A few weeks ago, I set
out with a small group to lobby Oregon’s Republican Sen.
Gordon Smith. The visit was set up by the national Wildlife
Federation, and our goal — a long shot — was to convince the
senator to sign on as a co-sponsor of the Lieberman-Warner bill to
control greenhouse-gas emissions in the United States.”
We hoped to convince him that this bipartisan bill is our
best chance to reduce pollution to the levels necessary to avoid
catastrophic effects on our planet. If enacted, the law would
reduce pollutants 70 percent by the 2050. It targets not just power
plants but all major pollution emitters, and the bill’s lever
is “cap and trade,” meaning the government will set a
cap on the tons of pollution each company can release into the
environment. Companies that exceed their limits will have to
purchase credits from companies that have reduced their pollution
below allowed levels.”
Sitting in Sen.
Smith’s comfortable office, one by one we told him why we
cared. Buzz Ramsey, a legend in Northwest fishing circles,
explained that glacial melting on Mount Hood has released hundreds
of thousands of tons of sediment into the Sandy River, filling 25
foot-deep holes to within six feet of the surface. When spring
chinook arrive from the ocean in the spring, they spend months
resting and waiting in deep holes for fall, when they spawn. But if
the deep holes are gone, gone too is the chinooks’ ability to
escape from summer heat. Increased water temperatures lead to
diseases and death, and the few that survive to spawn may lose all
their eggs to the suffocating sediment. “
Jack
Glass, a fishing guide in the Portland area, gave up an $800 day
with clients to tell why he feels so strongly about the
Lieberman-Warner bill. Jack’s 24-year-old son is also a
guide, and Jack worries about his son’s future in the
business. He put a face on the people likely to be economic victims
of global warming.
Liz Hamilton, the executive director
of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, reminded the
senator of the courage he’d shown in previous contentious
issues. More than once, he has taken unpopular stances against the
Republican Party. She asked him to do so again, explaining this
bill is something we all need. Liz is a tough, savvy operator, and
it was obvious he valued her opinion.
I was there as a
hunter. Historically, we hunters have been a Republican choir, but
we are reading more, learning more, and becoming more and more
aware of the threats facing the habitats on which hunting depends.
We recognize the peril facing our future in the outdoors. I told
the senator that many hunters no longer blindly follow the voting
guidance of the National Rifle Association, which bases its
political stands on adherence to the Second Amendment. We have
watched the NRA recommend election of environmentally bankrupt
politicians just because they supported the right to bear arms;
then we saw those same politicians attempt to sell our public lands
to the highest bidder. Now, we’re not just going to
“vote our sport.” We’re going to vote our
consciences and our environment, too.”
I said
hunters are looking for people with vision who can see beyond
temporary economic impacts to a world where our grandchildren can
thrive and where the outdoors is still great. We’re looking
for someone who will stand up for the Lieberman-Warner Bill.
“We’re hoping you are one of those people,” I
concluded. “
The senator smiled and said the best
he could promise was to vote for cloture, meaning he would vote to
place a time limit on the length of time senators who oppose the
bill can filibuster. Sen. Smith’s smile was bright and his
manner friendly. But it was clear to us that he would not
co-sponsor the bill and would probably not even vote for it. All he
would do is vote against letting it die by filibuster. The members
of some 700 hunting, fishing and sporting groups who care about
wildlife and the West are still looking for people to lead us.
Pat Wray is a contributor to Writers on the
Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org).
A former Marine helicopter pilot in Corvallis, Oregon, he
is a freelance writer who loves to hunt.
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