The ongoing Klamath Basin
water crisis, investments in solar energy and Jordan Cove
LNG pipeline project were among main topics discussed at
Sen. Ron Wyden’s town hall Saturday.
More than 70 people gathered
at the College Union Auditorium at the Oregon Institute of
Technology to ask questions and talk on local policy issues
that most impacted Klamath Falls and Klamath County
residents. Saturday’s town hall marks Wyden’s 879th in the
state.
Others in the audience called
for improved veterans assistance, wildfire prevention, net
neutrality and improved healthcare access. In a follow-up
interview, Wyden said he was pleased with the town hall.
“I was particularly pleased
about the tone of the comments with respect to this
incredible challenge we have,” Wyden said of the water
conflicts.
Some of the first comments
centered around the ongoing Basin water crisis, which Wyden
said was of urgency since this year’s snowpack has been 50
percent smaller.
Wyden said that he wanted to
help ranchers, Klamath Tribe members and others get their
stories out in the open. The senator said that several
members of his senior staff would remain in the Klamath
Basin for the next couple of days to speak with local
stakeholders.
“I think, for a number of
folks in the Basin, this is a survival issue,” Wyden said.
Becky Hyde, a Klamath Basin
rancher, said she especially wanted to see more people stray
away from insults based on partisanship, adding that true
solutions could only be reached if people kept away from
giving each other metaphorical “black eyes.”
“We’re going to try to make
it a ‘black eye free zone,’” Hyde said. “You can’t solve
this if you’re just throwing punches.”
Wyden acknowledged that
keeping others out of the loop was especially damaging when
the water crisis reached one of its worst points in the
Basin back in 2001.
“What we’ve learned is that
you can’t leave parts of the community out of the solution,”
Wyden said.
Wyden also talked about the
development of renewable energy options, including the need
for more solar array efforts throughout the state.
Back in February, Wyden and
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., announced that $40 million in
loans across three Klamath County towns and Lakeview were
slated for separate solar facilities in each community. A
$10 million loan through the Rural Energy For America
Program (REAP) will go to help construct facilities in
Dairy, Malin, Merrill and Lakeview.
Each solar site would help
power around 2,000 homes a year in each community, with
power levels ranging from 10 to 13 megawatts at each rural
facility, according to previous reports from the Herald and
News.
But Wyden said he wanted to
place greater importance on in-house manufacturing options.
“We shouldn’t just be
bringing panels in from somewhere else,” Wyden said.
Several audience members also
asked Wyden about his thoughts on the Jordan Cove LNG
pipeline, a nearly 230-mile project that would connect to
the Ruby pipeline from the Dakotas and stretch out to Coos
Bay. Wyden responded by saying he would use his position to
make sure both sides are “treated fairly.”
Concerns with how the Trump
administration handles potential private property
acquisitions and environmental safety were also among
Wyden’s chief concerns in the project. Wyden told the crowd
that he was against anyone “cutting corners” on either
front.
