Letters and comments for May 4, 2011

Support La Grande levy

To the Editor:

As a La Grande community member, I encourage the registered voters of La Grande to support La Grande School District’s option levy being presented in the May election.

Oregon’s education system has suffered from reduced funding over the past two decades, resulting in a shortage of student contact days and funding of basic programs.

It has become evident that school districts must seek support from their own communities to continue to provide an excellent education system for our students.

Please join me in supporting the children of our future by passing La Grande School District’s bond levy.

Mike Sowder

Cove (within La Grande School District)

Watch out for ducks

To the Editor:

I am writing in hopes that people will be careful when driving on the highway near Hot Lake as ducks and geese cross the roadways with their little ones. I have seen people go out of their way to hit them for the fun of it. I know some can’t avoid it, but the ones who can, please do so.

I know I’m not the only person who enjoys seeing the baby ducks and other living things out there.

Robin Morin

Union

Sand in our face

To the Editor:

The recent article published on the Sustainable Business Oregon website, “BPA pulls back on plan to shut off wind,” credits Sen. Merkley and Rep. Blumenauer with helping to require BPA to absorb expensive windpower electricity before utilizing the much less costly hydro- generated power.

BPA will have to pass this cost on to the electric utilities like OTEC and end up increasing the cost to individual Oregon consumers. Since a large share of the wind power generated in Oregon is contracted to California, Idaho and Washington, we will not only be subsidizing the wind energy business with our federal and state tax dollars through federal subsidies, state grants, accelerated depreciation tax breaks and the state strategic investment program that provides tax avoidance, we can add our monthly payments to our electric utilities as benefits to the foreign wind power companies and as our personal subsidies to electric consumers in the above mentioned states.

The additional “sand kicked in our faces” is that the wind power projects that contract the purchase of their electricity with non-Oregon utilities does not “count” toward our state goal of 25 percent renewable energy by 2025, or whatever our “goal” really is. The other hidden costs in our goal of investing in wind power is the necessity of having backup generating power (natural gas, coal, nuclear or hydroelectric) on line, at full cost, ready to supply electricity the instant the wind should stop blowing.

Find the article at http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2011/04/bpa-pulls-back-on-plan-to-shut-off-wind.html.

Jed Farmer

Union

Letters From Readers

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