FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 27,2006
Letters to the Editor
(Editor’s note: Enclosed are letters written to the
editor by eighth grade students at lone Community School
during an oceanography unit, Erin H. Heideman, science
teacher, lone Community School.)
To the Editor:
Did you know their has only been one oil spill from
a pipeline? Compared to 1400 since the mid 70’s.
I believe that almost all of the world’s oil should be
transported by pipeline. I think this because pipelines are
safer and if they develop a leak the whole pipeline can be
shut down in seconds, compare this to an oil tanker that
would just keep leaking till the tank the has the oil is
completely emptied its easy to tell which causes greater
harm to the environment
According to think quest an online library there has
only been major oils spills in the U.S. the Exxon Valdez
and one off the coast of San Francisco compared to one a
week in other countries . I know it would cost trillions of
dollars but you can't put a price on life or the environment
and if the environment dies so do we. So please consider
making the oil companies transport oil by pipelines.
Kevin LaRue
To the Editor:
Oil spills are a harmful element to ocean life. Mainly
caused by human error, these happen a lot more often than
they should. A major oil spill, like the Exxon Valdez accident
in 1989. was also caused by human error, and is still being
cleaned up to this day. Rocks are being shifted and new oil
puddles are being discovered.
The cause of oil spills from human mistakes,
however, is not much of a threat compared to illegal
dumping of oil by people used to avoid the expensive cost
of disposing used oil. This disposal is a fair amount cheaper
than the twelve hundred to two million dollar fine that you
get if you are caught.
These oil spills are a extreme killer of animals, from
ocean mammals attempting to get air, or bird cleaning and
are then poisoned.
• I think that more law enforcement should take effect
to catch criminals dumping their synthetic and other wise
non-biodegradable oil from motors, and increase the
minimum fine for dumping oil.
All info rm atio n p rovided by: h ttp ://
www.evostc.state.ak.us/index.html;http://www.itopf.com/
stats.html; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_spill.
Thomas Holland
To the Editor:
We need to stop dumping toxic waste into the
oceans. Let me explain to you why. Toxic waste harms
many plants and animals. Toxic waste is the most harmful
form of pollutant. It gets into seas and oceans by the leaking
of landfills, dumps, and mines. Chemicals and heavy metals
from factories can have a harmful effect on marine life and
humans. Many fishermen believe that the toxic chemicals
in the ocean are killing much of the fish population.
When toxic waste harms an organism, it can and
will quickly be past down the food chain and may end up in
our seafood. According to Thinkquest, an online library,
one of the most harmful chemicals in the ocean and seas is
lead. Lead causes many health problems; it can damage
your brain, kidneys, and your reproductive system. Lead
may also cause birth defects for people. It has also been
shown to cause low IQ scores, slow growth, and hearing
problems to small children.
We need to be stricter on giving out penalties and
civil fines.
Alex Rietmann
To the Editor:
Since the last ice age, 18,000 years ago, sea level
has risen by 120 meters. According to Geological data the
sea has risen .l-.2mm/yr over the last 3000 years. However,
the tide gauge data shows that the average of the sea level
had risen to l-2mm/yr since the 20th century. This is all
because of global warming.
When sea levels rise the surface layer becomes
warmer. This kills organisms such as algae, which some
fish rely on for food causing a break in the food chain.
G lobal w arm ing is the in creased average
temperature of the earth. The increase in global warming
is due to human activity. The main causes of human-induced
warming are due to increased amounts of carbon dioxide
and other green house gasses released by burning fossil
fuels.
If global w arm ing d o e sn ’t slow dow n then
eventually species will starts to disappear. There are many
things at home you can do to help prevent global warming.
Such as, driving smaller vehicles, heating and cooling our
buildings more moderately, and using compact florescent
light bulbs. It also helps to use more energy-efficient
appliances. Such as, class ‘A’ kitchen appliances. This helps
the environment by reducing the release of green house
gasses into the.
I encourage you to save energy, and be more fuel
efficient. Make it part of your everyday life to do the little
things and help slow global warming.
Mary Gates
To the Editor:
Do you like to fish? Well many people do but, there
is a major issue with how much of the fish population is
gone.
According to U niversity of G eo rg ia’s Ocean
Education Department, fishing fleets roam seas, harvesting
large amounts of fish from the ocean. Fishing fleets are
large nets that fishers put down into the water and fish and
other creatures get caught into the net. One fishing fleet,
within four months it can produce 10,000 tons of fish
products, 1,000 tons of fish meal, 10,000,000 cans of fish
and 100 tons of fish oil.
There are many non-food animals like dolphins and
sharks that are killed in fishing nets. There are many different
ideas to regulate fishing harvesting such as larger fishing
nets so that younger fish may have a chance to escape.
Several countries agreed to this idea, but none of them
were willing to spend time or money on this issue. There
are many other ideas, but that is the main one. This is a
serious problem and I hope that people will stop fishing so
much; because once the fish are gone we are faced with a
To the Editor:
Oil spills are one of the main problems we have number of other issues. So please consider this issue the
today harming the environment. Hundreds of animals are next time you go fishing.
Mariah Bradfield
dying and we need to do something about it. So what
exactly is an oil spill? An oil spill is what happens when
people make mistakes or are careless and cause a oil tanker To the Editor:
Imagine you are a goose flying south for the winter
to leak into the ocean. Equipment breaking down can also
and over the ocean arid you decide to take a break and land
cause an oil spill.
Birds die from oil spills; they get oil on their wings in the water for rest and some food. But the water is not
and become poisoned because the bird will try to clean like you remember it is black and murky and all the fish
itself. Other animals can also die from this because they you came to eat are belly up and you are covered in oil and
get hypothermia and already have a really low body can’t fly. According to the United States Environmental
temperature. Oil can also affect the animals liver or lungs. P ro tectio n A gency ( h ttp ://w w w .e p a .g o v /o ilsp ill/
Oil can kill an animal also by blinding it. According to response.htm) there are about 14,000 oil spills reported
Thinkquest, an on-line library, oil spills sometimes are one each year. Sea birds are greatly affected by oil spills because
of the reasons for animals becoming endangered. This their w ings are covered in oil they try to clean themselves
means that a certain type of animal could become in danger by eating the oil which poisons them and eventually kills
of becoming extinct. So if we don’t do something now them. Sea otters are also affected by oil spills because when
your favorite animal might not exists anymore. One thing their bodies are covered in oil the bubbles in their fur are
we can do is have an education plan for individuals covered in oil which causes low body temperature. Killer
whales are affected by oil spills because they ingest the oil
operating oil tankers.
If you have anym ore q u estio n s visit or the oil gets into blowhole which plugs the air ways.
Because we created the problem of oil spills we should
www.Thinkqest.com.
have the responsibility for finding ways to solve the problem
Tanner Rietmann
too.
Jake Trahan
To the Editor:
In today’s world, you've probably seen news
bulletins warning us about global warming. Sure, for the
first few days after you see it you'll start to help the earth
by maybe recycling more, or trying not to use as much
electricity. However, after a while you’ll forget about global
warming all together and go back to your old lifestyle.
That’s where the trouble starts.
When greenhouse gases build up in the atmosphere,
like carbon dioxide and methane, its causes the earth to
heat up. This is how global warming happens. Global
warming affects many things on our planet, but the ocean
is hugely affected. Since the earth is steadily growing
warmer, ice caps and glaciers begin to melt, which causes
the sea level in the ocean to rise. Eventually, cities at low
sea level could be covered with water. Global warming in
the ocean is also causing coral reefs and other species to
start to die, or at least make their habitat harder to live in
by heating the ocean water temperature. According to the
N ational O ceanic and A tm ospheric A dm inistration
(NOAA), carbon dioxide levels have increased a lot since
1950, and are still on the rise. Even if the earth was going
to warm up by itself, human activities have continued
producing greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, so we are
at least partly to blame.
Even if we have partially caused global warming,
there are things we can do to help stop it. We can use less
electricity by not watching as much TV and only turning
on lights when we need them. We can use fluorescent light
bulbs, and improve the insulation in our homes to keep
heating and cooling inside. We can also walk more and
drive less, and start to use wind energy and solar power as
it becomes more available. We can help slow global
warming.
Additionally, the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Control (IPCC) says if we continue like we are,
sea levels could rise dangerously in the next 1000, or 100
years. It could even happen sooner. So think about your
There were two winners in last week’s drawings at the
kids, your grandkids, and even your great-grandkids, would Morrow County Grain Growers in Lexington. Sheryl Thompson
you want them to live in global warming? Even if you just (above) won the giant stocking, and Daniel Looslie (below) was
help out a little every day by using less electricity, or by the lucky winner of the giant NASCAR race car. MCHGG is
recycling, you can prevent global warming.
an authorized NAPA parts store dealer.
Beth Morter
Two winners in MCGG
drawings.
SECOND ANNUAL
NEW YEAR S EYE PARTY
Everyone is Welcome to Attend
this FREE party!
7 p.m. to 12 a.m.
at the Seventh-day
Adventist Church gym
There will be snacks,
non-alcoholic beverages,
games, face painting,
ping pong, board
W ^
games and other
family activities, plus JyT
a Warren Miller ski movie!
Town and Country tickets on sale
Tickets are now on sale for the annual Heppner
Chamber of Commerce Town and Country banquet planned
for Thursday, January 11 at the Heppner Elks Club. Tickets,
at $23 each, will be available at the Bank of Eastern Oregon,
the Heppner Chamber of Commerce office. Murrays' Drug
and Heppner City Hall.
Social hour will begin at 6 p.m., with the prime rib
dinner to follow at 7 p.m.