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Grace E's comments:
on The Beauty of Bridges
That was lovely!
posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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on The Beauty of Bridges
Here in Eugene we don't have so many car bridges crossing the Willamette, but we do have a lot of bike/ped bridges. They also cross the freeways and are beautifully designed.
I wish we had a couple more small car bridges crossing the Willamette that were gorgeous, but for some reason I guess they aren't built small anymore.
I love that Portland is building a mass transit, bike/ped bridge. It will add to the nice family of bridges there. I have tried to come up with a Mnemonic phrase to remember them by. Anyone have a good one that's in correct order?
posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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on Live from Haines: Ranching Roundtable
I would like to see a map of large ranches in Oregon that are owned by non-Oregonians. Often 10,000-100,000 acre timberlands/ranchlands are purchased for retreat purposes, and the owners fly in, do not live in the area and bring nothing to the local communities.
They pay very low taxes and the local county governments do not have the wherewithall or money to stop them when they shut down local roadways because of some technicality or abuse neighboring ranchers and farmers by filing quiet title claims on their properties.
This is common throughout eastern Oregon. No wonder the White Supremists are considering eastern Oregon when they look for a new location.
Our laws in Oregon need to change so that these large corporations aren't able to come in and do these kinds of things. They have no local stake in our communities and just wreak havok on communities and can be very bad neighbors.
posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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on Local Library
In our library in Eugene, I often use the databases that the library subscribes to, which I could not afford to do independantly, such as Ancestry.com, heritage, consumer reports and multiple other newspapers and magazines. Some of these are available at home with my library number, but some have to be accessed on site at the library. They are invaluable!
Plus, reference librarians are extremely knowledgable and can help you problem solve all sorts of issue. Knowledge is power, and information is expanding all the time. It's good to have a way to access it efficiently, instead of just googling everything and expecting that to turn up comprehensive and reliable results.
I would be very depressed if our library closed. I'm out of the city, so our household pays $100 per year in order for this great service.
posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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on Turf Wars
Whether or not people choose lawns or vegetable gardens in their front yards, the real issue is maintenance. Weeds will take over in either case if folks don't either give their grass the right nutrients to make it competitive, or weed the garden regularly to prevent weeds.
I say it is personal preference.
We have a large garden with lots of fruit trees and raised beds in the back yard, and a traditional grassy yard in the front. I mow with an electric mower, and water infrequently in the summer months. Not many inputs, really, but I have noticed a lot of dandelions this season.........and lots of off-types, but I'm tolerant...don't want to douse it with 2-4D or anything.
If you have the energy and motivation to plant vegetables in the front yard, and the ability to deal with all the produce when it's ripe, canning, drying, whatever......go for it!
Just don't let it go to weeds, please. Natural and healthy does not mean weedy.
posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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on The Switch: Biomass
I agree that catastrophic fires are a concern, but is burning the slash the only way to reduce this danger? My concern is that a biomass burner is running constantly, and therefore is constantly emitting pollution. This is a real concern in an area like densely-populated Eugene where we get inversions regularly in the winter. And we are downwind by only 2 miles from the proposed plant.
Couldn't the slash and by-products be turned into wood pellets? They are $5 a bag now, that seems profitable. Pellet stoves are 80-90% efficient, I believe.
posted 3 years, 11 months ago
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on The Switch: Biomass
Mr. Frere states that it is a very clean technology, but is 75% efficiency really that efficient?
The Oregon Toxic Alliance has published this about the Seneca facility in Lane County:
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As proposed, the power plant would be the 2nd largest emitter of NOx and CO in Eugene, the 4th largest emitter of NOx in Lane County, and the 7th largest emitter of CO in the County.
- The power plant would be Eugene’s single largest emitter of styrene (a carcinogen), acetaldehyde (a carcinogen), hydrogen chloride (causes respiratory illnesses), and napthalene (a carcinogen). Furthermore, all of the existing sources of those toxics are located in one neighborhood - West Eugene.
- At 1.7 tons, the proposed plant will be Eugene’s 3rd largest emitter of formaldehyde (a carcinogen). All 9 existing sources are located in West Eugene.
- At 1.4 tons, Seneca will be the 4th largest emitter of toluene (a carcinogen). 19 of the 21 existing Eugene’s toluene sources are in West Eugene.
- A natural gas power plant of the same capacity would have significantly less emissions (Appendix A).
posted 3 years, 11 months ago
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on The Switch: Biomass
In Eugene, the newest proposed Seneca Cogeneration Biomass Plant is planned to run 24-7 and create enough electricity to power something like 11-13,000 households.
Our concern here at the lower end of the valley, is that we will be getting a constant supply of new pollution in our often air-inverted area. We are already non-attainment for EPA's particle matter 10, and near non-attainment for 2.5, which is the size that damages lungs.
With field burning, slash burning, uncontrolled wood stove smoke, vehicle and other industrial pollution already affected our air quality, many of us believe there should be some serious mitigation required before this project is permitted.
Another potential concern is long-term dependency on biomass for electricity. We already have clean hydroelectric and maybe we should stop shipping that to Montana and California.
Will the biomass folks be able to jack the price up? Will the higher value of the energy and the lower value of timber (due to the economy) mean that more than by-products will be burned? Will the National Forests be appropriated for energy? How big will the logs really be?
There are many concerns surrounding biomass burning that need to be addressed, not the least of which is the pollution created by them.
posted 3 years, 11 months ago
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on Forest Values
With the value of timber very low and the cost of energy going up, I think we need to be on our guard against the movement toward burning forest fuel as biomass to create energy.
Biomass electricity generation plants are supposedly considered "sustaninable", but they are very polluting and can open up the gates to real forest destruction and justification for burning more than just by-products or slash.
Let's save our old growth, log smaller trees for wood products and not burn at all. Our forests are Oregon's main attraction to visitors, so let's take advantage of that tourism, plus protect our own quality of life.
posted 3 years, 11 months ago
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on Cows v. Elk v. Wild Horses
Please address the very large elk ranching concerns in the John Day basin. These animals are fed year round, people pay to hunt them, and the meat is sold commercially I understand.
This must be changing the impact that elk have, since the populations are not naturally controlled.
posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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on Limiting Fertility?
Our daughter considered donating eggs when she was in college, in order to make money ($2500). She needed to get background information from us concerning medical/genetic information and at that point, fortunately, we talked her out of it.
Someone that age doesn't really think of the consequences years later. Maybe she would become infertile, and know that she has a biological child out there somewhere. Maybe her biological child would meet another of her children and date each other, not knowing. Maybe her parents (us), would prefer to know their biological grandchild.
It's all about biology, isn't it? How would you like to know that you were carrying one of Diane Downs embryos???
I think we need to focus on the reasons that fertility rates are going down and fix those, not obsess about everyone's "right" to bear a child, no matter what the reasons or consequences may be.
posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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on Rebroadcast: Teen Parents
For many people, parenting is a wonderful life experience and a natural way to progress through life, much like other vocations, so if you look at it like it's your job, then it can be very positive.
I have many friends who have put their careers ahead of their children or opted out of parenthood completely, because of societal pressures. Now, in their 40's and 50's they are regretful.
It is never convenient to have a child or be a parent. But life isn't about convenience.
posted 4 years, 5 months ago
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on HIV Testing and Informed Consent
Also, when we give blood at the blood bank, isn't it automatically checked for HIV? I would certainly hope so.
posted 5 years, 1 month ago
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