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I also agree with jmahoney53. Church and state are supposed to be separate in this nation, and the fact that they are becoming more intertwined makes me extremely nervous. Faith is the antithesis of reason, and has no place in politics. People can and should practice their religion/faith as they please in their private lives, but it should never be an issue that deserves such attention in national politics. I want to hear candidates talk about REAL issues - like healthcare and the economy - NOT religion.

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
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A paper that was just published in last week's issue of Science, ("Emergence of Anoxia in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem") found that the hypoxic/anoxic events documented off our coast since the year 2000 are unprecedented in our scientific record. This is just one recent study which indicates that all may not be as well with our ocean as some say.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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The fact remains - both Washington and California have established marine reserves, and Oregon has not. In order for our state to be in line with the West Coast Governor's Agreement on Ocean Health (which states in part that the Governors of Washington, Oregon and California recognize that our ocean resources are currently at risk and plan to take actions to address the declining health of our shared ocean), Oregon should make a good faith effort to protect a piece of its rich marine heritage now rather than waiting for any sort of crisis or serious degradation to develop and then be in a position of trying to restore things. Now is the time for us to be responsible, proactive stewards of our marine resources.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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Many of us have insurance policies for our homes, our cars, and our health. Some of us also have savings accounts. All of these are means of being proactive and planning ahead for a future that inevitably holds uncertainty. Some of us have these policies and savings because we've learned the hard way from past overuse of credit, and we now understand the wisdom of putting something aside to save. As a species we have also demonstrated our ability to overuse our natural resources, including our marine resources. On land we have set aside national parks and wilderness areas as places for wildlife to be protected and restored. It is time that we do this now for our marine environment as well. Worldwide, less than one percent of the ocean is protected. While some of our neighboring states have taken action to set aside and protect some of their marine habitats, Oregon is the only state on our nation's west coast that has not protected any of its state ocean waters in marine reserves. While our marine resources in Oregon may not be in dire straits, they are suffering - as is evident by depleted fish species and large die-offs of seabirds and other species off the West Coast in recent years. It is time for us to take the responsible step of establishing a network of integrated marine protected areas and reserves geared toward protecting depleted species and important ecological areas so that we can work to plan for a sustainable future.

posted 5 years, 3 months ago
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