Economic sustainability of Portland, small businesses, rural Oregon headline newspaper’s focus.
BY JACOB PALMER | OB DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
After writing a much-maligned dismissal of climate change as a local issue, the Oregonian released the seven issues it will focus on in its 2015 editorial agenda.
First on the list is to “Make Portland a city that works.” The board’s opinion — which can be read in full at OregonLive.com — is that the Pembina Pipeline Corp.’s proposed propane Port of Portland export terminal is a potential boon for job growth great enough to overlook any environmental drawbacks.
Leading members of the environmental community, as is their wont, view the project as a test of Portland’s commitment to ecological purity. Propane, after all, is a fossil fuel. Never mind that it’s cleaner than coal or oil and could help reduce the use of those dirty fuels in China and other foreign markets. Storing the propane at a temperatures of -44 degrees requires large amounts of electricity. Propane emits carbon dioxide when it’s used. So it’s bad. Period.
That’s why approval of Pembina’s terminal is so important to Portland. If the city can’t navigate this project through the city’s infamous minefield of public process and environmental absolutes, why should any other resource-based company even consider attempting to do business here?
Next, the editorial board said it would like the stated support of small business to match the legislative output.
Small businesses find themselves playing defense as the 2015 legislative session approaches. Much-discussed proposals such as an increase in the minimum wage, a statewide sick-leave mandate and a state-sponsored retirement savings plan disproportionately would affect small businesses, many of which are not in position to absorb additional expenses – whether in the form of higher wages or the administrative cost of meeting government mandates. Any legislator who wants to help small businesses needs to carefully consider such costs when considering these and other bills likely to be introduced.
But avoiding harm is not enough. State and local government officials should strive to remove obstacles to success from the path of small businesses. This admittedly is a tricky task, in part because different types of small businesses face different challenges. The first step toward helping them is to identify what each type of business needs.
Read more at OregonLive.com.
