Cheers: To a proposed ban on offshore drilling. The U.S. House of Representatives approved a ban on oil drilling off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts in a response to Trump administration plans to increase offshore drilling. “Washington residents do not believe that drilling off our coast is in our best economic interest, or in the best interest of our coastal ecosystem,” Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, said after voting in favor of the bill.
Now comes the difficult part. The Republican-controlled Senate is unlikely to take up the measure, continuing a trend of ignoring legislation approved by the Democratic-controlled House. Drilling off the shore of Washington would endanger the state’s robust maritime economy and would present environmental hazards. Congress is wise to try to block the administration’s misguided plans.
Jeers: To Eileen Quiring. In a small misstep, the Clark County Council chair sent a text message to two council members, recommending that Karen Bowerman be considered for the county planning commission. That might or might not have risked violating the state Open Public Meetings Act if an electronic conversation had ensued. Again, it is a small misstep.
The matter is complicated, however, by the fact that Bowerman’s husband, Earl, is chair of the Clark County Republican Party, and Quiring has indicated that she will seek election as the party’s vice chair. In the text, Quiring wrote, “She has an excellent resume, and I think that an addition of a woman on the planning commission is a good thing.” That might be true, but it would be best to keep discussions of public matters open to the public. Quiring told The Columbian: “I guess I made an error by doing it. I won’t do it again.”
Cheers: To Amy Campbell. The special education teacher at Helen Baller Elementary in the Camas district has been selected as the 2020 Washington State Teacher of the Year. Campbell will be considered for the National Teacher of the Year and will, along with eight other regional honorees throughout the state, receive additional professional development.
“I believe in the power of inclusion for all learners and the importance of serving students with a mentality of not yours, not mine, but ours,” said Campbell, who has spent 12 years working with students with disabilities.
Sad: To the loss of a bear. State officials killed a young black bear in La Center. The male, about 125 pounds, reportedly was hanging around town and eating garbage at a gas station. Officers from the Department of Fish and Wildlife responded and tried to herd the animal away from the neighborhood, then attempted to sedate him. But when he started heading toward a park where people were gathered, they shot and killed him.
In such situations, we defer to the experts. Officials have a better understanding of bear behavior than we do, and it is easy to see how an animal that is unafraid of humans could become a danger. But it’s too bad the situation did not have a happier ending with the bear scampering into the woods.
Cheers: To small victories. Workers at Hanford Nuclear Reservation have removed the last of highly radioactive sludge stored in underwater containers near the Columbia River. That represents only a small portion of the cleanup efforts at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear waste site, but it is progress.
Hanford sits near the Columbia about 200 miles upstream from Vancouver. For decades, federal officials have been slow in fulfilling their duty to clean up the site, despite numerous court rulings and an agreement with the state of Washington. Now they can get busy on the rest of it.
