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It’s Summer Solstice, the day with the longest period of daylight and shortest night of the year, when the Sun is at its highest position in the sky. It is a time of awakening and enlightenment and it is a symbol of the light’s triumph over darkness. This is a time of fertility, new beginnings, and positive energy. The potential for transformation has never been greater. With less than five years to put the brakes on GHG emissions to avert terrible tipping points, campaigns worldwide are escalating. In the US, the People vs Fossil Fuels Coalition, formed when Pres. Biden was elected, launched its “End the Era of Fossil Fuels” campaign and announced a massive mobilization, including a HUGE MARCH in NYC on Sunday, September 17th. On the forest protection front, federal land managers are getting an earful from the grassroots to enact truly durable policies to shield mature and old growth forests from logging. So locally, here’s how you can jump in…  Monday, June 26th - 10 to 11:00 am - Banner Drop over I-5 for Forest Protection! Join us, along with lots of our Pacific Northwest Forest Climate allies up and down the I-5 corridor, to tell President Biden we want permanent and durable protections for our mature and old growth forests! Meet at 9:45 at the Kaiser Permanente-Chase Gardens Medical Office parking lot (SE corner) at the intersection of S Garden Way and MLK Blvd. It’s a short walk uphill to the overpass. Everything is provided. Just show up. Did you love the Deep Roots Camp, or wish you could have made it?Big thanks to the fantastic organizers of Deep Roots Forest Climate Action Camp #2! (Group photo by one of the three amazing Camp Coordinators, Rachael Hogan.)  Take a look at the numerous follow-up actions planned for the PNW by orgs and individuals at camp. Kudos to the Pacific Northwest Forest Climate Alliance organizers for all their great work! You Were There!Launch of the “End the Era of Fossil Fuels” campaign in Portland, June 11th Land & Water Event at Cathedral Park on the Willamette River. (Photo below courtesy of Tomoko Sekiguchi).  Thanks to all of you who turned out for the in-person US Forest Service & BLM Field Hearing at UO Law School to make comments last week, including our Climate Mayor, Lucy Vinis. (Photo below courtesy of Robert Scherle.)  CampaignsElectrify Eugene - What about our electrification ordinance? Good news: The gas industry is on the ropes and our local city leadership is firmly committed to advancing our Climate Action Plan goals despite recent setbacks. Listen to KLCC’s recent podcast from an on-line, recorded community survey about the so-called “gas ban.” You’ll recognize that our community and its leaders strongly endorse a clean energy future. You might even hear YOUR voice! Listen here and stay tuned for updates. Eugene is leading the way on electrification in Oregon! Case in point: on June 7th Ashland became the 3rd Oregon city, after Eugene & Milwaukie, to commit to developing a policy to ensure all new homes are built climate-friendly w/out fossil fuels. This is a huge victory for a local youth-led climate movement advocating for all-electric new construction! Listen to this short program on JPR here and read the Oregonian article here. Plus OPB’s coverage: NW Natural plan to reduce emissions deemed insufficient by Oregon utility regulators. Yes, we know! State Policy The senate republicans who walked out and delayed legislative action have finally returned to work. The two bills that we have been most interested in supporting are now in theory able to move forward. The House passed HB 3630 with strong bipartisan support. This bill supports the development of clean energy in Oregon. The most important bill HB 3409, was due to have a floor vote yesterday, June 20th. This bill was created to incorporate the many single bills below in an effort to get them all passed as a package before the legislature must adjourn on June 25th. As of this writing, there is no update on this bill package. You can go to Oregon Legislative Information System website and put in HB 3409 for updates. That means that NOW is the time to ramp up our advocacy efforts in support of HB 3409. Please use this toolkit to amplify support for this priority package through social media posts, action alerts, and direct legislator outreach. TOP PRIORITY Bills included in HB 3409:
Other Good News!Our Children's Trust case is happening now in Montana… We’re finally at trial! Now we’re talking! More Youth Voices: Check out our latest Eugene Weekly “It Must Be the Climate” column by MIlla Vogelezang-Liu from South Eugene High School!  Join In!Are you a member of AARP? They have joined the climate fight. Sign their petition and if you’d like to join others in Oregon working on their campaign, contact loeb.bob@gmail.com directly. HAVE A GAS STOVE? This July the Airbusters at Beyond Toxics are looking for folks willing to join them in their groundbreaking new study. They’ll provide the ingredients, prepare and leave you a delicious meal (and a gift card) in appreciation for your participation. Fill out this form if you're interested, or send it to someone you know who might be. BLM COMMENT PERIOD IS EXTENDED! We need a massive number of comments to our federal forest managers to snap them out of their “business as usual = logging” mindset! Last Saturday, our very own 350.org put out a call to action and this easy form to make comments. We NEED MANY MORE COMMENTS to reach our goal of 500,000! The climate movement is going to bat for forest defense! Let’s do this. (You can make multiple comments.) June 27th - Pint Night at Falling Sky Pour House on Blair from 3 to 9:00 pm. Celebrate protecting federal forests with your forest climate buddies and send them a tidal wave of comments they can’t ignore! Save the Date - There's a National Climate March Coming! September 17th in NYCFollowing the “End the Era of Fossil Fuels” Zoom launch last week with hundreds of people on the call, we heard from some amazing speakers about why this march is so important and how you can get involved. There will be a march, rally, and protest to demand that President Biden take bold climate action. Biden must reject new fossil fuel projects, phase out fossil fuel production, and declare a climate emergency. More info here. If you missed the call, you can watch a recording here.  WHO KILLED JORDAN COVE? WE DID! Here’s a feature from May 31st in PDX Monthly, explaining how an unlikely band of activists vanquished an energy megaproject in Southern Oregon: Who Killed Jordan Cove. People still can’t believe we did it. But WE DID.
Time is running out. Let’s make a new beginning. Fossil Free!
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With gridlock at the state and federal levels, it’s time for the PEOPLE to swing into action to demand REAL ACTION. In June there are at least FIVE ways you can plug in and make a difference! Take Action 1. Deep Roots Forest Climate Action Camp June 1 - 4 We understand that Pacific Northwest forests are absolutely necessary to sequester and store massive amounts of carbon. We understand that forest defense is climate defense! We have an incredible opportunity (brought to us by the Climate Emergency Fund and the Deep Roots Action Camp Coordinators) to prepare us for concrete local action to demand protection for this natural climate solution. We hope you’ll join us. (Location & logistics details available when you register.) Learn more & register here. Background: Learn & practice nonviolent direct action skills, connect with others in the forest & climate defense communities, and sleep under the stars! The Camp will take place in the Pacific Northwest, in Southwest WA (about an hour from PDX). Together, we’ll learn & draw from the lessons & strengths of both the climate justice and forest defense movements, with the goal of building a vibrant direct action movement to protect our communities, forests, and climate. Over the course of four days, we’ll build relationships, learn new skills, and get connected with ongoing campaigns to protect communities, climate, and forests throughout the PNW. Trainings & workshops include organizing & participating in direct action, creating vibrant protest art, forest defense, strategy and tactics, and more! Following the Camp, there will be opportunities to plug into upcoming actions and campaigns. Free. Register here and contact us at info@350eugene.org about carpooling.  2. Sunday, June 11th - Road Trip to PDX for a Land and Water Rally to Stop Fossil Fuels! The climate justice movement here in the Pacific Northwest has stopped nearly every fossil fuel project proposed in the region — from Jordan Cove LNG to the Kalama Methanol Refinery and more. Still, fossil fuel companies are doing everything in their power to push projects through, with Zenith Energy trying to expand its crude oil terminal in Northwest Portland and TC Energy trying to build on GTN XPress so it would carry an additional 150 million cubic feet of gas a day. We've shown fossil fuel companies time and time again that our movement is powerful. It's time for us to show up again, en masse, to say that we don't want fossil fuel projects built or expanded through the Pacific Northwest, or anywhere. Join us on Sunday, June 11th at Cathedral Park in PDX, as we gather on land and water with thousands in a week-long nationwide mass mobilization of distributed actions to tell President Biden we demand an end to fossil fuels, including the dangerous Zenith oil-by-rail expansion and GTN XPress. (See all the US People v Fossil Fuels events here.) A group will be leaving Eugene together that morning. Email us at info@350eugene.org to be part of the Eugene Climate Contingent. (Destination: Cathedral Park, North Edison Street, Pittsburgh Avenue Portland, OR 97203) Register here and let the PDX organizers know you’re coming! We are the Thin Green Line! 3. LET THEM GROW! A once-in-a-generation opportunity to tell our federal land managers to protect our federal forests! (Please please please make an on-line comment by June 19th!) In 2022 on Earth Day, President Biden issued an executive order calling on the Forest Service (under the USDA) and Bureau of Land Management (under the Dept of Interior) to conserve mature and old-growth forests as a climate solution. HOWEVER… mature and old-growth forests are still on the chopping block! We must now make massive comments to the federal land managers to demand they enact policies to protect federal forests. The two agencies have “inventoried” mature and old-growth (MOG) forests and have initiated a “rule-making” process, which includes accepting public comments until June 20th… Nationally, organizers have set a goal of 500,000 comments. We can do this. Cascadia Wildlands has created this easy to use form to tally and submit our messages to Secretaries Haaland and Vilsack. Takes 2 minutes. Suggested talking points for your personal remarks:
4. Rather meet in-person and submit your comments to the USFS & BLM? We’re helping organize our very own “Field Hearing” here in Eugene on Tuesday, June 13th at UO Law School, Room 175 from 6 to 8:00 pm. You can come and make recorded comments in person or sit down and write your comments for submission with other attendees. Very informal, but maybe more fun for you than on-line commenting! A good opportunity to network with your climate buddies and hit the ice cream shop nearby. See you there! 5. Banner drop over I-5 on Monday, June 26th Tell Pres. Biden to protect mature and old growth forests! We’re joining other PNW forest climate activists in Oregon and Washington during a week of action to send a message that this is the year to protect our forests for the climate. This will be a serious, but fun, one-hour gig, with social time following. Stay tuned for details.  Save the DateStay Healthy and Cool this Summer Workshop with DIY Coolers and Air Purifiers Where: Hilyard Community Center, 2580 Hilyard St, Eugene, OR 97405 When: Sunday June 25th, 3 - 4:30 pm Hosts: Beyond Toxics, NAACP & Fossil Free Eugene Seeking BIPOC and low-income community members / participants Everyone deserves to feel comfortable this summer! Registration is open for the latest Just Transition Workshop on protecting yourself from the summer heat & smoke.Participants will be provided with information on air pollution, both from wildfire smoke and indoor air pollution from gas appliances as well as the dangers of heat domes to make sure that folks have the tools they need to stay healthy and cool this summer. The event includes a DIY workshop! (Participants will receive a $30 stipend for their time and participation.) Register here. Presenters: Jocelyn Wensel is a Medical Student and the Health Workforce Development Program Coordinator at the NAACP David De La Torre, the Healthy Climate Program Director for the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility. After the presentations, there will be a DIY workshop to create either a swamp cooler or an air purifier that everyone can take home with them, thanks to local partner, BRING Recycling. We know the truth, no matter what they say!Inside Big Beef’s Climate Messaging Machine: Confuse, Defend and Downplay: (The Guardian, by Joe Fassler, May 3, 2023.) How Big Oil is manipulating the way you think about climate change: (Salon, by Kathleen Dean Moore, May 13, 2023.)  Our comrade Emily Johnston, one of the founders of 350 Seattle, a Valver-Turner and KXL arrestee at the White House with Bill McKibben, has launched an amazing podcast called “A Wild & Beautiful World.” Through interviews (e.g., Naomi Klein, Kathleen Dean Moore, Bill McKibben) she explores Wendell Berry’s question: “We don’t have a right to ask whether we’re going to succeed or not - the only question we have a right to ask is: What’s the right thing to do? What does this Earth require of us if we want to continue to live on it?” You’re in for a treat.
Five great actions to make a difference this June. See you in the streets!  On the 53rd anniversary of Earth Day, we marked the intersection of forest defense and climate defense with a fun-filled afternoon in downtown Eugene with a rally, parade & flashmob, including great speakers (Mayor Vinis, Councilor Keating and Miriam Oommen), singing (Raging Grannies), drumming (Samba Ja) and jazz favorites with the All Eugene High School Band! Thanks to all the organizers and volunteers who made this event possible. And a special shout out to the Department of Climate Emergency Fire Engine & Emerald Valley EV Association drivers, and Wildcraft Ciderworks for a fabulous community Earth Day party! There will be lots more fun around forest protection coming up this summer. Read on! CampaignsForest Defense is Climate Defense Phase One - Last year’s Executive Order to inventory federal forests. Phase Two - We Demand Durable Protections for Forests! Last year, President Biden ordered an inventory of federal forests and this year we need strong rules to protect them. Great news! Last week, the BLM and USDA (which houses the US Forest Service) announced a pathway to protect mature and old-growth trees and forests as part of a strategy to improve the climate resilience of federally managed forests. The rulemaking process will involve a public comment period to gather input on new policies the agency can adopt. Our goal is to generate over 500,000 comments. The deadline is June 20th. Stay tuned for talking points and toolkits! We’re going to set a new record for comments submitted! Join us! Conflict Navigation for Activists - Wednesday, May 10th from 6:00 to 7:30 pm In preparation for the Deep Roots Forest Climate Camp, the Pacific Northwest Forest Climate Alliance has provided Activist Training webinars to skill up with best campaign practices. The final session in a hard-hitting four-part series is about Conflict Navigation. You won’t want to miss it. Register here.  Forest Defense Continued Deep Roots Forest Climate Action Camp - June 1st through 4th in Southwest Washington This is how we win! We build grassroots support and power for the change our elected officials don’t have the political courage to make! Thanks to the groundbreaking work of the Climate Emergency Fund, 350 Eugene received its second generous grant for a Deep Roots Forest Climate Action Camp. The Climate Emergency Fund raises funds and makes grants to the disruptive nonviolent climate movement and we are proud to be grantees. Deep Roots is a space for trainings, relationship building, and great food! Trainings include: organizing & participating in direct action, creating vibrant protest art, forest defense, strategy and tactics, and more! The location is not being released at this time; it is within several hours of Seattle and Portland and will be shared with people who register for the camp. You can find out more about the camp here & register with this link. June 24th - July 2nd - Forest Climate Week of Actions in the Pacific Northwest We’re planning to hit the Eugene streets with some of the magnificent banners & posters from Earth Day during this week of action. We’ll need lots of people to animate the art. Stay tuned for details and plan to join in. Electrify Eugene As many of you have heard, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently ruled against the City of Berkley, potentially invalidating their ordinance mandating the electrification of new construction. This is very disappointing and has significant implications for Eugene’s electrification ordinance mandating electricity in all new low rise residential construction. This necessarily changes our strategy and we’re considering all our options. Meanwhile, somethings are certain:
Here’s some amazing coverage in the national media: Washington Post 4/21/21: A fight brewing in Oregon could decide how we heat our homes and cook (In Eugene, the natural gas industry plans to spend millions to defeat the city’s ban on gas in newly built homes. If it succeeds, the industry may take the fight to other U.S. cities and counties.) Bloomberg 4/25/23: An Oregon City Banned Natural Gas. The Gas Company Fought Back. (Eugene’s ordinance restricting gas hookups in new construction was set to be the state’s first - until a local utility and its allies launched a $1 million counterattack.) State Legislation Update Last Thursday was Lobby Day in Salem for the Building Resilience bill package. These 4 bills are crucial to creating a framework and mandate for energy efficient buildings. If passed, they will to enable Oregon to access monies from the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to help us have more climate resilient homes and offices and save money on our utility bills. These bills are in Ways and Means Committee; if your representative is Paul Holvey, please let his office know you support these important bills. Rep.PaulHolvey@oregonlegislature.gov Low Carbon Buildings / Efficiency Upgrades SB868 SB868 A Staff Measure Summary LINK: OLIS SB868 2023 Regular Session Requires the Department of Consumer and Business Services to study how to build resilience and efficiency into buildings. STATUS (as of 4/17/2023): Passed Senate Committee On Energy and Environment with amendments 3-2. Referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means by order of the President. SB869 SB869 A Staff Measure Summary LINK: OLIS SB869 2023 Regular Session Directs Department of Consumer and Business Services to facilitate greenhouse gas emission reductions consistent with statewide goals. STATUS (as of 4/17/2023): Passed Senate Committee On Energy and Environment with amendments 3-2. Referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means by order of the President. SB870 SB870 A Staff Measure Summary LINK: OLIS SB870 2023 Regular Session Declares an emergency. Oregon government agencies to specify energy performance standard for covered commercial buildings that seeks to maximize reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. STATUS (as of 4/17/2023): Passed Senate Committee On Energy and Environment with amendments 3-2. Referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means by order of the President. SB871 SB871 A Staff Measure Summary LINK: OLIS SB871 2023 Regular Session Specifies requirements for energy savings performance contract and provides that contracting agency may solicit and award energy savings performance contract without competitive process and without requirement to issue request for proposals. STATUS (as of 4/17/2023): Passed Senate Committee On Energy and Environment with amendments 3-2. Referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means by order of the President. Climate Resilience Hubs HB 2990 HB2990 A Staff Measure Summary LINK: OLIS HB2990 2023 Regular Session Requires the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS), in consultation with the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE), and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), to provide grants, support, and technical assistance for Resilience Hubs and Networks in Oregon. Defines "Resilience Hub" and "Resilience Network." STATUS As of 4/17/2023: Passed the House Committee On Climate, Energy, and Environment 4-1. Referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. Help our Natural Working Lands and the farmers and foresters who make their living there have the money and tools to become more climate resilient while sequestering Carbon! Carbon Sequestration SB530 Natural Climate Solutions SB530 Staff Measure Summary LINK: OLIS SB530 2023 Regular Session Supports increased carbon sequestration on our forests, agricultural lands, and wetlands and improved resilience of our water, wildlife, and communities by providing incentives and technical support to forest owners, farmers, and ranchers to implement STATUS (as of 4/17/2023): Passed Senate Natural Resource Committee 3-2. Referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. HB2998 Healthy Soils HB2998 Staff Measure Summary LINK: OLIS HB2998 2023 Regular Session Creates Oregon Soil Health Initiative, a voluntary, incentive-based approach that is focused on expanding strategies to advance soil health including: technical assistance, outreach and farmer-to-farmer education, financial incentives, and research. STATUS (as of 4/17/2023): Passed House Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water Committee 3-2.Referred to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. GTN XPress Good news… the FERC has pushed the deadline for a decision out another month. Meanwhile, Oregonians are calling on Governor Tina Kotek to oppose the GTN XPress fracked gas expansion, as she promised to do while campaigning for office. Let’s keep up the pressure – Urge Governor Kotek to keep her promise and publicly oppose GTN XPress! Send a message or call her office today! Dial (503) 378-4582, then press “3” to leave a comment. Sample Talking Points:
Take Action!Say No to the Oregon Domestic Terrorist bill. Email your legislators with a short note (talking points provided) by clicking here (easy; takes 2 minutes). Thank you! Dissent is patriotic and we must be able to freely protest under our Constitutional rights. Save the DateSunday, April 30th, 6:00 pm - Film screening of The Animal People at the Eugene Garden Club, 1645 High Street; $5-15 sliding scale. Show your solidarity at this fundraiser with those fighting back against Cop City. The Animal People is a documentary about the SHAC 7 case, followed by a Q&A with two of the defendants, Josh Harper and Jake Conroy. Hosted by the Civil Liberties Defense Center and the Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar, this event will include prisoner letter-writing, and Certain Days calendars will also be available. Wednesday, May 3rd at 7 - 8:30 pm - "Oregon’s Wall Street Forests and the Climate Emergency” with Chuck Willer of the Coast Range Association at the Eugene Garden Club, 1645 High Street. Chuck Willer will explore the role of Wall Street finance in Oregon’s private forests and how financial management harms the environment, people, communities and rural economies. He will focus on the rise of investor-owned timber corporations locked into ecologically destructive forest management, forest carbon loss and polluted watersheds. All the while, an unrelenting climate crisis challenges financial forest management. Free admission - donations accepted; Hosts are Community Rights Lane County and Protect Lane County Watersheds. June 8th through 11th - End the Era of Fossil Fuels - National Days of Distributed Actions Join our friends at 350PDX and other Portland orgs on June 11th for a day of action on the water! We will be standing up to Zenith Energy and the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub as well as acting in solidarity with other fossil fuel fights taking place across the country. The CEI Hub is a six-mile stretch of old tank farms, located in NW Portland along the Willamette River. The CEI Hub holds more than 90% of all liquid fuel in Oregon. The entire CEI Hub is in an earthquake liquefaction zone. Located within the CEI Hub is Zenith, the source of dangerous oil trains plowing through our communities. Despite years of public outcry against Zenith’s dangerous operations, on October 3, the City of Portland quietly approved a Land Use Compatibility Statement (LUCS)—giving Zenith the green light for five more years of oil trains and all the threats it presents in our communities. Biden promised to be a climate president – yet under his watch, the U.S. continues to be the biggest producer of oil and gas in the world. In the first few years of his term, he approved more lease sales for new oil and gas drilling on federal lands and waters than Trump. And his administration has approved new oil and gas projects, like the Willow oil drilling project in Alaska and multiple oil and gas export terminals in the Gulf. Global scientists have been abundantly clear – we cannot avoid the very worst impacts of the climate crisis if we allow for any more fossil development. Starting this June, national climate organizations are mobilizing to turn up the heat and make Biden take real climate action – by ending the era of fossil fuels. We’ll join a national week of action during June 8th through 11th to demand Biden use his executive powers to end the era of fossil fuels and declare a climate emergency! The pressure to end fossil fuels is growing. Stay tuned for more details! Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something is worth doing no matter how it turns out.” — Václav Havel
Some beautiful resources from Rebecca Solnit’s new work, “Not Too Late - Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility” at https://www.nottoolateclimate.com/. Dear , Pipelines, timber sales and factory farms, oh my! As we sail through the month of August, looking forward to the cooler fall rainy season, our voices are needed RIGHT NOW to register opposition to projects in our region that are climate-destructive. Can you take action today? Thank you! Take Action Gas Transmission Northwest Pipeline TC Pipeline, the company that brought the Keystone XL Pipeline, proposes to add 250 million cubic feet per day of fracked gas capacity to its GTN pipeline that spans British Columbia, Idaho, Washington State, Oregon, and California. We have only a couple of days until August 20th to tell the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject this project! FERC. Will you sign this petition to FERC to tell them that the GTN Xpress Project is contrary to the public interest? USDA comment period for mature & Old growth - comments extended to August 30th We need an immediate moratorium on logging mature and old growth forests on Federal lands until the inventory process is complete and permanent protections are in place. We have to make the case for protecting these forests, and demonstrate overwhelming support for meaningful, lasting protections. Can you send a comment today? Worth More Standing! Comment here. Creswell Chicken Processing Plant Foster Farms has applied to renew a 16 year-old permit (from 2006) for a "chicken processing plant" in our neighboring community of Creswell . Read Food and Water Watch’s alert here. We have serious concerns about water and air quality that will affect the community and environment with the pollutants Foster Farms plans to discharge into the local waterways. We have an opportunity to make our voices heard! Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality is seeking community input regarding the proposed water quality permit. There are two ways to respond. COMMENT in-person during the Zoom meeting: Monday, Aug. 29, at 4:00 pm. More information and instructions for joining the Zoom meeting to give in-person comments can be found here. You can also call in to the meeting at: 888-475-4499. MAIL or EMAIL: Comments also may be mailed to Trinh Hansen, DEQ water quality permit coordinator, at 4026 Fairview Industrial Drive SE, Salem, OR 97302; faxed to 503-373-7944; or emailed to trinh.hansen@deq.oregon.gov. Written comments must be received by 5 p.m. on Aug. 31st. You can also sign the Food and Water Watch petition to DEQ by clicking here today. When we organize, we win! Keep our watershed and airshed clean! Save the Date September 1st, 5:30-7:30pm, Hop Valley Brewing Climate Trivia Night We are co-hosting a climate trivia night in Eugene with a other organizations and we would love to see you there! Join us for a fun evening of trivia blended with community action and solidarity. We will have prizes for the winners and plenty of freebies and educational materials.  September 16-18 Deep Roots: Trainings for Forest & Climate Action Join us September 16-18 for Deep Roots: Trainings for Forest & Climate Action! The Flat Country timber sale, eight miles east of McKenzie Bridge, is an archaic old-growth logging project planned in the Willamette National Forest in the headwaters of the iconic McKenzie River, the drinking water source for Eugene. Deep Roots is designed to build capacity for the creation of effective affinity groups to support stopping a timber sale like this one. In connection with the camp, there are also plans for a flotilla of kayaks! If you are interested, shoot us an email at forestclimatecoordinator@350eugene.org! OpportunityGlobal Climate Strategy: On Thursday & Friday, September 1st & 2nd, 350.org is hosting three organizer training sessions (each one will be run twice in different time zones), that cover the state of our climate movement, how we sustain our activism in the long run and stay resilient, and organizing after climate impacts.You can register and join activists from around there world here. Brianna Fruean, Mitzi Jonelle Tan, Rebecca Solnit, Yeb Sano, Bill McKibben, and leaders from communities directly impacted by the climate crisis will join the discussions and help us weave big themes out in the movement landscape with practical stories of how people are adjusting to the changing landscape.
At the end of June the heat dome killed hundreds of people and more than one billion marine animals here at home, while wildfires continue to rage from California to Siberia. The signs are all around us, the climate crisis is here now and THE PEOPLE must force governments to act. It has been five years since the Paris Climate Accords. On November 1st, national leaders from across the world will gather in Glasgow, Scotland for the COP 26 UN Climate Talks. What can we do in the next three months to ensure governments and corporations take serious climate action? Many things!  On Tuesday, August 3rd at 5pm (PDT), 350.org and Stop the Money Pipeline kick off a campaign aimed at financial institutions that are profiting off planet-heating fossil fuels. Register here and take one minute to sign the campaign petition today. In early October, the Build Back Fossil Free coalition is planning a week of major in-person, non-violent direct actions targeting President Biden in Washington, D.C. We'll keep you posted on how to support this important mobilization starting October 9th through October 16th. Read more about the demands here. Working with the local Fossil Free Eugene coalition, 350 Eugene is planning our own October event to put pressure on our city and county officials to take the bold steps to decarbonize our community, specifically by incentivizing electrification and regulating & phasing out fossil gas. At the state level, 350 Eugene is part of a growing, dynamic effort demanding Oregon's Treasurer, Tobias Read, to divest state employee retirement funds from fossil fuels. We need to keep the Wall Street gamblers and climate-wreckers away of our public retirement investments. Read the eye-opening article here. If you are a PERS member and want to know more, contact us at info@350eugene.org with Divest Oregon in the subject line. In the next three months, we have the historic opportunity to stand up for climate justice at every level and demonstrate the strength of our movement. At this five year mark since Paris, we're escalating. It's time to hold our leaders accountable for their promises and demand that they take action on the climate crisis now. Campaign Updates
Line 3 UpdateThe first week of June, 350 Eugene donated to help Line 3 Resistors from Eugene & Portland travel to the Treaty People Gathering in northern Minnesota. Here’s a brief report from Cherice Bock, Creation Justice Advocate at Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon: Two 12-passenger vans & 17 people drove together, starting on June 3rd and returning the 12th of June. (Funds also supported three other vehicles & people getting there and back.) They stayed with over 1500 people in tents at the Pure Bliss Farm on the White Earth Reservation and the interfaith delegation (400) stayed at a camp in Park Rapids, MN. Food was catered. Treaty People Gathering began with a welcome gathering with prayers and songs on June 5th. On the 6th, there were legal and direct action trainings and affinity group organizing, including movement singing. June 7th was a day of two actions. One was at a pump station location, where the helicopter flew low near the protesters, kicking up dust and debris. Protesters locked themselves to equipment and a boat. There were about 200 arrests and the location wasn't fully cleared of protesters until late afternoon on the 8th. The second was at the Mississippi headwaters, starting with an interfaith prayer service, followed by a massive march (over 1500 people). Those willing to be arrested crossed the marsh out to a boardwalk that was not yet constructed across the Mississippi. No arrests. Construction was stopped for 8 days. Many from our group were arrested in the first action. All were released by the end of the day on the 10th and returned home. All have had their first arraignment hearings by phone/Zoom, mostly charged with gross misdemeanors for trespassing. They will have further hearings as their cases move through the courts. Part of the strategy is to try the ideas in court that Indigenous people have a right to be on that land and protest the construction of this pipeline, as it negates their ability to practice their treaty rights of hunting, gathering, and religious ceremonies on that land. In Washington, this was an effective strategy for getting the Elwha Dam removed: the treaty rights for fishing salmon are not being honored if all the salmon populations are decimated. The same legal argument is being used in these cases. Take-aways: We Are All Treaty People and we must continue to pressure President Biden to cancel Line 3. Keep the conversations going and share with your networks. Go to Minnesota, if you can!
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Line 3 Guerilla Postering action on the 16th! We had a great time spreading the word about this important issue. Upcoming EventsTuesday, August 3rd, 6:30-8pm: Legislative Town Hall in the Park Join Eugene-Springfield area state legislators for an overview of the 2021 legislative session at the Alton Baker Park picnic shelter (see map here). Bring your questions!
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