OPINION READER’S FORUM
Founded in 1906
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2021
A4
OUR VIEW
Educating people about mandates
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File
A sign outside of Hermiston’s temporary city hall advises
people to wear a mask on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020.
Umatilla County Sheriff
Terry Rowan made probably
the best point lately when it
comes to the ongoing con-
troversy regarding Gov. Kate
Brown’s mask and vaccina-
tion mandates.
Rowan made it clear his
offi ce doesn’t have the statu-
tory authority to enforce any
kind of mandate, but made
the point that the expectation
for the mandates was not to
enforce them, but to educate
people about them.
Rowan is on the right
track in two ways. First, he
seemed unwilling to step into
what is becoming a political
quagmire regarding Gov.
Kate Brown’s recent edicts.
That’s a smart decision.
That’s because the gover-
nor doesn’t seem to have any
intention of backing off her
decisions to create the new
mandates. In due course the
issue will probably end up in
the courts, which will create a
lengthy process with no clear
end in sight.
Secondly, Rowan is right
that law enforcement — if it
is to do anything — should
be a platform for education.
The job of providing infor-
mation to citizens is a crucial
one, especially now that a lot
of the data available is either
bogus or slanted.
We believe the choice to
get vaccinated is an individ-
ual one, a decision between
an individual and their health
care provider.
However, it is a growing
concern that information on
the vaccines is fragmented
and often twisted to fi t an
agenda.
Residents should be
encouraged to gather all of
the information they pos-
sibly can and then discuss
their views with their health
care provider. Then, and only
then, should they make a
judgement about whether
they are comfortable with
the vaccine.
It seems relatively sim-
ple, but an overload of bad
information is clouding what
COLUMN
should be a routine decision
by any resident.
Law enforcement should
be involved in the vaccine
drama only in an educational
way. Let’s face it, there are far
more pressing problems local
police and sheriff ’s deputies
need to address rather than
enforcing a mask mandate.
Of course, the governor has
not ordered any law enforce-
ment agency that we know of
to enforce any kind of man-
date, and that is a good thing.
Providing a way to get
information — unbiased
information — to residents is
a good plan and we hope that
the sheriff follows through on
his words.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Seeking joy and feeling guilt as the world burns
I
n a park early this morning, I had a
thought about the joy I have been
experiencing lately. The
feelings I experienced fol-
lowing this initial thought
started with guilt but then
morphed into something
diff erent.
But fi rst, let me introduce
myself.
Erick
I am Erick Peterson,
Peterson
and I am the new Hermis-
ton Herald editor and senior
reporter. Some of you know me already,
as I have lived in Hermiston for almost
exactly four years. A handful of you may
have only recently met me, as I have been
trying to make new contacts around Herm-
iston, Umatilla, Irrigon, Echo and Stan-
fi eld. I have been making friends.
My life is pretty good right now. (I am
sorry to boast.) I have a loving family,
entertaining hobbies and a new job. What
is more, I seek joy almost constantly.
Troubles beset the world; yet, I try to
fi nd ways to be happy. I read novels, lis-
ten to pop music, dance and try new things.
Ironically, this joy also is a source of guilt.
A single question enters my mind.
Is it right to seek joy while the world
burns? I wonder. We are in the midst of a
pandemic, with people dying every day.
Meanwhile, environmental degradation,
war and injustice continue to rage.
As disaster builds, I know of many peo-
ple who cannot choose joy. Situations
beyond their control limit their options.
Poverty and politics, for example, keep
them from doing much except for suff er-
ing. Their worlds are bleak. There is noth-
ing they can do.
It is privilege that allows me to be
happy — privilege due to nationality, just
to name one example.
And though it is not fair that other peo-
ple suff er while I do not, I am able to hold
off my guilt with a couple of truths.
First, I am a helper. I look for people in
need, and I have given money and other
assistance to them. I also keep unprivi-
leged peoples in mind when I vote, as part
of helping is to hold government account-
able for assisting the needy.
The second thought is this: Joy begets
joy. When I seek joy, I create joy for other
people. For example, I fi nd pleasure in
making dinner for my wife. Sometimes,
she will join me in this activity, and we
are happy together. Joy follows as we eat
together, whether or not our product is
tasty.
When we would share dinners with
groups of friends (in the “long-long-
ago,” pre-pandemic days), our joy would
increase, as would theirs. We would share,
laugh and talk. Often, our talks would lead
to discussions of how we could help one
another in other ways.
Misery, however, is rarely as produc-
tive as joy. When I have ruminated over
troubles in the world, little good has come
of it. Misery leads to more misery. There
have been times when I have been in bed
for days, sad, with nothing to show for it.
Therefore, if I can choose, I will choose to
seek joy.
This will not be the end of my guilt. At
times, this feeling will reappear. When it
does, it will be a reminder of my need to be
a better helper. Perhaps I will need to reach
out to more friends, or maybe I will look
for local charities to which I can volunteer.
Maybe the Agape House needs some help.
It is just a thought.
———
Erick Peterson is the editor and senior
reporter of the Hermiston Herald.
Science and faith are intertwined
Where do you think the laws of sci-
ence and the laws of the natural world
come from? The Big Bang didn’t create
them. The Big Bang couldn’t have hap-
pened without them. So what created
them? Here’s a hint though: Almost every
scientist who explores this question turns
to God. Incidentally, many of the world’s
fi rst scientists, teachers and doctors were
priests, monks and nuns. Most priests
today have a more thorough and well-
rounded education than most doctors.
The religious aren’t meant to just
blindly believe whatever they’re told.
God commands us to learn, discover,
understand and reveal His creation. This
includes the tools with which he brought
it all about. Do you honestly believe
mathematics just happens to be so much
more reliable than any man-made lan-
guage that it’s considered a universal
language? What caused these universal
truths to exist?
True faith cannot exist without ratio-
nality, and true rationality cannot exist
without faith. As is often said on the
EWTN Global Catholic Network, they’re
two wings of the same bird.
Mark Elfering
Hermiston
COLUMN
Collaboration, not litigation, will build a sustainable future
G
ov. Kate Brown,
in a recent op-ed,
made the case
for urgent action to help
salmon and steelhead in
defense of her decision
to have Oregon litigate
over the future of salmon
and hydropower and the
breaching of the four lower
Snake River dams. Her
urgency is admirable, but
she follows a misguided
solution that represents a
major step backward in
the progress the region has
made to date.
It will hurt Oregon’s
communities.
Roughly 1 million Ore-
gonians are served by pub-
lic power utilities, includ-
ing UEC, that get power
from BPA’s hydroelectric
and transmission assets, so
her actions will be deeply
felt.
Oregon’s litigation
threatens to greatly dimin-
Robert
Echenrode
Kurt
Miller
ish the collaborative
goals of the communities
impacted the most, expos-
ing the region to energy
shortfalls and resulting in
possible blackouts. Dams
can support the regional
power grid from black-
outs during periods of
life-threatening tempera-
tures while supporting the
energy transition champi-
oned by many Oregonians.
How can energy tran-
sition and salmon recov-
ery, expected to have huge
implications for the envi-
ronment, economy and
relationships around the
region, be accomplished?
The region must all
work collaboratively, pull-
ing together for a balanced
solution for all stakehold-
ers. We can await techno-
logical advances, public
sentiment and social aware-
ness or by government reg-
ulations and policy. Yet to
have our future driven by
the courts through litiga-
tion on complex issues can
have devastating impacts.
We must fi nd another path
to success.
Oregon’s litigious
path is also misguided in
another way. Oregon, as
co-convenor of the newly
formed Columbia Basin
Collaborative, under-
mines the one existing
forum that could possibly
bring the region together
to help address the plight
of salmon and move all the
region forward. Instead,
with Oregon as a litigant,
trust in the process has
been damaged and confuses
Oregon’s real agenda.
Instead of litigation, we
urge innovation and col-
laboration, the only path
forward Columbia Basin
communities have known
from which we have
built a vibrant but fragile
economy.
The region’s farmers and
food processors rely on a
sustainable supply of water
and stable energy prices —
threatened by Oregon’s lit-
igation. When we say the
lack of either will devastate
this rural economy. it’s not
without precedent. In the
1980s, when energy prices
spiked, crop prices plum-
meted and water pulled
from the basalt aquifers
dried up, farmers faced
going broke. The same
farmers who feed mil-
lions of Oregonians and the
world.
Only innovation and col-
CORRECTIONS
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 34
Andrew Cutler | Publisher • acutler@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2673
Erick Peterson | Editor/Senior Reporter • epeterson@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4536
Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
Tammy Malgesini | Community Editor • community@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4532
Andy Nicolais | Page Designer • anicolais@eomediagroup.com
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Letters Policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for the
Hermiston Herald readers to express themselves on local,
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No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person.
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length and for content.
laboration spared our farm-
ers — rapid development
of precision irrigation tech-
niques saved 25% of water
and energy needs to grow
the same crops, technol-
ogy that Columbia Basin
irrigators now help spread
around the world.
If the dams are removed
through litigation, and roll-
ing blackouts occur and
our farmers no longer have
adequate supplies of water,
it undermines the collabo-
ration we’ve demonstrated
over the years. When we
raise concerns about liti-
gation or ineff ective deci-
sions made in the name of
salmon recovery, we truly
fear for the region’s way
of life.
Gov. Brown, the citi-
zens of the Columbia Basin
welcome your off er to
sit down and share these
proven ways of building a
sustainable future for all.
The same innovation and
collaboration are what we
have to off er Oregon and
the region to work through
the opportunities before
us for a successful energy
transition and salmon
recovery. We just ask: Can
we sit down at the same
table together?
———
Robert Echenrode is
CEO and general man-
ager of Umatilla Electric,
a Hermiston-based coop-
erative serving electric-
ity to 10,700 members in
portions of Morrow, Uma-
tilla, Union and Wallowa
counties.
Kurt Miller is executive
director of Northwest Riv-
erPartners, a not-for-profi t
organization representing
community-owned utilities,
farmers, ports and busi-
nesses that support clean
energy and low-carbon
transportation.
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published.
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