 With elections right around the corner, it’s difficult to think of much else. So much is at stake. And with climate progress so slow and the accelerating global heating & biodiversity crises so perilous, we must do everything we can to protect our democracy so we can protect what we love, our only home: Earth.  We’re Getting Out the Vote! Our amazing GOTV Team has written & mailed out approximately 12,000 postcards! Wow! Working alongside scads of local groups here and across our country, we’ve sent the message that THIS ELECTION is the most important of our (and perhaps anyone’s) lifetime! Thanks for your dedication, the many donations for stamps, and the hours and hours of writing. (Thanks also to those super heroes who are phone-banking & door-knocking in swing states!) 350 Eugene Vote Climate Street Messaging Join us this month on the streets of Eugene to display signs and banners with a Vote Climate message. It’s a time to visit with other climate concerned voters and engage the public with our message. Stand next to or hold our signs or banners and wave at our fellow citizens who are driving, biking and walking by. When: Thursday, October 24 from 3-4:30 pm Where: Corner of E. 30th Ave & Hilyard St & East of Hilyard along 30th Meet in the southeast corner of the Albertson’s parking lot just before 3:00, or look for the signs and banners at that corner and east on 30th Avenue whenever you arrive. When: Halloween! Thursday, October 31 from 3-4:30 pm You are welcome (but not required) to come in costume and even bring a “Vote Climate” sign to go with your costume. (Example: for Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz: Vote Climate by Nov. 5… from Oregon to Kansas and beyond, we need climate leaders!) Where: Meet at the NW corner of River Road & Maxwell Rd., just before 3:00, or look for the signs and banners along the west side of River Road near Maxwell. Parking is along Hamilton Ave or Court Dr., both west of River Road and north of Maxwell. Bring your own “Vote” signs, if you’d like and a lawn chair if you like to sit down. Rain or shine!
Think Climate. Vote Climate. Save our home. No Partisan Gerrymandering In Lane County: Vote no on Measure 20-362!  This summer, right-wing County Commissioners pushed a surprise deal, Measure 20-362, onto the November ballot. They want new voting district boundaries that give them a political advantage, changing them mid-cycle, five years ahead of schedule before two of them have to run for re-election in 2026. The current districts were updated by a democratic, transparent citizen-lead process, just three years ago. There is no legitimate reason to monkey with the districts now. We say:
More MAGA County Commissioners Ignoring Constituents  Oakridge is home to rich local pioneer and Indigenous history, and is surrounded by sensitive elk herd calving grounds. It was also recently recognized as the Mountain Biking Capital of the Northwest . Despite vigorous public outcry and the county’s own Planning Commission’s unanimous vote against rezoning Oakridge’s TV Butte for a gravel mine, the Lane County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to continue to pursue the proposed quarry. This fight was fought and won by grassroots resistance in 2015 and must be stopped again. You can help! Come to the Benefit to Save TV Butte Fri., Nov. 1st from 7 to 11:00 pm at Hybrid Gallery 941 W. 3rd, Eugene  Gather with your Earth-Protector buddies. Let’s save what we love. Come to the benefit! For more info, check out the OakridgeStrong website. We can stop this for good. Locking-in Polluting Fossil-gas with Eugene Citizen Tax Dollars Using Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemptions (MUPTE) Does it make sense to you to pass a Climate Recovery Ordinance (2014), create a Climate Action Plan 2.0 (2019), pass an ordinance to mandate all new residential construction under four stories be built with only electric for water & space heating, which had to later be rescinded due to a court decision in California (2023)... all WHILE giving tax subsidies to developers to build with dirty fossil gas infrastructure? No, it doesn’t make sense. It’s inconsistent, at best and hypocritical at worst! Why create a five-year “Accelerated MUPTE” pilot program to stream-line a process that purports to reduce planet-heating emissions by building smaller dwellings that use less energy and are near transit lines (maybe), which does nothing to strengthen protocols that actually REDUCE emissions, like electric-only? It’s a no-brainer. TAKE ACTION Tune in at noon to the Wednesday, October 23rd work session of the Eugene City Council using this link, and in advance (like today) send an email to [email protected] to tell them it’s past time to stop giving tax subsidies for any buildings with fossil fuels! DEQ is Planning to Approve a Disaster for the Columbia River Estuary?! At Port Westward, near Clatskanie, OR (in the estuary of the Columbia River, a little over halfway from Portland to Astoria ), a Houston-based company called NEXT Renewables LLC Oregon is proposing to construct a major new refinery. This refinery would immediately become one of Oregon’s top greenhouse gas polluters. The refinery would be one of the largest of its kind in North America, risking accidents from the storage of dangerous, flammable, toxic, liquid fuel, while displacing a thriving farming community and harming fish habitat in a sensitive and unstable area. TAKE ACTION Sign Columbia Riverkeepers’ petition and tell DEQ and Gov. Kotek to protect the Columbia River and our climate from NEXT’s pollution and greenwashing today! Justice for West Eugene - Dangerous Transloading Project Threatens Neighborhood TAKE ACTION TODAY IS THE LAST DAY the City of Eugene has to withdraw its decision approving the zoning verification for the proposed biofuel transfer station in the Trainsong neighborhood. Send a message TODAY to [email protected] asking them to withdraw their approval. Overburdened West Eugene should be free of toxic air and noise pollution and fire hazards. Don’t have time to write your councilor or don’t have one, take this easy URGENT action today with Beyond Toxics’ email form! Save the Date Check out the website & FB event! Come to the People's Fall Fest at WOW Hall, 291 West 8th St., on Sunday, October 27th from 10:30am to 2:30pm to celebrate our community's environmental and social justice organizations. It's a Spooky Event, so dress for it. More info here. Take care of yourselves and each other. This is a time for solidarity and grace. Let’s keep our eyes open and summon our collective courage. Come what may, when we fight together, we win! Is it worse to have no climate solutions – or to have them but refuse to use them? The Guardian (Oct. 16, 2024) by Rebecca Solnit 
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 We know we have the solutions to the problems we’re facing right now. Ordinary people everywhere are stepping up their actions to protect democracy and this beautiful planet! If not us, then who? We’re lobbying, protesting, speaking up at public meetings and engaging / educating the community! Read on and check out our website calendar for times & places to jump in. Fall is CLEAN UP TIME, and do we ever have our work cut out for us! Thanks for all you do. When we fight, we win! BIG OPPORTUNITIES TO CLEAN-UP LOCALLY Support the No Gerrymander in Lane County Campaign! Far right county commissioners have slipped a last minute measure onto our November ballots that would alter district voting maps mid-cycle, undo the independent citizen commission recommendations, and cost taxpayers at least an additional $75,000 (during a budget shortfall), all with no public hearing or comment process, despite vociferous opposition from the League of Women Voters, county staff, a large cadre of elected officials (past and present) as well as scores of county residents. Peter DeFazio says, “Gerrymandering under the guise of so-called ‘independent redistricting’ is misleading and an affront to genuine democracy. TAKE ACTION Get involved. Tell friends. Vote NO on Measure 20-362. More info at www.nogerrymander.com and donate to protect fair elections in Lane County!  Think Climate. Vote Climate. Save our home. 350 Eugene Vote Climate Street Messaging Join us in October to HIT THE STREETS of Eugene to display signs and banners with a Vote Climate message. It’s a time to visit with other climate concerned voters and engage the public with our message. Stand next to or hold our signs or banners and wave at our fellow citizens who are driving, biking and walking by. Here are the dates, times and location for our October sign events: When: Friday, October 11 from 3-4:30 pm Thursday, October 24 from 3-4:30 pm Where: Corner of E. 30th Ave & Hilyard St & East of Hilyard along 30th Meet in the southeast corner of the Albertson’s parking lot just before 3:00, or look for the signs and banners at that corner and east on 30th Avenue whenever you arrive. Bring your own “Vote” signs, if you’d like. Bring a lawn chair if you like to sit down. Stay tuned and check our website for a possible added Vote Climate street messaging event the last week in October at 350eugene.org! SEE YA IN THE STREETS! Another Toxic Project in West Eugene?  Proposed hazardous fossil fuel project… Our allies with the Active Bethel Community & Beyond Toxics have organized a community conversation about a proposed biofuels transfer station in West Eugene. What could go wrong? How would this affect our climate goals? USD Clean Fuels LLC is planning to build a biofuels rail-to-tanker truck transfer station in the Trainsong neighborhood, which will bring 40 tanker truck trips daily through this neighborhood already struggling with pollution. Despite this, the City Council has yet to fully consider the dangers posed to Trainsong residents, especially children and pets, who already live near the proposed superfund site from the former J.H. Baxter creosote plant. All residents of River Road, Trainsong and Bethel will feel the impacts of this proposed construction project. The city is poised to approve this project unless we come together to demand better protections for our community. Date & Time: Monday, October 7th, from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Location: Lions of Judah Christian Center, 2600 Wood Ave., Eugene, OR 97402 (Google Map) Mayor Lucy Vinis and City Councilor Lyndsie Leech (Ward 7) will be there to listen to citizen concerns and help answer questions about the impacts of this project. COME TO THE MEETING! Forest Defense is Climate Defense Support the National Forest Biomass Emissions Act Good news! The first federal policy to address the impacts of biomass was recently introduced. (It’s about time.) This legislation directs the EPA to collect data on air and noise pollution from biomass. It instructs the EPA to assess biomass emissions. It orders a study of the community health near biomass facilities. Biomass emits more carbon than coal. This industry has destroyed millions of forest acres in the US South and they’re coming for our PNW forests. Most biomass plants operate in rural areas with low wealth and majority Black communities. Biomass plants emit air and noise pollution 24 hours a day. Biomass is an environmental injustice. Send a strong message using this quick form to your U.S. Senators and Representatives to support the Forest Biomass Emissions Act. We need big changes at the federal level to protect our forests from the scourge of industrial biomass. (Takes two minutes.) Thank you for sending your message now.  SEND A MESSAGE NOW Oregon Legislature - State Policy Oregon Coalition for an Environmental Rights Amendment (OCERA) A Successful Lobby Day at Salem Capitol Legislative Day OCERA organized a successful lobby day in Salem during September Legislative Days on September 24th!  Thank you to Catherine Thomasson (peeking out from behind Deb on the left) for scheduling appointments and organizing so many legislator meetings! 43 advocates from multiple coalition organizations spoke to legislators about why we need an Environmental Rights amendment in Oregon. Mel Martin and Linda Perrine testified before the Senate Natural Resources and Wildfire committee introduced the Amendment. Stay tuned for the next Legislative Day lobbying event from Dec. 10-12, 2024! Is a constitutional amendment a new idea? No. Three states already have fundamental and enforceable constitutional environmental rights protections: Pennsylvania (1971), Montana (1972), and New York (2021). Similar provisions exist in other state constitutions yet are not considered fundamental / enforceable, so results have varied. Many other states have pending amendment referrals in their legislatures and Hawaii has just negotiated a settlement with Earthjustice and Our Children’sTrust. Everybody, everywhere! In the streets & in the courts!  Patty Hine & Deb McGee with Senator James Manning. See and read more here. The Eugene Environmental Film Festival is here! October 11-20, 2024 at the Art House Check out the film festival and join your local climate buddies for a special debut of our local Grassroots Climate Story in the new Gas Leaks documentary “Electrifying Eugene,” premiering at the Art House on Thursday, October 17th at 6:15 pm. Here’s the film’s trailer. More info about the showing here. The Art House address is: 492 E 13th Ave. in Eugene.  See you at the Art House on October 17th at 6:15 pm! Let’s Electrify Eugene! Incentives to make West Eugene residents homes more energy efficient! This fall, the Bethel Clean Energy Project is connecting low-income West Eugene residents to incentives for new space heaters, air conditioning, water heaters and insulation, at little to no cost. The program meets over three nights on the following dates: Tuesdays - October 8, 15 and 22 from 6:00-8:00 pm. (Free dinner included.) Participants receive a free Home Energy Score from EWEB that recommends energy efficiency improvements to help them save money, education about available incentive programs to reduce the cost of improvements, and help getting bids from local installers. The program also provides a stipend to put towards your energy efficiency projects! Previous participants have received free and reduced cost heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and insulation for their homes. If you are a West Eugene resident and are interested in participating in the program or learning more, please fill out the interest form here: Bethel Clean Energy Project Form. Tell your friends! You Were ThereForests Over Profits Mobilization  The Pacific NW Forest Climate Alliance hosted the False Climate Solutions teach-in on Tuesday, September 24th in Portland, featuring Thomas Joseph, Carbon Pricing Educator from the Indigenous Environmental Network, Julia Bernal, Director of the Pueblo Alliance and New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition, and Brenna Bell, 350PDX Forest Climate Manager. Each speaker highlighted a different false climate solution - carbon offsets, "renewable" hydrogen, and industrial biomass energy - and came back to the same theme: capitalism and colonialism are at the root of the climate crisis and the only real climate solutions are ones that move away from these systems. On Wednesday, September 25th about 60 people braved the rain and protested the timberland investment conference, Canopy (formerly "Who Will Own the Forest"), at the World Forestry Center. With songs, chants and speeches, we let them know that just greenwashing the name and rhetoric of the conference does not mask its true intent to transform more land and natural processes into money. A wet and lively time was had by all! (Below is Green Man, Stephen Fuller-Rowell, from Eugene!
Thanks to the 350 Eugene Forest Defense Affinity Group (the Fireflies) for showing up and to our generous Portland hosts for their hospitality! See ya next year!  You can still sign-up for Quest by Cycle, an exciting bicycling adventure / scavenger hunt to promote clean, healthy active transportation. Family friendly. Play the game! Fall is Clean Up Time! If we all do our part, we’ll make a powerful difference for our democracy and for our environment. Thanks for all you do!  |
