Thursday, April 24, 2014

It Isn't Easy Being Green (with Friends Like These)

In typical Clallam County fashion, the Clallam County Democratic Party adopted their 2014 platform a little over a week ago. (You can't rush quality..?) Here are a few excerpts from said platform (typos included):

Economy and Jobs:
We encourage efforts to recruit and attract environmentally responsible employers...Tax dollars shall be responsibly invested in our common future...We understand and support the need for a vibrant business community, and encourage socially and environmentally responsible business...

Environment:
We accept responsibility as stewards for our natural world and recognizethe need to develop, the implement policies and to encourage lifestyles consistent with long-term sustainability and viability; We support applying ! the best available science to all decisions affecting our environment, so our air, water and natural habitats are protected; Restrictions on practices by individuals or corporations should be in accordance with protecting and conserving our environment or repairing degraded areas...

Clallam County:
b. We affirm that our commitment to environmental health and the need to mitigate the effects of climate change extends to the entire North Olympic Peninsula...

f. We oppose the construction of any new facilities that burn timber waste unless there is clear scientific evidence that such projects will not come at the expense of air quality and health risks;


No, really, it's been a pleasure to funnel American tax dollars to your
company to help you burn up our forest resources!

So, given all this nice, passionate language about the environment, and environmentally responsible employers and all, I trust that the Clallam County Democrats will no longer be supporting Steve Tharinger, who has been a vocal supporter of Nippon and their biomass facility, and sponsored legislation that gave them tax breaks for burning up these same environmental resources the local Democrats are suddenly so interested in. If you know Tharinger (and I do), and if you take the time to read the minutes from Democratic Party meetings (and I do), you'll see a strong, steady pattern in his political career of kowtowing to Nippon. His "concern" for the health of the environment has never been anywhere near as strong as his concern for the financial health of Nippon.


Lee Whetham (left-leaning voters were duped) and Paul Martin (right-wing nut).
 
I trust the Democrats will also no longer permit Paul Martin to come to their meetings. Aside from having a long history as a Republican, Martin is also a fellow traveler with Nippon. When he was managing his friend Mike Chapman's last campaign for County Commissioner, and biomass was a hot issue, Mike had a brief period of wobbling, given the vocal public upset over the biomass plant expansion. Paul Martin helped steer Chapman back "on message" and away from expressing any concerns with biomass.

So yes indeed, Clallam County Democrats, I look forward to seeing how your 2014 platform plays out, given the history of your own party leaders. Will actual environmental concerns come to the fore, or will hypocrisy continue to be the dominant theme?

27 comments:

  1. When he moved up to being a state rep, Tharinger did so not because voters here in Clallam County supported him, but because a large majority of voters in Jefferson County (mostly in Port Townsend) did. Even though Obama carried Clallam County twice, Tharinger actually loses here. It's interesting that the people literally closest to him here in Clallam County, don't support him. I think that says something about the "leadership" that Steve Tharinger has displayed here on his home turf. If Port Townsend ever stops supporting him, he'll be out of a job.

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  2. So, does this mean that Mike Doherty, if he runs for re-election once again, is going to come out swinging against biomass? He's been talking a lot about climate change lately, but it's still not clear whether or not he knows there's a connection between climate change and burning wood products for biomass. What is clear is that no one locally is really eager to rock the (Nippon) boat, no matter what the issue.

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    1. For one thing, I don't know why Mike would want to run again. Even though he's the smartest, most knowledgeable and active of the three Commissioners, he's increasingly on the outside of the little love fest between Chapman and McEntire. The very fact that he is the smartest, most active and connected of the three, yet is still marginalized, is a good reason in and of itself for why he might not want to run. Who wants to be right and stick around watching the majority do what's wrong?

      Having said all that though, if he does run, I certainly don't expect him to tilt at any biomass windmills. He may talk a good game at times when it comes to "the environment," but at the end of the day, like you say, he is unlikely to want to incur the wrath of Nippon.

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    2. A rumor is going around saying that Mike Doherty won't run for reelection. Instead he wants to move into a leadership position with the Democratic Party.
      Anybody else heard that scuttlebutt?
      If true, what would you think of that?

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  3. When will you all figure it out? Politicians do not care about the environment, they care about getting elected.

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    1. Neither party cares much, it's true. At least the Republicans don't make a big show of pretending (well, lying) that they do. Nope, let us get rid of those few rules that keep our pillaging and paving in check, and they're good to go.

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  4. "We oppose the construction of any new facilities that burn timber waste unless there is clear scientific evidence that such projects will not come at the expense of air quality and health risks;"
    Hah! Well, there's some clever platform drafting that will allow Dems to support continued corporate pillaging of our forest resources.
    First, it assumes that there is such a thing as "timber waste". If trees are left standing, are they "waste"? If trees are cut down and the denuded trunks sent to Asia, are the leftover branches and bark "waste"? Are undesirable trees like those growing in Lincoln Park "timber waste"?
    Secondly, why does the platform statement only refer to "air quality and health risks" (health risks, presumably to human health)? Is overall environmental health not important, too? What about the scientific evidence that fallen trees and branches benefit the health of the natural ecosystem when the nutrients they provide are left on the forest floor? What about the environmental benefits of a health, greenhouse-gas-absorbing forest?
    Then there's the "clear scientific evidence" loophole. As the Koch brothers have demonstrated with Climate Change, it's always possible to cite some sort of disagreement (no matter how discredited by peers) to cloud whether there is "clear scientific evidence" .
    This platform statement is, at best, meaningless, and at worst, was created specifically to condone the status quo: pandering to resource-extractive and exploiting industries.

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    1. Sadly, I have found that political party affiliation in Clallam County is pretty meaningless (other than to a few real diehards like Dick Pilling). Generally, they could all be lumped together into the category of "Pawns of Resource Extraction Industries."

      They are all so deathly afraid of seeming anti-jobs that they embrace and rush to prop up these businesses (think Pen Ply and others) that are clearly doomed to fail, either due to market forces, or the total incompetence of the people running them.

      In that that respect, it's like attracting like: The incompetent cheering on the incompetent, until hopefully we all achieve a state of caveman-like primordial bliss. "Cut trees, burn trees - Good!"

      "It's another GREAT day in Port Angeles!" - Cherie Kidd

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    2. I agree that political parties don't mean a whole lot to people here in Clallam County. That's how you can get results like the ones mentioned elsewhere, where Obama wins in Clallam County, but Tharinger doesn't.

      Sadly, though, those in the leadership positions of both major parties here are old, privileged and out of touch with modern life. (Which, admittedly, can happen when you live in Clallam County.) The only way I can tell Roger Fight and Dick Pilling apart is that Roger has a beard. But they both make outrageous statements, both are egotistical, and both are tired old white guys who are equally clueless about how to make this area thrive, or at least sustainable.

      I've seen the phrase "we get the government we deserve" used several times here - and I don't entirely disagree with it. But remember: We also get a government made up of people who decided to run for office. And these two bozos, and their party faithful, help select the people who run in the first place.

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  5. Almost all of our local elected officials - left, right and center - have dismal records when it comes to the environment. I don't expect that to change any time soon, platform or no platform.

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  6. As is often the case, your photo captions are both funny and deeply sad. The one of Steve Tharinger says it all - he's a stooge for Nippon, and laughing all the way to the bank.

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    1. No kidding. As someone else said, these politicians only care about getting re/elected. The big picture reality of what the results of their actions are, is of little concern to them.

      But, I do think things are different now. I thoink that the locals are getting information and views on things here, that the PDN has covered up, didn't report on, or helped "the other side" with. Up until the new venues in town, including this one, were created fairly recently, we pretty much had to rely on our own little email chains.

      One significant problem with that. It is totally about "preaching to the converted", We have been talking with people who totally agree with our views. Nice, but it does really help things change much.

      Someone else pointed out that Tharinger loses in Clallam. Is that because "liberals" don't vote for him here, or that there are more hillbilly rednecks in Clallam than in Jefferson? I don't know.

      But, only by the truths getting "unearthed" and discussed, is there really any hope for change here.

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    2. Tharinger was also in good with Matt Randazzo and some other fake progressives and was part of the troll campaign against Max and Dale.

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    3. Max Mania spoke out against Nippon's biomass project...Nippon called Steve Tharinger and told him there was a problem...Tharinger called Matthew Randazzo and told him to take care of the problem...And the lies started flowing, and the knives and poison came out.

      It's just so great when bogus progressives attack real progressives - for being progressive. It's just really wonderful, obviously something that embraces and manifests honesty and really puts the best interests of the community first. We're just so lucky to have public servants like Steve Tharinger around. Just really, really blessed. Really.

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  7. Why has Paul Martin been going to Democratic Party meetings? Don't these people have a clue? That guy's a far-right Republican type. He doesn't care about the Democratic Party, except maybe to see it fail.

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  8. Even IF the Democrats who put this platform together really, really mean it, and want to make protecting the environment the center of their political world, it won't change a thing for the local Democrats running for office. Not a thing.

    There are no big unions or green groups here throwing money their way. But Nippon and Rayonier and John Crow (Green Crow) still dole out lots of campaign cash.

    There'll be no green Democratic rebellion bubbling up from below here. For one thing, there are few young people involved here, and they are the ones who (demographically speaking) are most likely to care, and organize via social media. But the Democratic Party here is old, shockingly old, really. If you know who is involved with running things locally (Roger Fight, Ron Richards, Patsy Feeley, etc.) you know just how ancient and unthreatening they are. And really, at the end of the day, if people like Tharinger and Kilmer and whoever else kiss the ass of industry, who are they going to vote for? A Republican? I don't think so.

    This is just so much PR BS meant to make a few people feel good, and feel like they're doing something.

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    1. You forget that this was a Clallam County Democratic platform. These things are never meant seriously and when you get to getting them incorporated in the STATE platform it usually is swept under the cover. Kilmer and Tharinger do NOT need to pay attention other than to give lip service to it.

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  9. Why didn't the Democrats run someone - ANYONE - against that strutting buffoon Jim Hallett? Does anyone know the backstory on that? Hallett's a nightmare, and it still galls me that he ran unopposed.

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    1. While I agree with you 100% about Hallett, the scary thing is that he's not the worst of the Port Commissioners. Why that race went unopposed has puzzled me as well. Hallett was made to be defeated, he often comes across so badly in public settings.

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    2. Unopposed races are becoming the new normal here. This has developed even as the Democrats have made very public efforts to be "busy" and more "visible." So either they're sandbagging their own candidates, or no one wants to run for office locally.

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  10. Tharinger double dipped and got paid for holding two government jobs simultaneously. He said he'd give back what the county paid him for the time he was in Olympia. He didn't. The only "green" he cares about is money.

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    1. Don't forget the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in salmon habitat restoration money that found its way to him, when he sold his property to the county, while serving as a county commissioner. Outrageous.

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    2. Yet he can't even draw a serious Republican opponent, yet alone any sort of challenge from the left. Even with his low numbers here in Clallam County, he'll probably just waltz to re-election. Steve Tharinger is a thief and a liar, and HE is the BEST we can do for Democratic representation locally? That's sad and scary.

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  11. I love this blog!

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  12. When I read these statements put out there by the Democratic Party, I have to wonder how they expect to implement them? "We encourage efforts to recruit and attract environmentally responsible employers..." Well, sure. Who doesn't agree with that? Even Republicans would agree with that. But how are you, the members of the Democratic Party, going to "encourage"? Is this a real action item, or just a platform platitude? I'd be interested to know how they intend to either manifest these things themselves, and/or get their elected office holders to do so. Without a plan, these remain just nice words on a website somewhere.

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    1. Your comment brings to mind my question, which is, if you adopt this as your platform, and then your local representatives fail to live up to the platform, is there a penalty for them? Is there any pushback? Is there any reason at all for them to conform to your platform other than they're nice people, or just happen to agree with you?

      Because as I see this platform, and as I see our local Democratic office holders, I see, shall we say, a lot of space between the two.

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