Global Events Hit Close To Home
By Scott R. Cooper, Crook County Judge
published in the Central Oregonian, February 2003
An African proverb translates, “When elephants fight, the grass suffers.” Likewise, the Crook County government is beginning to experience the effect of tension in places around the globe most of us are unlikely ever to visit. Three events this past week directly related to international affairs have garnered the county’s attention.These events illustrate that no matter how remote from the problems of the international community we may sometimes feel in our corner of the world, we are still citizens of the world, and the world’s problems eventually become our problems.
Earlier this week, the county received the unhappy word that its oil provider may run out of supplies in early April. The explanation for this unfortunate event is that the on-going strike in Venezuela has paralyzed that country’s production system and reduced supply. Although the strike appears likely to end soon, it will still take time to rebuild inventories, and oil for road departments ranks well below heating oil, transportation fuel and military needs in priority. Additionally, as laws of supply and demand kick in, even those supplies of oil that are available have caused sharp price run-ups. The bottom line is that the projected cost of oil needed by Crook County this year to start its regular road maintenance this spring is an estimated 12 percent higher than projected in the county budget.
What this means for citizens is that Road Crews will reduce the number of miles of roads on which it schedules work this Spring. Although our intent will be to deliver as much service as the budget will allow, price and supply will still take a toll.
No discussion of oil, of course, is complete without mention of what appears to be a build-up to war in the Middle East. Most Americans are by now aware that our nation appears poised to launch a military strike against Iraq sometime in the next few weeks. A few Americans also followed the recent congressional discussion on reinstatement of a military draft. Sen. Wyden, among others, assured us at his recent town hall that this debate was going nowhere. Despite such soothing words, Crook County got a wake up call last week when our local representative to the state draft board was summoned to a statewide training to brush-up his knowledge and skills related to the involuntary induction process. The Selective Service and congressional representatives say the training was just “routine,” but this is the first time such trainings have been conducted in Oregon since Selective Service registration was reinstituted. It just goes to show, again, that what is happening in the rest of the world potentially has direct impacts on us in Crook County.
A third event of national significance worth noting in the last couple of weeks is activity surrounding the increased “threat condition” announced by the White House late last week in anticipation of some sort of attempted terrorist act. While there is no credible evidence that either Oregon, Washington or Idaho are likely targets for such attacks, the need to be vigilant in a post- Sept. 11 environment rules out the possibility that we can ignore these warnings. Thus, I found myself last Friday in a conference call listening somewhat uncomfortably to serious discussions among state- and county-level emergency response and public-health officials about measures such as dam security, chemical weapons response and even how to detect radiation burns.
All three of these events—advance planning to deal with the global problem of oil, advance planning to ensure a ready supply of military personnel and preparations for attacks we hope will never come—leave me a little bit in awe. We live in “the middle of nowhere.” These “macro” issues aren’t supposed to be of concern to us. Elected officials with much graver responsibilities than mine are looking out for our interests in these areas. But the truth is, the issues eventually hit home, sometimes in unexpected ways.
In the end, all this serves to remind me that while we in Crook County are not the main actors on the world stage, neither are we the audience. Even as minor characters, we are still a part of the drama. And make no mistake about it, the play is going on around us all the time.
published in the Central Oregonian, February 2003
An African proverb translates, “When elephants fight, the grass suffers.” Likewise, the Crook County government is beginning to experience the effect of tension in places around the globe most of us are unlikely ever to visit. Three events this past week directly related to international affairs have garnered the county’s attention.These events illustrate that no matter how remote from the problems of the international community we may sometimes feel in our corner of the world, we are still citizens of the world, and the world’s problems eventually become our problems.
Earlier this week, the county received the unhappy word that its oil provider may run out of supplies in early April. The explanation for this unfortunate event is that the on-going strike in Venezuela has paralyzed that country’s production system and reduced supply. Although the strike appears likely to end soon, it will still take time to rebuild inventories, and oil for road departments ranks well below heating oil, transportation fuel and military needs in priority. Additionally, as laws of supply and demand kick in, even those supplies of oil that are available have caused sharp price run-ups. The bottom line is that the projected cost of oil needed by Crook County this year to start its regular road maintenance this spring is an estimated 12 percent higher than projected in the county budget.
What this means for citizens is that Road Crews will reduce the number of miles of roads on which it schedules work this Spring. Although our intent will be to deliver as much service as the budget will allow, price and supply will still take a toll.
No discussion of oil, of course, is complete without mention of what appears to be a build-up to war in the Middle East. Most Americans are by now aware that our nation appears poised to launch a military strike against Iraq sometime in the next few weeks. A few Americans also followed the recent congressional discussion on reinstatement of a military draft. Sen. Wyden, among others, assured us at his recent town hall that this debate was going nowhere. Despite such soothing words, Crook County got a wake up call last week when our local representative to the state draft board was summoned to a statewide training to brush-up his knowledge and skills related to the involuntary induction process. The Selective Service and congressional representatives say the training was just “routine,” but this is the first time such trainings have been conducted in Oregon since Selective Service registration was reinstituted. It just goes to show, again, that what is happening in the rest of the world potentially has direct impacts on us in Crook County.
A third event of national significance worth noting in the last couple of weeks is activity surrounding the increased “threat condition” announced by the White House late last week in anticipation of some sort of attempted terrorist act. While there is no credible evidence that either Oregon, Washington or Idaho are likely targets for such attacks, the need to be vigilant in a post- Sept. 11 environment rules out the possibility that we can ignore these warnings. Thus, I found myself last Friday in a conference call listening somewhat uncomfortably to serious discussions among state- and county-level emergency response and public-health officials about measures such as dam security, chemical weapons response and even how to detect radiation burns.
All three of these events—advance planning to deal with the global problem of oil, advance planning to ensure a ready supply of military personnel and preparations for attacks we hope will never come—leave me a little bit in awe. We live in “the middle of nowhere.” These “macro” issues aren’t supposed to be of concern to us. Elected officials with much graver responsibilities than mine are looking out for our interests in these areas. But the truth is, the issues eventually hit home, sometimes in unexpected ways.
In the end, all this serves to remind me that while we in Crook County are not the main actors on the world stage, neither are we the audience. Even as minor characters, we are still a part of the drama. And make no mistake about it, the play is going on around us all the time.
posted by Scott Cooper | 10:59 PM
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