our view

A journey of a thousand miles, the proverb goes, begins with a single step.

What often keeps us standing still in the midst of difficult decisions, however, is the notion that we might be taking that first step in the wrong direction — either toward a fruitless outcome or, in extreme, making a bad situation worse.

Take, for example, an issue recently brought before the Ashland City Council.

High school students associated with the Ashland Youth for Electrification campaign asked the council to consider enacting an ordinance that would ban the use of natural gas in all new residential, commercial and industrial construction.

Ashland, which has its own Climate and Energy Action Plan in place, would appear to be a community amenable to such a decree. Mayor Tonya Graham, in fact, signaled her support for the concept.

Graham, a climate adaptation planner, said that any Ashland ordinance should depend on the action or inaction taken in other cities and towns — invoking actions taken during World War II when discussing the fight against climate change.

“People planted Victory Gardens all across the country,” she said, “not because they thought their one Victory Garden was going to win the war, but because they knew other people — millions of people — were planting those gardens, and that’s what we need to do in Ashland.”

The Ashland students cited as their inspiration a similar ordinance passed by the Eugene City Council — deciding to take that first step in its journey against climate change unilaterally for what members believed was the good of the community.

After which, the community responded by stopping the council in its tracks. An initiative drive quickly gathered enough signatures to have the issue placed on the November ballot — at which point, everyone’s voice will have a chance to be heard in a vote.

It’s not difficult to foresee that should the Ashland council decide to act on its own to pass a natural gas ban, that it would ultimately be headed to the court of public opinion, as well.

Which brings us back to standing still in the face of difficult decisions.

In commenting on the Eugene ordinance, the editorial board of The Oregonian pointed to factors that would have to be weighed in moving toward electrification — the cost, the ability of the electrical grid to meet increasing need, and the critical need for housing, particularly affordable housing.

Ashland leaders no doubt would, and should, be assessing such questions in their own backyard when deciding whether to move forward in support of the student activists — some of whom might well be city leaders themselves one day.

“One of my favorite mottos to live by,” Ashland High senior Nadia Pettengell told the council, “is, ‘Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction.’ … I take that to mean it’s better to do something than nothing at all out of fear that it won’t be perfect.”

It’s also true that when it comes to fundamental and philosophical changes to the lifestyle of a community, it’s best to let the community go on the journey as a whole. If the Ashland council wants to take the first step on electrification, we suggest it put the issue to a citywide vote.

Editor’s note: This editorial has been corrected to remove a statement from an editorial in The Oregonian that the state Sustainability Office says mischaracterizes its stance.