EOZ planning should happen in reverse
To the Editor:
There is a map on the wall of some board room somewhere. It’s a master plan for energy development in Klickitat County. The fate of our county is on that map. Shouldn’t the fate of the county rest in our hands instead?
They started putting those big wind towers up in the east end of the county. Out of sight and mind for most of us. But when they came closer, maybe you started feeling a little restless. After all, the Energy Overlay Zone (EOZ) covers more than two thirds of the county and comes right up to the boundaries of Goldendale. They didn’t do that for nothing, did they?
I wish big impact projects like wind power happened in reverse. In the planning stage, the board room map would be made public with simulated pictures of what you would be seeing everyday if wind power is completely developed out. Imagine those big towers snugged right up to your property, or maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll just dominate your skyline. You know, I think if it happened like that the people would just say no in one resounding voice and that would be it. I guess that’s why it doesn’t happen like that.
You have until March 1 to comment to the Planning Commission on changes to the Energy Overlay Zone. Changes like dropping public notices. Call the Planning Office, 773-5703, and get a small free EOZ packet mailed to you. Let them know what you think. You might even tell them it’s time to drop the EOZ all together.
Dave Thies
White Salmon
More should be asked of us
To the Editor:
My attention was caught the other day by an article in Newsweek titled “Ask More of Us, Mr. President.” Although generally supportive of Obama and appreciative of the crushing problems he inherited, the author remarks: “It does not surprise me that we asked too much of him in his first year. What does surprise me is that Obama did not ask enough of us.”
As a child of the ’30s and early ’40s, I remember well how we responded to the crises we faced in those days—first the Great Depression, and then WWII. At the behest of our president, we made sacrifices—big sacrifices. We did without and tightened our belts; we bought war bonds and paid big taxes. There was a broad agreement that we had to give a lot of ourselves if we were going to get through it all.
That is the resolve we seem to have lost. As the author of the article, Louisa Thomas, observes, “Like most politicians, (Obama) appears to assume that the public is incapable or unwilling to take on challenges that real reform demands.” Of course, those who have lost their jobs, their retirement savings and their homes, have made real sacrifices. But sacrifices willingly made to the benefit of our community or nation is different from even the life tragedies we suffer from unwillingly. We consent to the former for the common good; the latter we feel impoverished by because they happen without our consent.
Our country faces immense problems on practically every front. It is unrealistic to think that we can solve them without leaders who ask a lot more of us—holding higher taxes. When it comes to responsible citizenship, “there’s no free lunch,” and we shouldn’t pretend there is.
David Duncombe
White Salmon |
