September is for Action!

The heat and weather events this summer were beyond belief! We no longer chill out in relatively moderate temperatures from June through August… Nevertheless we are rested and ready for fall action!

Nationwide Climate Strikes

Fridays For Future and Sunrise youth are organizing Climate Strikes across the country this Friday in solidarity with the NYC March to End the Era of Fossil Fuels on September 17th and the UN’s Climate Ambition Summit in advance of COP 28. 
In Eugene, we’re turning out to demand immediate climate action at the local, state and national levels! Hear specific demands from student organizers and Support The Wave with a mighty public outcry for real climate solutions! CAN YOU HEAR US NOW?
We’re gathering at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza on 8th & Oak at 12:30 to welcome students arriving from Eugene schools and mingle with climate leaders. Wear red, bring your signs, and let your voice ring out for a sane, clean energy future for our children! See you there!
RSVP at bit.ly/EugeneClimateStrike.

Elsewhere in Oregon, youth are leading strikes in Portland, Salem and Bend. Lots of places to jump in. Be loud!

MARCH TO END THE ERA OF FOSSIL FUELS - SUNDAY, SEPT. 17TH - NEW YORK CITY

"It's never been more clear than now–a summer of record heat, deadly fires, and devastating floods–that we need to unite to put an end to fossil fuels," Oil Change International U.S. program manager Allie Rosenbluth said in a statement. "Every new fossil fuel project is incompatible with a livable future."
The New York march is part of a larger international escalation against fossil fuels launched in June and timed for the weekend before Guterress' September 20 summit, which asks nations for the first time to present plans for phasing out fossil fuels and ceasing production of the climate-warming energy sources.
"We demand President Biden wield his power, to usher in the end of fossil fuels so our planet and people can thrive," Rosenbluth said. "We join together for the March to End Fossil Fuels, not just to ask for change, but for a reckoning."
Note: Our buddy Allie Rosenbluth hails from Rogue Climate in Southern Oregon and is the lead organizer for the massive March in NYC. You rule, Allie!

Fill out this form to RSVP for the march and get involved. For more information, visit endfossilfuels.us.

Show Up for Our Forest

“WHO WILL OWN THE FOREST” CONFERENCE COUNTER-PROTEST IN PORTLAND

On September 26-28, climate polluters, corporate forest profiteers, and false climate solutions peddlers will come together to talk about “timberland investments" at a conference called “Who Will Own the Forest?" at the World Forestry Center (location) in SW Portland. Some of their worrying workshop titles include:

• A New Buyer Universe in Timberland
  
• Wood Bioenergy Markets
  
• International Investment in Timberland: Drivers, Opportunities, and Constraints
  
• What’s Next for Net Zero and Forest Carbon?
  
• Climate Risk and Insurance
  
• Will Digital Forestry Revolutionize the Industry?
  

In Oregon, logging is the single largest source of climate pollution, and 70% of logging happens on privately owned forestlands. Increasingly, these forests are owned by big Wall Street investors, who manage their forests to maximize shareholder profit, not for the health of our communities, our forests, or our climate.
The conference runs from Tuesday evening through lunch on Thursday. Activists are showing up throughout. We are organizing transportation and housing. Email us at [email protected] with WWOtF in the subject line if you are planning to come and need a ride and / or place to stay.
Our protest has two distinct parts: Wednesday’s Rally and Thursday’s Alternative Conference.
Wed., Sept. 27th from 8 am to 2 pm: Conference Mobilization / Protest / Rally

• Grassroots activists and leaders from the forest defense & climate justice movement will converge at Portland’s World Forestry Center for a demonstration confronting Wall Street capitalists and putting them on notice that managing forests to maximize profits and stall climate action will be met with increasing resistance.
  
• There will be speakers, music, marching bands, theatrical performances, art & creative resistance, and more. Come out to show these Wall Street elites that extractive forestry and false solutions are risky investments in the face of staunch grassroots opposition!
  

Thur., Sept. 28th from 10 am to 5 pm: Forests Over Profits Alternative Conference (location tbd)

• Communities and forests need real solutions to the climate emergency, industrial logging, and colonial land grabbing.
  
• In contrast to the corporate ‘Who Will Own the Forest?’ conference, communities and activists will come together to elevate real solutions and the need for fundamental systems change in the face of capitalist exploitation and the climate & biodiversity crises.
  
• We’ll learn from speakers & panelists about approaches to forest management that support ecosystems, empower communities, and grow climate resilience, including from the Land Back movement and Indigenous land management systems, community forestry & land trusts, and sustainable forest management.
  

Through presentations and discussions, participants will be encouraged to support real alternatives to corporate, profit-driven management. We’ll also hear from Atlanta allies who are fighting the Cop City project, which would turn a public forest into a military training facility for urban police.
That said, some of us may gather for scouting and other fun Tuesday evening. Stay tuned.
For more information, go to the new Forests Over Profits website here.
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To get fired up for the conference, just listen to Coast Range Radio’s recent podcast on “Fighting the Biomass Delusion” with Rita Frost and Peter Riggs, available on their website.

Save The Date

Oregon is a Climate Leader!
Go Clean Energy Conference: Get a Jackpot of incentives for Your
Electrification Projects - October 4th 8:30-4:30 in Bend
Whether you rent, own a home, or commercial building, cash and tax credits are coming your way from government incentives that will help you electrify. Learn from 25+ experts how to put your project together.
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Don’t be left out of the funding stream to electrify for cost savings and health. Solar, efficiency, Electric vehicle Charging, home heating and/or cooling are among your many options. Oct 4th, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm at Bend Central Oregon Community College. Only $75. More info and the registration link here.

Nuclear Power is Not a Climate Solution

WHAT: "Atomic Bamboozle: the False Promises of a Nuclear Renaissance." Followed by a Q&A with panel speakers Lloyd Marbet, Cathy Sampson-Kruse, and Jan Haaken.
Directed by Jan Haaken. Screening with "Portrait 2: Trojan," a short film directed by Vanessa Renwick, a Portland-based artist and filmmaker. This meditative five-minute film documents the emotional moment the Trojan tower was finally imploded.
WHEN: Monday, October 9, 7 PM.
WHERE: Art House, 492 E. 13th Ave., Eugene, OR 97401. Tickets can be purchased on the Art House website in advance or at the door. https://www.eugenearthouse.com/movie/atomic-bamboozle/ COST: $15 general admission, $10 seniors and students.
FROM THE DIRECTOR: “I share the deep sense of urgency many of us feel around the climate crisis – an urgency taken up in campaigns to revive nuclear power. But this same state of anxiety can make us vulnerable to sales pitches and false solutions. The film tells the story of nuclear propaganda with a deeper look at what we are being sold and it's long-term costs.” - Jan Haaken, Director

​Our Parade Message: Forest Defense is Climate Defense! Come join in and animate one of our forest-themed hanging lantern luminaries and other beautiful protest art.

It seems like each fall we say is THE YEAR to act on climate, yet local and world emissions continue to rise. Still a lot of progress and investments are being made in renewable energy and strong policies are being developed (and defended) everywhere. But political will remains pitifully lacking. The race is on. And it’s in our hands. Each one of us can play a part to protect what’s left. Let’s be fierce.