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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2012)
The INDEPENDENT, January 18, 2012 January is National Radon Action Month – home test kits available You can’t see it, smell it or taste it, but radon could be in your home at dangerous levels. The Oregon Radon Program is working with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a nationwide campaign to educate people about the dangers of radon. January is National Radon Ac- tion Month. “It’s estimated that radon causes over 20,000 lung can- cer deaths per year in the U.S. The only way to know if your home has high radon levels is to test,” said Brett Sherry, radon coordinator for Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division. Radon is a naturally occur- ring gas that comes up from the ground. It can get drawn into our homes, where it can build up to unsafe levels. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking, and the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. If you find that your home has high radon levels, it can be fixed. Qualified radon mitiga- tion professionals can effec- tively reduce radon levels in homes. In 2010, the Oregon Legisla- ture passed new legislation on radon. These laws created building codes that address radon in new residential struc- tures and public buildings in Baker, Clackamas, Hood River, Multnomah, Polk, Washington and Yamhill counties. The laws also require radon information to be made available to new home buyers by the Oregon Real Estate Agency. Testing homes for radon is simple and inexpensive. Radon test kits can be purchased at local hardware and home im- provement stores or online. Many test kits cost between $10 and $25. The American Lung Association in Oregon (ALAO) offers test kits for $14, which includes the cost of ship- ping, handling and analysis. You can find a link to ALAO on the Oregon Public Health’s radon website at www.health oregon.org/radon. For more information about radon, radon testing and miti- gation, radon-resistant new construction, or to order a test kit online please call the Ore- gon Radon Program at 971- 673-0440 or visit Oregon Pub- lic Health’s radon website at www.healthoregon.org/radon or EPA’s website at www.epa. gov/radon/nram. Power of the People By W. Marc Farmer, General Manager, West Oregon Electric Cooperative Wholesale Power Costs There are many pieces that make up the whole- sale power costs we re- ceive from Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). I will address two of them in this article, as I think it is important for you to be informed about what you are being asked to fund in your power rates. Let’s take a look at the Cost of Energy Con- servation Programs. Energy conservation pro- gram costs are contributing to wholesale rate in- creases. Why? Because the conservation pro- gram rebates that are currently available through the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) are funded from electrical rates that we pay. This year alone, BPA will charge West Ore- gon EC over $168,607 to fund the BPA conser- vation rebate payments; regionally the amount is over $110 million. The U.S. government, including the BPA, rou- tinely uses tax breaks and rebates as a means to encourage certain desired activity. To pro- mote energy conservation, the BPA has raised the cost of its wholesale power sold to utilities such as WOEC, to fund rebates for end use electrical consumers who qualify for BPA con- servation programs. Although well-intended, BPA conservation programs often focus on larg- er end users such as warehouses, processing or larger commercial/industrial ventures. BPA conservation rebate programs that offer mean- ingful savings for the residential consumer are not readily available. As such residential con- sumers end up paying higher rates to provide the rebates Solve It volunteers sought for Earth Day SOLVE is excited to an- nounce that it is currently ac- cepting applications from vol- unteer leaders for project sup- port on our annual Earth Day event, SOLVE IT presented by Portland General Electric. SOLVE IT events will take place across the state on Sat- urday, April 21, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.; teachers are en- couraged to involve their stu- dents in service-learning activi- ties any time between April 14 and April 28. The deadline for applications is Monday, Janu- ary 31. This is your opportunity to become a SOLVE project leader and to apply for assis- tance for your local volunteer project as part of Earth Day. SOLVE provides free project planning assistance and train- ing, event flyers and pre-event publicity, online volunteer reg- istration, and cleanup project supplies. SOLVE also has a limited number of small grants of up to $100 for reimburse- ment of qualifying project ex- penses. SOLVE IT provides volun- teer opportunities to take care of our parks, waterways and neighborhoods by picking up trash, pulling invasive weeds, planting trees and other water- shed enhancement activities. Last year, SOLVE IT projects took place at over 200 sites across Oregon and involved 7,500 volunteers of all ages. “SOLVE IT offers a great op- Page 13 portunity to make a positive im- pact on the places we love,” said Rachael Pecore, SOLVE Program Coordinator. Visit www.solv.orgto apply online (SOLVE IT Application) or call SOLVE for a hard copy form at 503-844-9571 or 1-800- 333-SOLV (toll-free in Oregon). SOLVE’s mission is to bring Oregonians together to im- prove the environment and build a legacy of stewardship. Did you notice the E? We are unveiling a new logo that more accurately reflects the work of the organization – the active participation of volunteers choosing to SOLVE. We hope you like the new look as much as we do! that are often enjoyed by only larger end use consumers. We hope effective conservation programs will save energy, which in turn will extend the ability of existing generation to meet growing electrical demands and delay expenditures needed to construct new generation. In theory, this will save all of us money in the long term. In the interim we will all be paying more for electricity to secure the future benefits associat- ed with conservation savings. Hopefully these savings will delay the cost of building new gen- eration while making the northwest more energy efficient. The other larger ticket item is the ongoing costs of fish and wildlife funding. While we sup- port the saving of our fish and wildlife, the costs for these programs far exceed the science be- hind them and are costing our members such that one third of our members’ wholesale power costs go to support just this program. That’s one third of your power costs each month. I had a member tell me that the only fish he cared about was whether or not he could afford a can of tuna to feed his family. Some of the programs are worthwhile and ob- taining some good results. Others are, simply put, a complete waste of money. One, as an ex- ample, was to spend over $4 million for BPA to purchase wildlife areas near Eugene. I’m not sure what that has to do with water from the Co- lumbia River to produce power or the fish that live in the river. While we don’t have any influence as one small Co-op, collectively our voices can. Our Co-op and our members need to communicate to BPA, our Federal and State Legislators that fi- nancial wisdom and prudence need to be used to make choices and decisions that affect all of us and our ability to afford to keep our homes warm and the lights on.