A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Oregon’s
carbon plan
is hot air
O
regon was a national
pioneer on land-use
planning. It led the way
with the Bottle Bill. Its protection
of public beach access is
legendary.
In each case, Oregonians
benefited from the state’s
landmark legislation. That’s not
the case with the carbon tax-and-
invest proposal being shaped
by a committee of Oregon
legislators.
The greenhouse gases emitted
by Oregon truckers, commuters,
utilities, manufacturers and other
entities are so small that they are
barely measurable on a global
scale. Neighboring California has
a huge impact, not Oregon.
Oregon officials might win
environmental plaudits for
taking action, but the actual
atmosphere would hardly notice.
In fact, there’s a distinct chance
Oregon could worsen the global
situation.
Cap-and-invest is a market-
based system in which U.S.
states or Canadian provinces
place caps on the amount of
allowable carbon emissions. To
exceed those caps, companies
can buy allowances from the
government. The allowances
can be sold or traded on
the open market, with the
government investing the income
in environmentally friendly
projects.
California, Quebec and
Ontario are the North American
leaders. Key Democratic
legislators in Oregon want to join
them.
The catch is that Oregon’s
environmental initiatives
already are stronger than those
in many states and nations. The
world, not just Oregon, loses
if companies leave the state
for less restrictive locales. Or
if Oregon companies switch to
buying products manufactured
— and shipped — under lighter
regulations. Transportation is a
huge contributor to greenhouse
gases.
California now is the world’s
fifth-largest economy, larger
than the United Kingdom’s. That
reality creates the incentive for
many California corporations to
invest in carbon reduction there.
In contrast, Oregon’s economy
ranks in the middle of the pack
among U.S. states — about the
size of Egypt’s and smaller than
Pakistan’s, Bangladesh’s or
Finland’s.
The Legislature’s Joint Interim
Committee on Carbon Reduction
must prioritize how cap-and-
invest, or any other scheme,
would alter the state’s economy
as well as its environment.
“What we’re proposing here
is a big and serious program, and
I think it’s legitimate to expect
people to be concerned about the
effects on the economy,” said
Sen. Michael Dembrow, a chief
architect of Oregon’s cap-and-
invest proposal, at a committee
meeting this summer.
Such concerns ride especially
high in rural Oregon, reflecting
both the Democrat-Republican
and urban-rural splits on the
committee.
“I can’t go to cap-and-trade
yet,” Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stayton,
said at the same meeting. “If you
listen to the testimony today, it
sure seems like we’re going to
make rural Oregon pay the cost
of all this, and I don’t see urban
Oregon stepping up to the plate,
and that really bothers me.”
Sen. Alan DeBoer, R-Ashland,
has a more modest approach
— a carbon-pollution tax, with
related projects to improve forest
health and reduce the destructive,
carbon-emitting wildfires around
the state.
“Cap-and-invest is contentious
for many reasons, but a broader
discussion about sunsetting
a carbon tax may be a better
way to solving one of the most
quarrelsome arguments in
Salem,” he said in a constituent
letter last month.
Gov. Kate Brown and other
key Democrats are eager for the
committee to act.
But there should be no rush.
Do what is best for Oregon — all
of Oregon.
F ARMER ’ S F ATE
I fought the lawn ...
and the weeds won
By Brianna Walker
For the Blue Mountain Eagle
I stood back and looked at the
pretty burgundy flower pots sitting
on my deck — filled and overflow-
ing with nearly-dead flowers.
How is it that I always seem to
choose the plants without the will
to live? While the mornings were
still chilly and frosty, I planted
my greenhouse full of watermel-
on plants, garden plants and some
flowers for color. The plants grew,
the frost took a summer sabbatical
and we all got ready for the hot sea-
son.
My husband is happy to help
with the garden — as long as he
can do it from the seat of a tractor.
Which meant that he rototilled, and
my boys helped me transplant all
the trays of plants — or, as the local
rodent population refers to it, the
all-you-can-eat buffet.
We planted cucumbers, toma-
toes, herbs and all manner of pep-
per plants. We grew morning glory,
kochia, squash and puncture vine.
Have you ever noticed how squash
and puncture vines never fail to
reach maturity? You can spray them
with acid, beat them with shovels,
even burn them under a propane
torch — and yet they seem to love
every minute of it!
Gardening requires a lot of
water — most of it in the form of
perspiration — which may be why
mine looks like a lovely patch of
goat heads with small, almost in-
discernible, rows of produce. But,
while Seeds + Water + Sun + Dirt =
Weeds in the garden, I was pleased
with my flower pots
full of lovely annu-
als and perennials
my kids and I plant-
ed around the house
— at least initially.
Then they too be-
Brianna
gan to show their
Walker
true colors — and
I don’t mean with
beautiful blossoms.
“What’s the difference between
an annual and a perennial?” my son
asked.
“Well, an annual dies every year.
And a perennial? They die as soon
as they leave the greenhouse.”
As the summer wore on, the tem-
peratures rose, my flowers drooped
— and the weeds thrived.
I’ve read that plants react to
people’s voices, and that soothing
words make them grow better and
healthier. Don’t believe it. I pulled
weeds. I yelled at the weeds. I called
the weeds mean names and hit them
on the head. I scolded them in my
most gruff voice — and they mul-
tiplied as fast as the rabbits eating
my garden.
When it comes to weeding,
some people have advised the best
way to make sure you are remov-
ing a weed and not a valuable plant
is to pull on it. If it comes out of
the ground easily, it was a valuable
plant.
While there is definitely truth to
that, I think that a better way to tell
is to pull them both up — whatev-
er grows back is the weed. But be
warned: Give the weeds an inch,
and they’ll quickly take your yard!
Rock gardens might be a better
choice for my green thumb. Then
again, the person who owned our
property before us must not have
had good luck with them either. I
think the rocks must have all died,
because he sure buried an awful lot
of them!
I recently was talking with one
of my dad’s high school classmates.
She currently lives in Arizona and
was back in Oregon for their re-
union. She was telling us about the
beautiful blue pots that sit on her
deck. “It’s Arizona — plants get
‘dehydrated’ so quickly that it’s best
to buy beautiful pots and plant them
with fake flowers!”
Dehydration! That’s it! I didn’t
have “dead” plants in the pots on
my deck — they were only dehy-
drated. All they need is a little IV
(imitation vegetation), and they’ll
look as good as real... er, I mean
new!
I imagined my flower pots filled
with beautiful fake flowers. I’m
afraid, though, that fake plants
would probably die too because I’d
forget to pretend to water them.
As I look around the lovely
patch of kochia, goat heads and
rows of dehydrated flowers that we
affectionately call home, I decided
the only thing I grow well in my
garden is tired.
Weeds, dehydration and fake
flowers — if only people concen-
trated on the really important things
in life, there’d be a shortage of life
jackets and an overstock of shovels,
pots and silk flowers.
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
‘Reconsider and
rewrite the plan’
W HERE TO W RITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201 S.
Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City 97820.
Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon
City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509. Fax: 541-
575-0515. Email: tocc1862@centurylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville 97825.
Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-987-2187.
Email:dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John Day,
97845. Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax: 541-575-
1721. Email: cityjd@centurytel.net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long Creek
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax: 541-421-
3075. Email: info@cityoflongcreek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monument
97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-2025. Email:
cityofmonument@centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt. Vernon
97865. Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax: 541-932-
4222. Email: cmtv@ortelco.net.
• Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie City
97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax: 820-
3566. Email: pchall@ortelco.net.
• Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca 97873.
Phone and fax: 541-542-2161. Email: sene-
caoregon@gmail.com.
To the Editor:
This is concerning the draft
record of decision and summary
of the revised land management
plans for the Malheur, Umatilla
and Wallowa-Whitman national
forests. Portions of these plans
should be re-written to more fair-
ly consider access to what are our
public lands.
According to the Forest Ser-
vice manual, page 25, “Man-
agement by the people” national
forests are made for and owned
by the people. They should also
be managed by the people. The
officers are paid by the people
to act as their agents (agent: one
who acts for or in the place of
another by authority from him)
to see that all the resources of the
forest are used in the best interest
of everyone concerned. There must
be hearty cooperation from every-
one; it is the users themselves who
can be of chief assistance in doing
away with bad methods.
Alternative E-modified (the
preferred alternative) of the sum-
mary states on page 16, “This
alternative differs from the alter-
native A by moving away from
road densities in general forest to
focus instead on elk security and
on roads resulting in the greatest
impacts to fish and aquatic eco-
systems on the landscape… Hy-
drologically disconnecting the
roadbed from the stream system.”
Moving away from road den-
sities and disconnecting of road-
beds translates to road closures
and/or access removal.
The Forest Service failed
to directly coordinate with the
counties on this plan. The agency
is required by section 202 (c) (9)
of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act to coordinate
with local governments. They
need to do this. Reconsider and
rewrite the plan.
Mike Christensen
John Day
L
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