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6A Daily News – Thursday, January 5, 2012 Opinion D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Thanks Editor: Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer's home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 A big thank you to all who donated new shoes and warm socks to the "Warm Hearts = Warm Feet" Christmas shoe drive. When I first thought about trying to gather shoes for Christmas I never imagined people would be so generous. Thanks to people's warm hearts we collected over 140 pairs of new shoes and hundreds of pairs of socks. We worked with a lady named Maria at the Salvation Army. She was very kind and she helped us a lot. We had lots of fun giving away our shoes and socks through the wonder- ful people at the Salvation Army. I am very grateful for all your help in making boys and girls happy this Christmas morning. A special thank you to the Red Bluff Daily News, employ- ees of Payless Shoes and the principals, staff and students at Berrendos and Antelope schools. Olivia Fambrough, Red Bluff Salmon demise Editor: Your recent front page story made my case in a letter I sub- mitted back in March of 2009. I gave my two cents in a couple of letters about the effects of the dam on salmon in the river and in this one I gave my top three reasons for their demise. Here's an excerpt from that let- ter. Note the #1 reason I gave was water flows from Shasta and Keswick causing salmon reds to be left high and dry just as your front page reported. As a long time fisherman for Steel head on the river and its tributaries; "back when we still had good runs of these fish" and Salmon on the river as well, I have witnessed a lot of reasons for the loss of fish we have seen over the years. Although there are many here is what I think are the top three. 1.) Water outflow manage- ment from Shasta Dam and control of river flows by Keswick Dam. (Water flows are governed by need for irriga- tion in the south and when salmon spawn on the riffles only to see the river levels drop their eggs are left high and dry.) When there's a lot of fish spawning in the summer and fall months the levels are run- ning very high supplying water south. Outflows go from 12,000 cfs and higher to 6,000 or lower almost overnight. Far too many times I have wit- nessed this happen on the river killing untold numbers of salmon eggs. Case in point would be "Perry Riffle" that once upon a time was one of the best salmon spawning rif- fles on the river. These were native fish not hatchery! Tons of them could be seen spawn- ing and it was a great steel head fishing spot to. But in just a couple of years (Late 70's) all gone. 2.) Mismanagement at the Coleman National Fish Hatch- ery. I will never forget the time when they needed funding and came up with "Whirling Disease" as a reason to kill an entire years run of both salmon and steel head juveniles in order to get the atten- tion of and money out of our congress. That's the year the steel head run in our river died! And the very next year Cole- man gets gobs of money from congress. Great for the hatch- ery and those who work there but a death warrant for the fish- ery as we once knew it. One could write a book about all of the other things done wrong up there but that one gets first place. 3.) Last but not least ; and maybe really first, are all the water transfer pumping stations along the river that suck up the juvenile fish on their way to the Pacific. These pumps don't get just salmon and steel head though. They are indiscrimi- nate as far a species goes. Does anyone read the newspaper anymore? And now we are talking about putting a great big one here in place of the diversion dam! I hope that your reporter fol- Your Turn lows up with what if anything BWR does to fix the problem with salmon reds left high and dry and the continued killing of all these fish. I also see the Coleman Hatchery and others (PG &E) have been working to restore a native population above it in Battle Creek which is great news. Let's just hope the pumping stations can be fixed or man- aged better so they are no longer such a big killer. When the new pump- ing station here goes online one should hope and pray that it isn't a bigger problem than the diversion dam ever was. Bob Bradley, Red Bluff Response Editor: I would like to respond to Don Polson's column on Jan. 2. For it is clear that Mr. Polson is a strong supporter of the sec- ond amendment right to bear arms. And I will not dispute this. But one must read what the amendment does say, "a well regulated militia being neces- sary to maintain a free society, therefore the right to keep and bear arms shall not be abridged." There are no amend- ments or any explanations in the constitution to this part of the affected. Robert Hogan, Red Bluff Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2595 Cean- othus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. New EPAregulations are harmful to 'the folks' Commentary An eleventh-hour ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. to delay an Environmental Protection Agency's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1 saved the day for Americans who are doing their best to make ends meet in this struggling economy and cannot afford higher electricity bills. The cost of CSAPR is extremely high according to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which released a December 31, 2011 statement claiming had the ruling not been blocked, CSAPR combined with other current and pending EPA regulations, would have raised consumers' electricity bills and jeopardized up to 1.6 million jobs -- at a consumer cost of nearly $21 billion annually. Very much like the administration's "jobs saved or created" verbiage, the administration makes "lives saved" or illnesses "prevented" claims on its EPA website. One can make a case for anything until, over time, facts prevail. The delay buys Americans some time, and one can only hope it is enough time to get a new president in office to change the atmosphere in Wash- ington. After all, don't we have more pressing matters to attend to? Iran's recent threat to seal off the Strait of Hormuz could, in effect, interrupt the shipment of nearly one-fifth of the world's oil supply. And while Iran's threat will likely remain just that, there is no time like the present to ratchet up domestic oil drilling and explore cleaner ways to produce energy from our own natural resources. But it won't happen on Obama's watch. Nor will it hap- pen until the EPA's power is either reduced or nullified alto- gether. The Gulf Oil spill was a dream-come-true for many, in that the crisis gave the adminis- tration an excuse to tighten reg- ulations and put a choke-hold on future production. There is no doubt, that when it comes to matters that truly matter to him, President Obama is an uncom- promising ideologue. I recall no one, save a minute percentage of Americans, who wanted Oba- macare, but we got it anyway -- because the Democrat-con- trolled Congress handed it to him on a silver platter. Not to mention the Stimulus plan and the government takeover of banks and the automobile indus- try. He promised "fundamental change" and he meant what he said. And here we stand at the precipice of what could become a real energy crisis, and we have an ideologue at the helm and an EPA on steroids. Consider the words spoken to the Governor's Ethanol Coalition in 2006, when then-Senator Obama said, "...for all of our military might and economic domi- nance, the Achilles heel of the most powerful country on Earth is the oil we cannot live with- out." There is a lot of truth to Obama's state- ment, and it would be one of those seminal moments if followed up by an inspirational call to sensible action. But most understand that the green energy move- ment is not a call to sen- sible action but rather to irra- tional policies and irresponsible spending at our expense. Think: Solyndra. approach to regulations" to make rules "achievable in the real world." Attorney General Pam Bondi (R-FL) concurred in a similar press release saying, "We cannot allow Floridians, many of whom are already suffering financial hardships, to bear the brunt of cost- ly federal regula- tions." Susan Brown Liberals love to argue that Republicans are anti-environ- mentalists who are in bed with the oil industry. Not true; they instead typically provide a more measured response to issues. In the case of this ruling, the GOP looked out for "the folks." In a December 31, 2011 press release, House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) said there must be "a more sensible In stark contrast, an empty Air Force One touched down in Hawaii the other day, and then the Presi- dent stepped out. This man, who is more in love with his self- image than America, and more occupied with his re- election campaign than the health of our republic, is chroni- cally AWOL when it comes to doing the right thing by the American people, and in partic- ular, repressive EPA regulations. Susan Stamper Brown is an op-ed columnist, motivational speaker, military family advocate and grief counselor who writes about politics, the military, the economy and culture. she can be reached at susan@susanstamperbrown.co m.