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Challenger: Energy will fuel state’s future
Saturday, October 18, 2008 | No comments posted.
Who: Eldon Rollins, 56
Home town: Coquille
Party: Democrat
Experience: This is the first time Rollins has run for a state office.
Health and mental health: Rollins said the Oregon Health Plan used to be a good program, but it has slipped in recent years. He emphasized the need for more access.
“If there are people who are not getting service and need to get it, they should get it.” he said.
County funding: Rollins took a hard look at the Oregon and California Lands Act of 1937, which designated 2.2 million acres of land as a source of permanent timber harvest with funding going to counties.
“Terminating those payments seems to put into question the federal government’s ownership of that land,” he said.
Rollins advocates the state taking ownership of that timberland. He also suggested that if the land ownership isn’t transferred back to the counties, then they ought to be able to collect property taxes on it.
Energy policy: Rollins sees alternate sources such as biomass, wind and solar, fueling Oregon’s needs in the future.
“I believe whatever the state can do to facilitate that should be done,” he said.
He used Germany as an example. If 12 million out of the 82 million people in the country have all their energy needs met with renewable sources, then Oregon needs to find a way to provide enough, and then some, for its citizens.
LNG: Rollins questioned the safety of siting a liquefied natural gas facility on Coos Bay’s North Spit and expressed concern over the use of eminent domain to complete a connecting pipeline project.
“I don’t support on LNG facility that is advertised to withstand a 9.0 earthquake when scientists feel a 9.2 to 9.5 (earthquake) will happen,” he said.
Economy: Rollins said he does not believe building an LNG facility would be a good way to promote growth. The potential loss of quality of life from building an LNG terminal is not worth the potential gain of jobs, he said. A container facility in Coos Bay, on the other hand, would be an acceptable trade-off between quality of life and healthy economic growth.
Home town: Coquille
Party: Democrat
Experience: This is the first time Rollins has run for a state office.
Health and mental health: Rollins said the Oregon Health Plan used to be a good program, but it has slipped in recent years. He emphasized the need for more access.
“If there are people who are not getting service and need to get it, they should get it.” he said.
County funding: Rollins took a hard look at the Oregon and California Lands Act of 1937, which designated 2.2 million acres of land as a source of permanent timber harvest with funding going to counties.
“Terminating those payments seems to put into question the federal government’s ownership of that land,” he said.
Rollins advocates the state taking ownership of that timberland. He also suggested that if the land ownership isn’t transferred back to the counties, then they ought to be able to collect property taxes on it.
Energy policy: Rollins sees alternate sources such as biomass, wind and solar, fueling Oregon’s needs in the future.
“I believe whatever the state can do to facilitate that should be done,” he said.
He used Germany as an example. If 12 million out of the 82 million people in the country have all their energy needs met with renewable sources, then Oregon needs to find a way to provide enough, and then some, for its citizens.
LNG: Rollins questioned the safety of siting a liquefied natural gas facility on Coos Bay’s North Spit and expressed concern over the use of eminent domain to complete a connecting pipeline project.
“I don’t support on LNG facility that is advertised to withstand a 9.0 earthquake when scientists feel a 9.2 to 9.5 (earthquake) will happen,” he said.
Economy: Rollins said he does not believe building an LNG facility would be a good way to promote growth. The potential loss of quality of life from building an LNG terminal is not worth the potential gain of jobs, he said. A container facility in Coos Bay, on the other hand, would be an acceptable trade-off between quality of life and healthy economic growth.
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