 The approach of more laid back summer days brings along with it worries about the possibilities of extreme heat, drought and scary wind-driven, climate-fueled wildfires (mainly from industrial tree farms). What are we to do? We do what worried people everywhere are doing… Join with others to make a difference! Large or small. Every fraction of a degree of warming we avoid saves something we love! Take Action on Our CampaignsElectrify Eugene - Take one or more actions! Following 10+ years of engagement and planning, it’s past time to upgrade our building codes to protect indoor air quality and reduce planet-harming emissions in our homes… But elected officials are not acting with the urgency that the climate crisis demands. We’re running out of time. So, please jump in on one or more of these opportunities to speak truth to power! 1) Are They Really Listening? The City of Eugene is hosting a virtual listening session June 6th from 12 to 1:00 pm to share the overarching themes that emerged through engaging different sectors of the community on building decarbonization. Please attend and share your concerns and need for bold action now. Register here. The more, the merrier. Open to the public. 2) Take the City’s Survey! The City has invited the community to take a quick Efficient, Healthy and Resilient Homes survey (available in English or Spanish) to help us meet our community climate goals! Let’s slam the survey and tell ‘em we need more action faster! (We know Northwest Natural is promoting the survey to discourage climate action.) Complete the survey by June 12th. Hint: Let’s double NWN’s fee to fund a just transition and amend building codes to mandate new homes be built with electric appliances NOW! Good News on Electrification Progress in Oregon: Ashland’s City Council unanimously decided to move forward elements of Ashland's youth-proposed Climate & Clean Air Policy Package. They've directed city staff to draft language for policies including a low NOx emissions standard for water heaters and furnaces in new homes and a carbon charge for connecting new homes to gas lines, with the charge going to fund energy efficiency upgrades for low-income households. Go, Ashland! 3) Show Up for City Council Mondays, June 10th & 24th, and July 8th at 7:30 pm - Eugene City Council Public Comment. Please note: City officials will be moving into their new digs (the old EWEB building on East 3rd) during this period, so check their website for public comment guidance & meeting location details here. Stay tuned for escalating actions as we end the council year with a bang! 4) Hit the Streets with It’s Electric Street Messaging: Fri., June 7th, 2:30 to 4:00 pm; meet at Bimart on 18th. Fresh air, good friends and fun & interesting community engagement. GTN XPress - Sign and share the letter!  For two years, communities across the Northwest have been fighting a proposed fracked gas expansion project from TC Energy called GTN XPress. The gas pipeline spans over 1,300 miles through Central Oregon and right through Bend’s backyard. Not only is GTN XPress a backwards plan threatening the health, safety, and climate of the northwest region, but the expansion imposes a considerable burden on ratepayers – specifically Cascade Natural Gas customers. TC Energy is not a trusted company to build this project. Recent pipeline explosions in Virginia and Alberta, Canada have resulted in the destruction of habitat, threatened properties and posed significant wildfire risks. The existing 60+ year old pipeline infrastructure in Central Oregon is aging and may lack the capacity to safely accommodate the heightened volume with the approved expansion. These factors compound the urgency for thorough risk assessments and stringent safety measures to mitigate potential harm to communities and ecosystems. Join us in sending a strong message to Cascade Natural Gas: Customers should not pay for the unsafe GTN XPress project! Add your name to the 350Deschutes Letter. Forest Climate Defense - Time for a Banner Drop  Summer 2024 - Forests Are Our Future - Forest Climate Actions This is a very important year for our forests. All national forest plans are being reviewed and updated (long overdue). Two years ago, the President ordered an inventory of national forests and last year directed these land managers to include new protections for old growth, biodiversity and conservation, but the USFS and BLM continue to log these our oldest trees! We have to stop them. IN EUGENE: Thursday, June 13th from 10:00 to 11:30 am - Big Banner Drop on I-5 at Centennial Blvd overpass; park among the office building lots west of I-5 and walk up the sidewalk to the overpass. Everything is provided. Bring a chair if you want to sit. It’s fun to get the waves and honks! We’re joining others on the I-5 corridor to bring attention to forest protection.  IN PORTLAND: Also June 13th (in-person) - Take Action for the Future of Our Forests Come to the Forests Are Our Future Rally at the regional Forest Service & BLM headquarters in Portland. This year, the Forest Service and Biden Administration are creating management guidelines for the future of our region’s forests for decades to come, via the NW Forest Plan Amendment, the National Old Growth Amendment (EO 14702), and the Blue Mountains Forest Plan. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to demand bold policy changes that prioritize our forests, communities, and climate. Read more and rsvp here for the Portland event. BIOMASS IS BAD: Email Senators Merkley and Wyden urging them to support Sen. Cory Booker’s Senate Bill 4153, the Forest Biomass Emissions Act, which would require the EPA to reject assumptions of “carbon neutrality” of forest bioenergy in rulemakings and regulations and rely on science to determine the full life cycle carbon impacts of industrial biomass production and burning. The bill also responds to environmental justice concerns in the Southeast by requiring the EPA to analyze and publish the cumulative impacts of the wood pellet industry’s pollution on communities living near the industry’s operations. Last week, we, along with 22 regional organizations, sent a letter to federal senators from Washington and Oregon asking them to co-sponsor this bill. Could you please ADD YOUR NAME? We need all tactics! Banner drops, rallies, letters, comment-writing, tree-sits and more… We must protect our mature and old growth forests to purify our water and air, protect biodiversity and draw down atmospheric carbon. Oh, and we’re also celebrating our victories! Southern Oregon activists claim victory after BLM changes plans in logging area. The wonderful Coast Range Radio podcast interviews Grace Warner about the badass Poor Windy Timber Sale tree-sit. “(BLM Backs Down.”) Rock on, comrades! Watch for our ad in the Eugene Weekly: “See the Forest | Save the Trees | Worth More Standing!” Climate Revolutions By Bike After a bit of a hiatus Climate Revolutions By Bike is back as a campaign of 350 Eugene with an exciting new bicycle game! It’s a game called Quest by Cycle and it is designed specifically for cyclists who want to motivate each other to ride more. Watch the Video: Learn how to play here. Join the Fun: Start playing at https://QuestByCycle.org. Play Dates: Available from May 19th to June 20th. This free game is accessible on phones and computers. It challenges you with biking adventures to earn "Carbon Reduction" points, badges, and prizes. A social feature connects cyclists of all levels, fostering a supportive community. Let’s ride into a sustainable future together! Resilience and Regeneration Workgroup Here is an excellent article by Bob Doppelt featured in Psychology Today, May 2024. Regenerating communities is key to regenerating ecological systems.KEY POINTS
From Our Friends at Sierra Club NO NUKES - FREE FILM: Thanks to an educational grant from the Grassroots Network of the Sierra Club and its Nuclear Free Team, the documentary film “SOS – The San Onofre Syndrome: Nuclear Power’s Legacy” will be available for free from June 3rd through the 10th at this link: . SOS is an empowering story of successful community action to shut down leaking reactors. But then they discover horrific amounts of high-level radioactive waste lethal for millions of years are being placed in thin canisters only 108 ft. from the rising sea. Criminal mismanagement of radioactive waste is a syndrome at all 93 reactors in the U.S. and beyond. Will safer alternatives be taken in time? You can join in a follow-up SOS Webinar – The San Onofre Syndrome: Nuclear Power's Legacy Discussion Panel, with two of the filmmakers and a panel of experts on June 10th at 5:00 pm. Register for the webinar here.  We’re on the radio! Have you heard about 350 Eugene on KLCC? We’re trying a little “underwriting” on our local public radio station to let folks know who we are. If you heard it, please follow this link to our website and tell us what you think. We’d love to know! Climate Rights - Oregon Coalition for an Environmental Rights Amendment Campaign (OCERA): A recently formed group of collaborating individuals and organizations, including 350 Eugene, has launched a campaign to hold governments responsible for applying the Public Trust Doctrine to protect our environment for future generations. (Sound familiar? This effort is building on the work of Our Children’s Trust’s recent successful lawsuit in Montana.) OCERA is developing a plan to amend our state constitution via ballot measure (the only way such an amendment can be undertaken). A well organized statewide kick-off meeting was held in Salem on May 4th. Stay tuned for future developments. For more information, visit OCERA’s webpage. Save The Date An evening with Bill McKibbenRenowned Climate Activist, Author, and Journalist Friday, July 5th, 6:30 - 8:30 pm First Unitarian Church Eliot Center (SW 12th Avenue & Salmon St, Portland, OR 97205) FREE ADMISSION / In Person or Online Livestream Go here for live or online tickets. Third Act Oregon presents an intimate conversation with renowned climate activist, author, journalist, and educator Bill McKibben about what we can do right now to save our planet and our democracy. Bill has authored 20 books, including The End of Nature (1989), and he also helped found 350.org. In 2022 he founded Third Act, a national organization for people over sixty determined to change the world for the better. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to spend an evening with one of the world’s most beloved and important environmentalists and global thinkers. Bill will talk about what’s bringing him joy, what gives him hope, and why he believes that, working together, we can have a huge impact on making our world a better place for generations to come. Event sponsors: 350PDX, 350Eugene, 350PDX-WashCo, Braided River Campaign, Elders Climate Action - Oregon Chapter (ECA-OR), Extinction Rebellion PDX (XRPDX), Havurah Shalom Climate Action Team, Metro Climate Action Team (MCAT), Oregon Climate Acton Hub (ORCAH), Portland Citizens Climate Lobby, Rogue Climate. Stay tuned for local carpool information and the Eugene venue for the livestream. A Note from the President of the Board
Dearest Climate Community, 350 Eugene has been active for over 10 years in this community, combining a consistent commitment to science-based climate action with our particular brand of creative grassroots movement building. Our work has been wide-ranging, from fossil fuel divestment & resistance, forest defense, events and town halls, energy policy, air quality standards and building codes… to puppets, costumes, games, songs & dances, as well as self-care and civil disobedience. Something for everyone! Like any organization, we have adapted and responded to the exigencies of the moment. And we will continue to do so, now more in collaboration with the many strong new groups and organizations that have emerged as the climate crisis deepens. The clean energy revolution is here. Accompanying it, a revolution of love, which honors the earth and the brilliant lifeforms that call this planet home. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for to make this world a safer, fairer, more peaceful and equitable place for all. Thanks for all your generous contributions over the years. It’s all hands on deck! In solidarity, Patty Hine President, 350 Eugene Board of Directors
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |