 The momentum is still building and we’re not backing down. The vast majority of people want to drastically step up efforts to confront the threat of climate-breakdown. But governments don’t act with the urgency that the accelerating crisis demands! We can change that. We know there are daunting difficulties ahead, and it just got harder, but ACT WE MUST! Climate change is HERE and we won’t turn away from our obligation to secure a stable-climate future. Show-up, write emails, protest, comment & carpool to Salem! LOCAL City of Eugene Climate Progress - Long on Talk… Short on Action IMPORTANT WORK SESSIONS TOMORROW! The Sustainability Office staff just finished an extended, robust public engagement process concerning potential building decarbonization strategies. They, along with the Climate & Sustainability Revenue Advisors (to pay for the strategies), will be presenting their recommendations at two work sessions tomorrow. (Note the Climate Revenue work session was previously scheduled for 12/11, but has been added to the 12/9 Decarbonization work session.) Will councilors act once they have the facts? Let’s watch and see! Where & When: Monday, December 9th at 5:30 pm at City Hall, 500 E 4th Street. JOIN US! We’ll be there tomorrow evening at 5:30 pm! (You also can tune-in remotely with this link, if you prefer.) Please note: Only Monday evening work sessions may be attended in-person. Holiday Market Street Messaging Fun Hit the streets to educate & inspire holiday shoppers about climate! Saturday, Dec. 14th - Join us to display Climate Action and Climate Justice banners & signs. It’s a great time to visit with other climate-concerned people 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. Bring your own Climate Action signs, if you’d like. Bring a lawn chair if you like to sit down. Where & When: W. 13th Ave next to the Fairgrounds and Holiday Market, near Monroe St. (Meet at the corner of 13th & Monroe just before 1:30, or look for the signs and banners along 13th Ave west of Monroe if you arrive later.)   Support Health & Safety in West Eugene! Oppose the USD Eugene Clean Fuels transloading facility in the Trainsong neighborhood! The City of Eugene is accepting written testimony regarding the Eugene Clean Fuels Zone Verification application during a 14-day period from December 3, 2024 through 5:00 p.m. on December 17, 2024. Please send an email to [email protected], urging the city to disapprove their application. More info here. A very brief email does the trick. They count each one on all issues! STATE We need strong state policy on Climate! Come to Salem to make it happen!  LOBBY DAY - Wednesday, Dec. 11th (8:00 am to 4:00 pm) at the capitol in Salem. The Oregon Coalition for an Environmental Rights Amendment (OCERA) represents the most effective, efficient and meaningful way to bring balanced, systemic change to how Oregon manages our environment, and emphasizes safety and health, especially for our children and future generations. 350 Eugene is organizing a carpool to attend lobby day and meet with our representatives, leaving Wednesday morning at 7:15 am. If you would like to join in, contact Deb at [email protected]. In Salem we’ll meet up at the First Presbyterian Church, 770 Chemeketa Street NE, around 8:00 am for an orientation and coffee / tea. (There’s free parking in the church lot.) Come in person or meet virtually with your representative. Register to participate in advance here. You’ll find all the relevant information in the sign-up form. Celebrate some good news: Oregon's Climate Protection Program has officially been restored, despite big polluters spreading misinformation to drown out your voices. With your help, we sent a strong message: We will NOT let big oil and gas companies operate business as usual. Thank you! Divest Oregon and the Bill Proposed in the 2025 Oregon Legislature  This amazing campaign keeps racking up wins! Learn more here. FEDERAL Environment Town Hall Thursday, December 19th at 11:30 - Oregon League of Conservation Voters is hosting a Virtual Town Hall on the Environment with Senator Ron Wyden. As we prepare for the newly elected president and Congress to take office, let’s join this call to learn directly from Senator Wyden about the ongoing fight for climate action and environmental protections in D.C. Register here. Fracked Gas Resistance - GTN XPress Update The Stop NW Gas Expansion Coalition is a grassroots alliance of public health, faith, climate justice, and local groups from across Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. We are fighting back against the unnecessary and rapid expansion of fracked methane gas and fossil fuels across our region. While the GTN Xpress project has been approved by the federal government – the fight to stop it continues in the courts. Recently a Politico report exposed the fact that pipeline inspectors have found the 63 year old pipes to be corroded and damaged. We can’t let weak federal pipeline rules put “profit over safety!” The fight is far from over! Stay tuned. Forest Defense is Climate Defense We are still reeling from rumors of reversing hard fought (and won) battles to preserve and protect our national forests and public lands. With all national forest plans now under review, the signs are that timber production will dramatically scale up. The U.S. Forest Service plans to redefine what is considered “mature” and “old-growth” to weaken protections and ramp up logging in the older public forests that absorb climate pollution, filter drinking water, provide needed habitat to imperiled fish and wildlife, and increase Cascadia’s resilience to wildfire. National and regional orgs are pulling together a short list of mature & old-growth logging projects to re-elevate with the Forest Service with the hope that some or all of them could be canceled before the next administration. Meanwhile, we in Cascadia are in a particularly critical time. In our region, the Northwest Forest Plan (adopted in 1994), which was an historic win for endangered species and stopped the worst of old growth logging, has just entered its 120-day public comment phase, ending March 17, 2025. Stay tuned for a BIG PUSH to submit massive comments to stave off the worst for our forests - a vital natural climate solution. The fight is on. NEARBY… In the beautiful Umpqua Watershed… You can help stop the Bureau of Land Management’s latest plan to log over 1,000 acres of resilient old growth forest habitat west of Yoncalla in the Blue & Gold Project. Send an email using this tool (quick & easy) to Biden and our U.S. Senators today to tell them we need our mature and old growth forests in the face of climate change and the biodiversity crisis! Thank you.  Transportation Folks in the Friendly Neighborhood are organizing to improve access to public transportation. If you are interested in learning more and/or joining this group, Contact Sandy Gill at (541) 357-1837. Resilience and Regeneration Work Group Inspiration & Instruction Film recommendation: At Work in the Ruins (YouTube 9/24/2024; 1 hour 4 minutes) with Dougald Hine. Dougald Hine is a social thinker, writer and speaker. He co-founded the Dark Mountain Project and has collaborated with scientists, artists and activists to explore how we might live together in these times. His latest book is At Work in the Ruins: Finding Our Place in the Time of Science, Climate Change, Pandemics & All the Other Emergencies (2023). An Opportunity in Our Community: Climate Cafe - Free Gathering First Tuesday of every month at 7:00 pm at 70 E Howard Ave, Eugene. (Organized by Mike Meyer.) We’re the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For With the recent federal election results, it’s now more important than ever to focus on local and state actions to keep building momentum towards a safe and clean energy future. We’re in this for the long haul and there’s solid momentum, which has been boosted by the landmark climate policies of the Biden administration. This will continue regardless of who is in the White House. Hey! Don’t forget our wins! Even during the last T-administration together we: Stopped the Jordan Cove LNG terminal and Pacific Connector Pipeline, Saved the Elliott State Forest and Reinstated Oregon’s Climate Protection Plan! And next time… we’re bringing the puppets!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
