 Dear Friends of 350 Eugene, 2024 was a great year! Thanks for all your support! Now we’re looking 2025 squarely in the face and the 350 Eugene team of volunteers continue the fight for climate-sanity! We’re on a warrior’s journey together. Steady as she goes. Let’s be ready! If you haven’t already, you can still make a 2024 donation to our grassroots work. Go to our website's donate page here and make a contribution today to serious & creative local climate action! THANK YOU! From the Board President: Like our family, you may have a tradition at this time of year to revisit an inspiring story that exemplifies courage against all odds; a story that reminds us of what we can do together, that binds us together and lifts our spirits. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is our “go to”, and the renowned climate scientist, Michael Mann (and YOU), may agree. He said this on election day in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists:  “Especially resonant for me at this time is an exchange between Sam and Frodo, midway through their journey, as Frodo begins to doubt his resolve, and questions whether he is up to the seemingly hopeless task he has been given:” Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam? Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo … and it’s worth fighting for.” Michael Mann goes on to say: “We too must choose to do battle against the forces of darkness, fighting back against a malevolent movement that represents fascism, authoritarianism, racism, misogyny, and bigotry, a movement that uses antiscientific disinformation as its preferred weapon. We do this not because our success is guaranteed. Given the forces mobilized against us, we are clearly the underdog. No white wizard will come to our rescue. But we have truth and justice on our side. And the stakes simply couldn’t be greater. We continue to fight for a livable planet, for us, our children, and future generations. Because it’s worth fighting for.” There are a lot of challenges stacking up at the federal level, but there is a ton of important work that our scrappy grassroots team of agitators can do at the state and local level: that’s where we’ll focus. Read on to see where and how YOU can jump in! This is your last chance to donate to our work in 2024. Go to our website's donate page here and make a contribution to local grassroots climate action today! THANK YOU! - Patty Hine New in 2025
Local PolicyCITY - The City of Eugene will have a new mayor, Kaarin Knudson, and Ward 1 Councilor, Eliza Kashinsky, both friends of good climate policy. This is good news! We’ll continue to advocate for building decarbonization through an increase in the “gas supplier tax” and other policies so Eugene can meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, do our part to reduce planet-heating pollution, and be a state leader in the equitable transition to clean, renewable energy. Kudos to Ian Penn & Danielle Klinkebiel of the Eugene Sustainability Office, and Chief Financial Officer, Twylla Miller, for their excellent presentations on climate action and budget/revenue progress during the 12/9/24 City Council Work Session. To hear the recording, go to this Youtube video.  Federal funds are flowing down to state and local jurisdictions from Biden’s Inflation Reduction and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Acts. Sweeping investments and projects are already underway. The energy transition is HERE. We will continue to engage and educate policy-makers in the city, county, local utilities, school boards and community organizations and push for the changes we need to see. We’re running out of time. STREET MESSAGING CONTINUES - (watch our website calendar for January dates & locations) The Holiday Market Street Messaging was met with a “hail downpour” but not before we enjoyed connecting with market-goers! Fresh air & conversation with your climate buddies and community, followed by informal social time. Everything is provided and all are welcome!
State PolicyOregon Coalition for an Environmental Rights Amendment (OCERA) Lobby Day  Great success getting co-sponsors for the OCERA bill at Lobby Day on December 11th! Big thanks to the organizers and our local state policy team, Dan Mulholland, Linda Kelley and Robin Bloomgarden, pictured above, with new bill co-sponsor Oregon House Representative-elect District 8, Lisa Fragala. You can read the bill here. It’s a game-changer! Divest Oregon - The Pause Act - Pause PERS Private Investments in Fossil Fuels in 2025! A Five-Year Moratorium on Private Fossil Fuel Investments Divest Oregon has had a very busy year: Successfully passed the COAL Act by building strong ties with legislators, spoke at monthly Oregon Investment Council meetings, got Treasurer-elect Steiner to commit to the Net Zero Plan and elevated it to an issue in the Treasurer's race, held a successful Treasurer candidate forum, worked with allies in WA, IL, CA and NY and presented nationally as state divestment experts. Wow! You can look / listen to the December meeting slides and recording to get a glimpse of how much progress our campaign is making. Here’s a fact sheet on the Pause Act. In 2025, if you are willing to meet virtually with your legislator in support of the Pause Act in January or attend an upcoming Lobby Day in Salem (date TBD), please fill out this form. Even if you’ve signed up in the past, please sign up again to get your new legislator info and you’ll be contacted! Note: For virtual Pause Act meetings, we’ll schedule the meetings and invite you. Someone from Divest Oregon will attend and do a constituent prep beforehand. More on state climate policy: Established by state law in 2007 as the Global Warming Commission, the newly named “Oregon Climate Action Commission,” was created to recommend ways to coordinate state and local efforts to reduce Oregon's greenhouse gas emissions, and to help the state, local governments, businesses, and Oregonians prepare for the effects of climate change. The Commission will meet on January 10, 2025. The public meeting will be held from 9 a.m. to noon online. At this meeting the Commission will discuss Natural and Working Lands and the Commission’s 2025 Work Plan. Most of the meeting will focus on reviewing work plan topics and will generate input for future areas of focus and priorities in the coming year. The agenda and meeting information, including how to listen in, is available on the Commission’s website. FOREST CLIMATE DEFENSE- the news isn’t good As you know, the US Forest Service has been tasked to update all its national forest plans, ostensibly with climate and biodiversity protection in mind. The plan governing our region, the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP), is a landmark policy from 1994 that finally and significantly protects our region’s old growth and imperiled species. It is being threatened. The Initial Analysis of Northwest Forest Plan Amendment Draft Environmental Impact Statement Alternatives (four-page) summary report from Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, Bird Alliance of Oregon and Wild Earth Guardians shows that the U.S. Forest Service has proposed its own sweeping changes to the NWFP that could double—and potentially triple—logging levels on our national forests and re-open mature and old-growth stands to aggressive logging. After four years of hard work by the national Climate Forests Coalition and our own regional Pacific Northwest Forest Climate Alliance (PNWFCA), organizers are re-evaluating how to be most effective at protecting what’s left of our national and private forest lands given the change in national leadership. We’re gearing up for action in 2025 with planning retreats, commenting sessions, work groups and spring / summer events. It can be a steep learning curve for climate activists to wrap our heads around national land management practices, but the single biggest climate solution in Cascadia is without a doubt protecting mature and old growth forests! How do we fight back? Educate ourselves, network, support and show-up with our forest conservation allies! Wednesday, January 22nd - Firefighters for Safety, Ethics and Ecology (FUSEE) and partners will be hosting the Just Futures Symposium with speakers discussing the impacts of the NWFP on Tribal inclusion and environmental justice. RSVP here. Free and open to the public.  Join Us for More January EventsThursday, January 16th at 6:30 pm film at the Art House - Eating for Tomorrow  Eating For Tomorrow is a powerful and brilliantly produced documentary that exposes the devastating environmental impact of our current food systems. With the planet teetering toward ecological collapse, the film calls for a global dietary shift and illuminates the path to a sustainable future for us all. 350 Eugene is co-sponsor. Learn more and buy tickets here. Sunday, January 19th at 1:00 pm Anti-imperialist Rally & March at the Wayne Morse Federal Courthouse, 405 E 8th, Ave. Eugene - Defeat Trump’s Extreme-right Billionaire Agenda. Other NewsWe have a new social media channel: Blue Sky! Have you seen our cool slides in the local theaters? (Hats off to Joanie Kleban - our Artivist in Chief.)   The Emerald Valley Electric Vehicle Association (EVEVA) has a great FB page where you can learn about the latest incentives and local EV opportunities. Check it out! Some good news & national fame for 350 Eugene - In the Microgrid Resources Coalition (MRC) Newsletter under Oregon: The MRC continues building upon its successful work with the State Legislature and the Oregon Department of Energy to create a County Energy Resilience Grant Program that will fund the planning of microgrid and resiliency projects in local communities in Oregon. In collaboration with our local coalition partners like Sustainable Northwest, Community Renewable Energy Association, 350 Eugene, and other key stakeholders, the MRC is preparing to engage in the 2025 Legislative Session and advocate for policy proposals that will advance microgrid and community energy project development across the state of Oregon. (Note: Big thanks to our awesome local Policy Team’s efforts and their innovative work on the Eugene Airport’s Solar Project / grant from Oregon Department of Energy!) It’s 2025 and you know it’s time to act, personally and collectively! For some ideas, we like Ayana Elizabeth Johnson’s short list, from her book “What If We Get It Right?” 2024:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
