An editorial in The Oregonian today is written in much the same style that, at least until recently, The World all too often employed. The piece is filled with empty declarative statements and almost entirely devoid of supporting argument or useful information. The paper tosses out assumptions like Wyden’s “slow, let’s-get-this-right approach underscores an acceptance, finally, that Jordan Cove could be good for Oregon’s South Coast and, perhaps, of minimal risk to the nation’s energy security” and that “the time seems right for this $7.5 billion project to move decisively forward.” It’s almost like the authors were too busy to actually consider how a project like this would affect a rural county almost five hours south.
Even the title, “After 10 years of trying, Jordan Cove LNG should the get the OK“, seems to imply that time alone is a solid enough reason to approve the project. How about an OP-ED entitled “We have been fighting it for 10 years, Jordan Cove LNG should just go away.”
The editorial fails to demonstrate to the reader how the conclusion was reached and probably the best line that sums up how poorly written and reasoned this entire piece is is a quote from David Koch of the Port of Coos Bay. “This community has been kicked in the teeth. I grew up in Portland, and folks have no idea of how bad it is.” Yes, well, that was very informative… thanks so much.
Perhaps, if I have the time, I will submit an opposing viewpoint but mostly the next time The Oregonian wants to discuss Coos County it might be better if they just don’t.
It’s a fact of human life that the further away people are from a problem, the less they care about it. Back in 1990 the World conducted a poll to see how Coos county residents liked the Port’s plan to build a big stinking pulp mill on the North Spit. (Another scam, but that’s not the point). Anyway, while a majority of CB/NB residents didn’t like the idea, people in places like Myrtle Point and Powers said they didn’t mind. Still, those folks didn’t make up for the overwhelmingly negative response in the Bay Area. Oddly enough, the World article which showed a majority opposed was headlined: “Pulp Mill Poll: Close!” But that kind of massaging of the news has been typical of The World for decades.
It does make you wonder how the Oregonian would have editorialized if the LNG plant near Astoria looked like it might be built.
Money talks. The project needs to lay some ground cover in the North. Kitzhaber needs the spin doctors to earn their keep and protect his ass up there like they’ve been doing here. The “elected” democrats have been on-board with this project from the beginning, now that its crunch time for this project the PR campaign to convince the state’s masses that this is the right direction for Oregon has been put in overdrive. The key to making this work for them is to get people to ignore all its negatives. The answer to that is for them to get the press to never mention those negatives. A simple strategy, that they think is working and it would be if there weren’t sites like this one to help people understand that we can choose a different path.
Remember who is letting this happen. The democrats. They want you to think they are looking out for the masses and its the republicans who would do this sort of profit scheme over public safety. They own this. Vote green party to send them a message they can understand. If you vote for ANY democrat you are asking for more of the same.
The Portland based person masquerading as “Boost Southwest Oregon” wins this one. It would be interesting to compare Oregonian articles and editorials of years ago when they did not support LNG in their back yard – either location. I long ago tossed my copies. Perhaps Jody has hers in the jillions of notebooks that she and the saint maintain.