Western Oregon Journal

Issue date: 2/8/08 Section: Headlines

On Thursday, Jan. 31, more than 1700 sites around the country held the first "Focus the Nation" conference. The event was a national teach-in meant to educate faculty, staff and especially students from different universities about climate change.

The University of Portland held the conference where over 3,000 people were able to watch nine students from different Oregon universities ask elected officials about how Oregon is planning to combat climate change. The elected officials that participated in the panel were Governor Ted Kulongoski, State Representative Jackie Dingfelder of Portland State Senator Ben Westland of Bend. U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer was present via webcam from D.C.

The questions were straightforward and regarded Oregon's future with sustainable energy. Kulongoski explained his plan for a cap and trade system, which will set a limit on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other mass polluters. Blumenauer, said that Congress is in the process of creating legislation to thwart global warming.

One of the more interesting parts of the night came when Jesse Hough, a student from the University of Oregon, asked Kulongoski about the option of Oregon using liquefied natural gas. The Governor responded by saying that, "LNG is an option on the table."

Kulongoski's response led to some boos and yelling by a small portion of the audience concerned of a reliance on LNG.

Proponents of Natural Gas argue that it is the most environmentally friendly fossil fuel because less carbon is burned, there is less sulfur and nitrogen and it emits less ash. However, opponents maintain that the process of liquefying, gasification and transporting of Natural Gas will add to the amount of greenhouse gas it produces.

Kulongoski has refused to completely support LNG, but on Thursday he reiterated the importance of relying less on fossil fuels in Oregon; "LNG could bridge the gap between the reliance on oil to the reliance on sustainable energy." Kulongoski's goal for Oregon is to have 25 percent of the state's energy come from sustainable energy sources by 2025.

About eleven students from Western were in attendance. Josh Moore, a senior at Western, said the event was "interesting, but I would have liked to have seen a representative from the Republican Party to show more of a coalition with this issue. I did enjoy it though, and it was very informative." •

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools