Scott Bruun: Like A Ship In the Night

Email to a friend Permalink

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Scott Bruun, GoLocalPDX MINDSETTER™

You don’t have to search far in Southeast Portland to find someone with a clipboard and a cause. Ripe pickings, at least this side of 39th.

Is your mission, say, to save the world from godless capitalism? Maybe save the world from God himself? Or maybe just collect enough signatures to put another recreational drug on the ballot? Well great, you’re in luck! You are sure to find a receptive audience on any corner along Hawthorne, Belmont or Division.

Last week my colleague Cody and I hit the Starbucks on 28th and Burnside. Coming out, we were greeted by a smiling, clipboard-toting advocate for Greenpeace. She was wearing the requisite, logoed t-shirt, and zeroed-in on Cody like a grizzly on a salmon.

It’s understandable, of course, but she was not interested in me. Who can blame her? After all, I’m sure my khakis and tucked-in polo shirt screamed “middle-aged Republican.” Or insurance salesman. In either case, probably not Greenpeace’s go-to demographic.

But still, I got to listen. Turns out the Greenpeace person was mostly interested in instructing Cody on two issues – then leveraging those issues to convince him to become a dues-paying Greenpeace member. The two “always-be-closing” issues, related (at least in her mind), were protecting the Arctic and preventing a ship from being repaired in Portland.

She led her pitch with polar bears, while derisively using the term “Big Oil” at least three times. As an aside, can’t we at least agree that the costs of oil exploration, R&D, extraction, world-wide distribution and ceaseless environmental litigation make it a little improbable that “little oil” will meet our needs? That is, unless we look forward to $12 a gallon gas, $10-a-pop Tri-Met rides, and plastic kayaks that cost about as much as a Prius.

Anyway, it seems Big Oil wants to expand Arctic drilling; and that America is competing with Russia and other nations for the rights to explore. Notwithstanding, say, Norway’s excellent record of safely drilling in the violent North Sea, it is apparently way too risky for other Western nations to explore the Arctic.  

So the Greenpeace person pitched Cody on the idea of an “Arctic Cap,” some new, global legal-construct banning the region from all companies and countries. She needed to get to the monthly-dues part of her outreach, so she didn’t elaborate on the “Cap” idea.  Though I have to admit, it sounded disconcertingly like something from Stephen King’s “Under the Dome.” An icy dystopia, where nothing gets in and nothing gets out.

But the purview of this column is Oregon, not the Arctic. For now at least, we’ll leave the Arctic to experts. You know, like Senator Jeff Merkley.

Ship repair in Portland on the other hand? Fair game.

Shell has sent a 380-foot long ship, the Fennica, to Portland for repairs. Greenpeace opposes this, apparently seeing the ship as a symbol of Arctic drilling. As they’ve done in Seattle, Greenpeace has plans to slow the ship’s movements and repairs by badgering it with an armada of kayaktivists.

It’s ironic that Greenpeace and others would want to stall Fennica’s repairs. The ship’s primary purpose, after all, is to protect underwater well-heads from blowout. Arctic drilling may or may not be sound policy. Yet regardless of your position, wouldn’t you want a safety vessel like the Fennica available at all times?

No worries, though. Greenpeace is as Greenpeace does. They remind me a little of the shirtless fans you see at a college football game in sub-zero temperatures – the ones whose bodies and faces are painted with team colors. We all support the team, but some of us are just a tad more exuberant than others.

Greenpeace is not the problem, not really. The problem is the lack of public voice for an Oregon industry. Where is Mayor Hales? Why isn’t he, or anyone on the City Council, publicly supporting a Portland business that does ship repairs?

Is it too close to election time to risk alienating a base of “environmental” voters? Is it too much to hope that our mayor would use his bully pulpit to educate rather than placate? Perhaps.

Pining for the past is a fool’s errand. Progress is vital. Yet it’s worth noting that Portland was once a major shipbuilding hub. Portland’s shipyards built the “Liberty” ships that helped win a war. Portland was also a major shipping hub, serving as a vital gateway to the Pacific and Asia.

While political leaders sat on their hands, we have chased off the likes of Hanjin and Hapag-Lloyd shipping companies; losing 99% of Portland’s container business, hundreds of high-paying Oregon jobs, and millions in state and local tax revenue. We are also now, with political leaders still atop their hands, debating whether a Portland ship-repair business should fix a vessel designed to protect Arctic waters.

Looking at this as a whole, looking at Portland’s “leaders,” many words come to mind. “Progress” is not among them.

No more ships in Portland. But hey, at least we have our kayaks.

Scott Bruun is a fifth-generation Oregonian and recovering politician. He lives with his family in the 'burbs', yet dutifully commutes to Portland every day where he earns his living in public affairs with Hubbell Communications. 

---

Related Slideshow: The Eight Political Types

Related Articles

• Scott Bruun: The Future As Seen In Seaside
• Scott Bruun: Recalling Forward – Peace, Joy and Goodwill
• Scott Bruun: Recalling the Recall of Three State Legislators
• Scott Bruun: The Problem With Congress’s Work Schedule
• Scott Bruun: The Problems With Portland’s City Government

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink