groups and their plans, visit citizen-
sclimatelobby.org or reneworegon.
org.
A UXILIARY PURCHASES T ONO -P EN FOR HOSPITAL
Blue Mountain Eagle
Since 1993, Operation
Christmas Child has deliv-
ered millions of shoeboxes
for desperately needy chil-
dren in hospitals, orphanag-
es, refugee camps, survivors
of natural disasters and other
situations of extreme pover-
ty.
Last year, Grant County
residents donated over 1,000
shoeboxes filled with gifts.
People interested in do-
nating a shoebox filled
with new gifts can pick up
an empty shoebox and an
informational brochure at
any participating church or
at Len’s Drug. Participants
choose a boy or girl and age
category (2-4, 5-9 or 10-14)
and fill the box with new
age-appropriate gifts.
The brochure lists items
such as toys, school sup-
plies, hygiene items and oth-
er applicable items. It also
lists items that should not
be included in the boxes this
year: candy, toothpaste, war
toys, liquids and items that
may melt or break. People
may include $9 inside the
shoe box on top of the gifts
to help cover shipping.
The drop-off deadline
is Sunday, Nov. 12, at the
Samaritan’s Purse/Kim E. Rowland
Operation Christmas Child shoebox distribution with
Mtonda United Methodist Church in Ntcheu, Malawi.
John Day Nazarene Church
and the Prairie City Assem-
bly of God Church. On Nov.
13, from 10 a.m. to noon,
Cornerstone Christian Fel-
lowship at 139 NE Dayton
St. will be receiving all the
shoeboxes in Grant Coun-
ty to be packed in crates
and put on pallets for Oak
Harbor Freight Lines to
pick up and transport to
Bend.
For more information,
call Carla Teague at 503-
899-7543 or 541-820-3682
or Corinne Stennett at 541-
932-4905, or visit samari-
tanspurse.org/occ.
Contributed photo
From left, Blue Mountain Hospital Auxiliary Treasurer Mary Jones and President
Chris Yriarte, present Blue Mountain Hospital CEO Derek Daly with a check for
almost $3,500 on Sept. 12. The funds will be used for the purchase of a Tono-
Pen, which provides a digital readout of eye pressure. Dr. Mitch Brinks, an
opthamologist, will use it in surgery, and doctors will use it in the emergency
room.
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