Letters to the Editor: February 9, 2018

Not the dogs’ fault

Yes, pets should not be allowed to roam for many reasons, not the least of which is for their own safety.

The two dogs that were shot did not deserve to be killed. They may have been a nuisance and may have done bad things, but they were just being animals.
If it is true that the neighborhood was upset that these dogs were running free, where was the neighborly spirit of helping the owners keep their pets at home? The bottom line is that killing those dogs was wrong.

Trisha Johnston

McMinnville

Lives depend on it

When considering the Clean Energy Jobs Bill, which will be put to our Oregon legislators for the fourth time this session, quality of life in Oregon should trump politics.

Clean air, pure water, nourishing food and adequate shelter are necessary for life and self-actualization. These are all found in this beautiful and biodiverse home we call Oregon.

But fires in the Gorge, longer and hotter summers in the Willamette Valley and acidification of our coastal waters are shaking us to the core. We are realizing we can no longer take the status quo for granted.

My paternal great-grandparents were part of the wave of immigrants who braved the Oregon Trail to settle here.

Four of my grandfather’s siblings died from typhus their first year here. A great, great-uncle drowned when a raft carrying a herd of cattle capsized in the untamed rapids of the Columbia River.

In spite of the great personal cost, my pioneering family hung on. Its members learned how to thrive by working and cooperating with the abundance of the natural world around them.

One of my favorite pictures is of my farmer grandparents — all dressed up with their nine children, looking healthy and prosperous — taken during the Depression. Going where no one has gone before is never without risk or personal cost.

The home we call Oregon is worth restoring and preserving at any cost. Our lives depend on it.

As a son of the pioneers, I give my full support to the Clean Energy Jobs Bill.

Elwyn Behnke

McMinnville

Caring about planet

How do we show we care about our planet? How to we show we are serious about making the lives of our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren more livable?

As Oregonians, one way is to make sure the Clean Energy Jobs Bill gets passed during our Legislature’s short session this year.

This legislation has been well studied and reviewed each of the last three years. It is ready to go.

It is what the name implies — a bill that will help us do our part to limit the amount of carbon put into the air, help create jobs and help communities deal with the challenges of climate change.

There are several solid pluses:

First, the study our Legislature required showed it would generate as much as $700 million each year. That money would be distributed around our state, supporting investments in conservation and renewable energy development in the communities most affected by climate change.

Second, it is a fee, not a tax — an important distinction. Individuals would not pay this fee. The big energy companies, and other entities that emit lots of climate-changing pollution, would pay it in order to continue production.

Third, it would cap the amount of pollution we, as Oregonians, are willing to accept each year. And that amount would decrease each year.

The Oregon Legislature has been looking carefully at this bill since 2015. It’s just what Oregon’s short legislative session is designed for — wrapping things up that are ready to be put into action.

Call your legislators and tell them the environment is vitally important to you.

Susan Dehm

McMinnville

Follow Trump’s lead

The State of the Union address by President Donald Trump made reference to the increasing economy occurring because of the lowering of taxes.

It seems this state would, likewise, experience increasing economy by so doing, instead of calling for and passing a new tax — one that is creating a double welfare system, furthering the deficit.

Mary Novak

Yamhill