PACIFIC PARTY CANDIDATE CRITICIZES KITZHABER

Blair Bobier claims that the governor has not done enough to protect the
environment

Blair Bobier, the founder of Oregon's environmentalist Pacific Party, on
Saturday kicked off his campaign for governor by charging that Gov. John
Kitzhaber has acquiesced in the destruction of the state's streams and
forests.

Bobier, who became the fourth minor-party candidate to enter the race, also
took the governor to task for signing a bill to recriminalize possession of
small amounts of marijuana and for not seeking overhaul of a tax system he
said is tilted in favor of large corporate interests.

A 38-year-old lawyer and political activist, Bobier in 1991 founded the
Pacific Party, which has qualified for the ballot in Oregon and is
affiliated with the Green Party nationally.

"At best Gov. Kitzhaber has stood by idly as this destruction has taken
place," Bobier said at a Portland airport news conference before going up
in a private plane to view clear-cuts and damaged streams.

He called the governor's voluntary restoration plan for coho salmon
inadequate and criticized Kitzhaber for not seeking a halt to logging in
federal forests. Bobier also endorsed Ballot Measure 64, which would ban
clear-cuts and the use of pesticides in Oregon forests.

Although the Pacific Party so far has not had a big effect on Oregon
politics, the Green Party has become a significant force in some states. In
New Mexico, Green Party candidates have taken more than 10 percent of the
vote in a recent gubernatorial election and two congressional races. In all
three cases, Republican candidates won as Democrats blamed the Green Party
for their defeats.

Bobier said he wasn't concerned that a strong showing for his own candidacy
could aid Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Sizemore -- who has
criticized Kitzhaber for supporting too much environmental regulation.

"The difference between Sizemore and Kitzhaber is just like rearranging
deck chairs on the Titanic," he said. "It really doesn't make a lot of
difference."

Bobier, who lives in the small Coast range town of Summit, also said
average Oregonians need to make changes in their lifestyles. He criticized
the use of lawn chemicals, power mowers and leaf blowers.

He also called for taxing activities based on the amount of pollution they
generate, and he said the state should greatly increase its investments in
mass transit and bicycle paths.

He called for universal health coverage and for "long-term, meaningful jobs
for everyone who wants to work."

Bobier is a graduate of the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark
College and previously worked at the Department of Environmental Quality as
a public defender and with the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund.

The other minor-party candidates in the governor's race are Libertarian
Richard Burke, Socialist Trey Smith and Roger Weidner of the Reform Party.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)