Sustainability

Spring has finally sprung here in Oregon. It's warm and sunny. Which reminded me -- after a wintry focus on health care reform -- that Congress now has to get serious about passing climate change legislation. To fire up my enthusiasm for saving humankind from catastrophe, this morning I reached into the on deck section of my bookcase for a book that I bought last year but hadn't started to read yet.Love it! I'm already four chapters into Greg Craven's "What's the Worst That Could Happen?" (short answer: a freaking lot) Craven is a high school teacher at Central High…

Yesterday a guy phoned me who said he was a Wall Street Journal reporter. We talked about Oregon's land use policies for a while. Then he called again and read me a quote that he wanted to use in his story.It must not have been an April Fool's joke, because today I searched Google News for "Brian Hines" and found this on the Wall Street Journal web site: Oregon Pear Growers Sour on Land Law. Download Wall Street Journal storyThe reporter, Joel Millman, didn't say what his story was about. He told me that he'd come across my testimony on…

Ah, it's so satisfying to be proven correct. Especially when it's global warming deniers who are being proven wrong. Back in November I said, based on obvious evidence, that the hacked emails from a climate research center at the University of East Anglia would prove to be a big bunch of nothing.Indeed, an independent examination of the emails showed no fraudulent actions by the researchers. Since global warming is real, this is to be expected. What reason would there be for a researcher to make up fake facts when there are so many true ones?Now, another nail in the coffin…

In some ways my wife and I are good examples of how to reduce transportation-related greenhouse gas pollution: we own two hybrid cars, and I ride a 45 mpg scooter as often as possible.But we also live in a rural area about six miles from the Salem city limits. So we do a lot of driving back and forth to town. More driving means more greenhouse gas emissions.Yesterday Laurel and I attended a 1000 Friends of Oregon lunch meeting where this environmental organization's 2010 legislative agenda was discussed. I learned about a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Task Force established in 2009…

If you're offended by a southeastern Oregon coyote derby that offers a prize for bringing in the most sets of ears, you've got good reasons to be.  Coyotes are pack-oriented wild dogs who are part of the balance of nature. They control rodents, which are a nuisance. My wife and I wish there were more coyotes in our neighborhood.Killing coyotes doesn't reduce their numbers; it increases them. When coyotes are killed, more coyotes breed and have larger litters. Coyotes also fill vacated habitat from surrounding areas.Yet Jamie and Angel Roscoe are promoting their coyote derby in Klamath, Lake, Harney, and…

It was a win-win night at the Crag Law Center "Wild Shots" benefit auction in Portland. With the purchase of only one -- count 'em, one -- raffle ticket (albeit for $25), I scored a beautiful Mark Gamba photograph. And Crag ended up raising quite a bit of money.Along with other professional photographers, and one amateur, Gamba had donated artwork for an oral auction. The grand prize of the raffle was being able to walk away with any photograph before the auction started. Here's Laurel guarding the photo I chose. Until benefit volunteers packaged it up, I didn't want to…

I'm thrilled that the state legislature has passed HB 3298, which will stop destination resorts from ruining the mostly unspoiled Metolius River basin in central Oregon -- which my wife and I visit regularly.But it's disturbing that misinformation about the basin being designated an Area of Critical State Concern keeps being thrown out by the Portland Oregonian, Bend Bulletin, and other news sources (both in editorials and supposedly unbiased stories).So I want to get some facts straight.(1) HB 3298 isn't a end run around the state's land use system. Instead, it makes use of the Area of Critical State Concern…

This is a great day for Oregon. The state House of Representatives just changed course and voted 31-28 to approve HB 3298, which prevents destination resorts from being built in the Metolius River Basin.Thanks to the courageous legislators who had the guts to vote "yes" rather than "no" after hearing from so many concerned constituents -- like me. Here's the full Oregonian story:Reversal: House passes Metolius protections billby Michelle Cole, The OregonianMonday June 22, 2009, 10:21 AMSALEM -- In a stunning reversal from last week, the Oregon House on Monday passed a bill declaring the Metolius River basin a Critical…

I don't cry easily. But this morning I teared up while reading a moving piece by the son of Tom McCall, who was a Republican governor of Oregon from 1967 to 1975.Tom W. L. McCall Jr. writes about his father's love for the Metolius River basin, which currently is threatened by destination resorts that would be allowed in this wild and scenic area by a Jefferson County rezoning. If you aren't familiar with this astoundingly beautiful area of central Oregon, which my wife and I visit frequently, here's some photos that I took recently. Look, and you'll fall in love…

I will confess to criticizing a Portland right-wing talk show host, Victoria Taft, without listening to much of what she said.All I needed to hear via my car radio channel surfing were words along the lines of, "The Earth is cooling this decade; so much for global warming."No, Victoria, you're wrong. I realize that facts don't mean much to conservative talk radio, but it's still irresponsible to spout such erroneous B.S.Check out: "Very warm 2008 makes this the hottest decade in recorded history so far."I recall Victoria Taft blabbing on about how 2008 was the coolest year in ages, so…

I registered as a Democrat to be able to vote for Obama in the 2008 presidential primary. Now it looks like I'll be joining the non-affiliated ranks again.Because I'm super-ticked off at the Oregon Democratic Party after five Dems, including the House Speaker (Dave Hunt) voted against saving the Metolius Basin from destination resorts.Hence, as Blue Oregon reported via a live blog, HB 3298 failed by one vote.What's the point of working hard to get Democrats elected, plus donating a bunch of money to the party, when they cave on one of the most important bills of the 2009 legislative…

A thumbs-up and a thumbs-down on the land use front this blogging day...On the positive side, we just got the Spring 2009 "View from the Summit" Crag Law Center newsletter. Our neighborhood has gotten terrific legal support from Ralph Bloemers and other Crag staff in our fight against a Measure 37 subdivision that threatened to dry up wells and a community lake in this groundwater limited area.Ralph and fellow attorney Courtney Johnson wrote an excellent piece, "Learning Lessons from Oregon's Experiment with Measure 37." It focuses on how Measure 49, which restored much-needed fairness and balance to the state's land…

Oregon's largest newspaper, the Oregonian, is dead-set on defending large destination resorts that threaten the fragile -- and drop-dead beautiful -- Metolius River basin.Today's editorial outrage is "A Process of Critical Concern." It repeats a previous erroneous contention by the editorial board that current governmental and legislative efforts to protect the basin are end-runs around the state's land use planning system.But for those who believe the state has an effective and respected system for sifting environmental, recreational, economic, agricultural, housing and other needs, the process that was engineered to protect the Metolius was far less beautiful than the river. The…