Sustainability

Eastern Oregon ranchers, my wife and I want to send you some healing thoughts: You don't need to suffer from your fear of wolves. Really. Breathe in...breathe out. Embrace reality. You're safe. There's no wolf at the door. Little Red Riding Hood is a fairy tale. Unfortunately, so far the ranchers and other wolf-phobic Oregonians haven't gotten the therapy that they need. House Bill 4158 is evidence. Introduced in this month's mini-legislative session, it "allows killing of wolves to address depredation of livestock." I guess the sponsors of the bill, which was introduced at the request of the Oregon Cattlemen's…

Wow. This 2012 short session of the Oregon legislature is even more screwed-up than sessions usually are. And that's saying a lot, giving the dysfunction evident in normal legislative deliberations. This is the first even-year session, as Oregon has done away with the archaic practice of having the legislature meet every two years. A lot needs to be accomplished in 35 days, but some (translation: mostly Republicans) are doing their best to focus on pet dream bills rather than on pressing immediate priorities. Case in point: HB 4095, which Republicans have introduced before in different guises. It's an attempt to…

"There are two Oregon's," said Rep. Wayne Krieger (R-Gold Beach). "The Willamette Valley and everywhere else." [Update: Glancing at the notes I took at the meeting before the paper went into recyling, I see that I jotted down "Rep. Esquivel" next to the two Oregon's mention. So, probably was him. But I'm sure Krieger endorses that notion.] Waiting to testify on House Bill 4095 at a Judiciary Committee hearing this morning, I thought, What is he talking about? Two Oregon's? That notion is untrue and divisive. Unfortunately, it's also an assumption that underlies a lot of bad legislative proposals, mostly initiated…

What are global warming deniers going to do, now that every country in the world has agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions? OK, more accurately every nation has agreed to work on a future agreement that would commit them to binding greenhouse gas reductions. But that's still a heck of a lot better than doing nothing, a reason to smile about the Durban climate change conference. And it leaves those deniers without any place to lay their anti-science heads. One hundred and ninety-four countries signed on to the Durban agreement. That, Wikipedia tells me, is the entire roster of member…

I hereby take back my praise of Jon Huntsman. No longer is he the only sane Republican presidential candidate. Huntsman now has joined the ranks of anti-science climate change deniers in his quixotic quest to replace Barack Obama. Jon Huntsman, who slammed Rick Perry over the summer for not trusting scientists on climate change, has now developed his own doubts....Huntsman said he still supports the idea of a scientific consensus but is not yet endorsing the conclusion that climate change is happening and caused by human activity. That leaves a grand total of zero moderate GOP presidential candidates, which must make…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services is a horribly misnamed agency. It doesn't provide services for wildlife, it kills them. Needlessly. Expensively. Wastefully. And not just wildlife: family pets also. Recently the McCurtain family in Gresham, Oregon suffered the heartrending loss of their dog, Maggie. Wildlife Services killed Maggie. Probably illegally (the family is suing Wildlife Services). Definitely incompetently. Predator Defense tells the sorry tale. Imagine a federal wildlife agency setting deadly "instant-kill" traps within 45 feet of your suburban back yard where your children play. Imagine that one of those government-set traps kills your beloved dog and no…

It drives me nuts when Americans chant (whether in so many words, or not) "We're number 1! We're number 1!" No, we're not. The United States lags northern European nations economically, having a higher Misery Index. We've got a greater proportion of our citizens in prison than any other nation, leading China in absolute numbers even though China has four times as many people. Our health care non-system is the unenvy of the world, costing much more and being less effective than that of other countries. And we're also near the bottom of scientific literacy among industrialized nations. The proudly…

Yesterday I was happy when Oregon Wild reported that the Oregon Court of Appeals had reaffirmed a ban on killing two wolves in our state.  Download Wolf article  This above-linked info about the continued stay on any wolf-killing by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) whetted my appetite for learning more about why the Court of Appeals slapped the wrist of ODFW and the Oregon Cattlemen's Assocation (OCA). I wasn't surprised that Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, and Oregon Wild won in court. I've been following this issue for quite a while, blogging recently about the absurdity of…

Rational arguments and solid science only go so far when it comes to pointing out the ridiculousness of global warming deniers. For true mockery, it takes an Australian band, "Men With Day Jobs." (Reportedly the jobs are Insecurity Guard, Impersonal Trainer, and Communications Impediment.)  I learned about their Denial Tango on the Climate Progress blog. It's well worth a look/listen. My favorite lyric:  I'm in denial.Deep denial.And as the waters rise about meI'll just hold my breath and say"It isn't so."   On a more serious note, there's good news on the global warming front. President Obama has put the…

Which Oregon state legislators have been naughty or nice to the environment? The just-released 2011 Environmental Scorecard produced by the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV) makes it easy to tell. Download OLCV 2011 Scorecard I checked out the Republican legislators who, unfortunately, my wife and I are saddled with here in our right-leaning area of Marion County. Ugh! State Senator Brian Boquist got the absolutely lowest OLCV Senate score when it came to voting in support of our Earth's one and only environment: 44%. Amazingly, in the 2011 session he scored even lower than Larry George. On the state representative…