Be the Spark!

contribute now

GerikDow's comments:

on The Big Look

With 1.7 million more people on the way, these are important questions. And rather than viewing growth as a problem, to be dealt with, I see it as a solution. I hope the Big Look Task Force can as well.

My last trip to the gas station cost me $66! My car gets 30 miles per gallon, and the only way I can avoid this new expense is when I have choices for how I get around. The great thing about land use planning in Oregon is that new growth can be clustered around existing urban areas. The shorter the distance we have to travel from home to work to school or to the grocery store, the more choices we have for getting around.

New growth can be a solution, if it is focused in existing urban areas, on major bus routes, and inside small town centers can help us gain freedom from the high price of gas. When enough people live along a bus route, that route can support frequent service. When our neighborhoods include complete streets, sidewalks, and bike lanes we have some choices for getting around. By concentrating growth near existing infrastructure we make it easier to invest in all types of transportation choices.

Unfortunately there is a flip side to this coin. Rural subdivisions, destination resorts, and remote country estates leave new homeowners with no choice but to drive everywhere while their houses threaten Oregon's prime farm land. Make no mistake that when the Task Force is talking about "lands that are not of statewide importance" they are talking about rural land that will be eligible for housing development. This is a bad idea.

New Oregonians should not be chained to their vehicles in the face of rising gas prices. And new growth should not threaten Oregon's working farms and forests.

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
view in context

on Are You Down With LNG?

Here is an issue that seems to have united the opposing sides of the Measure 49 campaign.

1000 Friends of Oregon and Oregonians in Action both oppose Liquefied Natural Gas in Oregon. (reference: Forest Grove News Times, http://www.fgnewstimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=119567596811253900)

I think we should take a very close look at the impacts on farmers and farm land when gas companies propose hundreds of miles of pipelines across their farms. Pipelines buried under Oregon farms take valuable agricultural land out of production. Considering the contribution that agriculture makes to Oregon's economy, LNG poses a serious risk to our economy and should be stopped.

posted 5 years, 3 months ago
view in context

on The Green Old Party?

As a follow up notation regarding HB 3610: http://www.leg.state.or.us/08ss1/agenda/webagendas.htm

posted 5 years, 3 months ago
view in context

on The Green Old Party?

This strikes me as a great development within the Republican party. Global Warming is THE challenge of our generation and Republicans should be able to lead on the issue, and lead in their own style.

If we have any local environmentally minded Republican leaders they will be supporting a modest global warming proposal in Oregon's 2008 Special Legislative Session. House Bill 3610 would provide a clear and accurate measurement of Oregon?s carbon footprint. It requires C02 reporting from large emitters of greenhouse gases and it requires state officials to report to the Legislature on the measures necessary to meet our greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.

If this is a trend among Republicans that is playing out locally, I imagine we will see broad Republican support for House Bill 3610 as a modest first step towards Global Warming solutions here in Oregon.

posted 5 years, 3 months ago
view in context

Thanks to our Sponsor:
become a sponsor
Web Analytics