Super port -- here?
In Friday's Daily Astorian letters, Dave Smith, of Pullman (why does he care?), says that we need a super port here at the mouth of the Columbia River. He laments the environmental regulations that would slow down or stop this sort of project. And blasts the Democrats for "infrastructure destruction".
Big infrastructure projects, like LNG along the Columbia, new retail developments along Highway 101 here on the coast, and countless other pie in the sky deals, have been the dream, evidently, of the long-timers here for many a generation. Seems they reminisce about the cannery, mill and shipping days, and want that kind of glory again.
Why is it that in just about every estuary in our country, if not the world, industry and big infrastructure projects were their ruin? The estuary here has made a slight comeback here due to the collapse of the local canning and logging industries (mostly due to overuse of the resource), but I hear the cries to tear it apart again.
I prefer that we look ahead instead of back, and maintain the relatively good (but certainly not good) condition of the Columbia River estuary. While I agree that a seaport makes more sense than the Portland port 60 miles upriver, I also think that these ports should be at major already-developed cities, of which there are none anywhere near here.
My offer for a seaport is the Aberdeen/Hoquiam area, which is very much like the Astoria area. In addition, I would not be averse to port facilities larger than the current ones here in Astoria/Warrenton. However, the scale suggested in the letter seems completely ridiculous. We really do have to start to think on smaller scales.
To those who think gigantic projects are our economic future, think again. They can only be our destruction.
Big infrastructure projects, like LNG along the Columbia, new retail developments along Highway 101 here on the coast, and countless other pie in the sky deals, have been the dream, evidently, of the long-timers here for many a generation. Seems they reminisce about the cannery, mill and shipping days, and want that kind of glory again.
Why is it that in just about every estuary in our country, if not the world, industry and big infrastructure projects were their ruin? The estuary here has made a slight comeback here due to the collapse of the local canning and logging industries (mostly due to overuse of the resource), but I hear the cries to tear it apart again.
I prefer that we look ahead instead of back, and maintain the relatively good (but certainly not good) condition of the Columbia River estuary. While I agree that a seaport makes more sense than the Portland port 60 miles upriver, I also think that these ports should be at major already-developed cities, of which there are none anywhere near here.
My offer for a seaport is the Aberdeen/Hoquiam area, which is very much like the Astoria area. In addition, I would not be averse to port facilities larger than the current ones here in Astoria/Warrenton. However, the scale suggested in the letter seems completely ridiculous. We really do have to start to think on smaller scales.
To those who think gigantic projects are our economic future, think again. They can only be our destruction.
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