We all want clean air. We all want clean water. We all want to leave our children a stable climate future. The solutions are here. In this, our decade for climate action, the transition to clean energy is happening. But will it be a just transition and will it be in time? There has been an explosion of groups working on climate solutions, and we are now in the midst of a massive market shift to high-efficiency, zero-emission electric technologies and away from fossil fuels. These changes will stabilize energy bills, improve health, and cut climate pollution amid extreme weather challenges. We need BIG SYSTEM CHANGES. The Inflation Reduction Act is not the silver bullet, but it's the strongest climate policy we have. (A no-brainer in the face of record-setting heat and looming tipping points.). What can one person alone do? As Professor and writer, Kathleen Dean Moore says, “Stop being just one person.” Find your group. Connect and learn with others. We can do this. Burning Trees for Energy is Not the Answer Friday, April 19th at 5:30 pm - An important film screening, BURNED - Are Trees the New Coal? Join us at the Campbell Community Center at 5:30 pm, 155 High Street, Eugene; free and open to the public. BURNED is a feature-length documentary, which takes an unwavering look at the latest electric power industry solution to climate change. This 74 minute documentary tells the story of how woody biomass has become the fossil-fuel industry’s renewable, green savior, and of the people and parties who are both fighting against and promoting its adoption and use. Joining us in person will be Natural Resources Defense Council Forest Advocate and Nature expert, Rita Vaughn Frost (bio here). Rita will share her expertise on the international biomass industry and how wood pellet mills are popping up everywhere, claiming they’re carbon neutral, but the emissions are worse than coal. Forests play a vital role in mitigating climate change, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Come learn how we’ll defend our communities from this dangerous industry. Watch the 2 minute film trailer here. You can hear an interview with Rita from last weekend’s Locus Focus on KBOO here. She’s a local treasure. Electrify Your Ride! Earth Day is coming up, and one of the best steps you can take to reduce your environmental impact is to electrify your transportation! Discover all the in’s-and-out’s of driving electric at the Emerald Valley Electric Vehicle Association’s car show on Saturday, April 20, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Coburg Road in Eugene. EVEVA members will have a wide variety of cars and light trucks on display, and can talk about their experience owning and driving electric vehicles. The organization will also provide information about financial incentives from state and federal governments and from EWEB. EVEVA is a volunteer organization composed of electric vehicle owners, drivers, and enthusiasts, who are excited to share the joy and environmental benefits of driving electric. More information is at www.eveva.org. Fall in Love with Forests - they need our protection now more than ever Sunday, April 21st - Kentucky Falls Earth Day Hike - join our buddies at Oregon Wild and Cascadia Wildlands for a 4.4 mile moderate hike to Kentucky Falls, an icon of the Siuslaw National Forest. Learn about the Northwest Forest Plan, experience and help save our mature and old growth forests. More info and registration here!
Children's Earth Day Art Contest - Awards Ceremony Monday, April 22nd (the real Earth Day) from 4:00 to 6:00 pm - an award ceremony at the 5th Street Market Alley. 350 Families and MECCA have joined together and assembled art from local young climate activists. What do the kids see? Let them show us! Show Up - Urge Eugene City Council to Support Building Electrification! Localities across the world are taking actions to implement climate-friendly policies. Cities control local land use, safety and rights of way. Eugene can and should upgrade policy to require clean energy in new homes to alleviate hidden sources of air pollution to deliver healthier air to breathe and a livable climate for our citizens, while working to ensure that those most burdened by high energy costs and polluted air are the first to benefit, On Monday, EARTH DAY, show your support by attending the City Council meeting at 7:30 pm. Wear your favorite Earth Day outfit. Location: Lane Community College downtown campus across from Eugene Public Library. Speak truth to power. It’s the only way things will change. Thank you! In the Sacred Grove: Writing Our Relationship With Trees Saturday, May 11th 9:30 AM - 3:00 PM Campbell Community Center. Gathering facilitated by Brian “Bragi” Sunset. It’s the cedar—the mother of lingonberry—that is my tree... From “My Tree,” by Rolf Jacobsen Ask most people to name a tree with whom they feel connected—a tree they planted as a child, a tree growing in a park near where they live, or perhaps a mythic tree, such as the World Tree—and you get a rich response. You can probably think of your own tree. One for you who is more than just some scientific name and with whom you share a heartfelt connection. Which tree would it be? Although it may seem far-fetched to some, for many people historically the notion that you can relate to trees is as natural as the ocean ebbing and flowing. Perhaps it is natural for you too? If so, consider joining this gathering where we will explore our relationship with trees, approaching them not as things, but as sacred beings. Our medium for this exchange will be poetry and journaling, with opportunities for sharing, for those who wish to do so. Brian “Bragi” Sunset is a native Oregonian raised in the Willamette Valley. He holds an MA in Transformative Language Arts and is a board-certified Holistic Healthcare Practitioner. Brian’s 20 + years of experience includes working with individuals and groups in a variety of settings: hospitals, community groups, mental health treatment centers, summer camps, and jails. Brian is currently exploring the ways in which journal writing activates flow, moves energy, and promotes mental, spiritual, and physical health. In his spare time, he enjoys walking, playing music, and stargazing. For more information and Registration: bit.ly/3U8poWG Space is limited; registration is required. Light (Vegan) lunch included. Donations accepted at the door. Sponsored by 350 Eugene Resilience and Regeneration Workgroup What do we need? We need YOU, THE PEOPLE, demanding change: in the streets, in public settings, in choosing our elected leaders, in meetings with decision-makers, serving on committees, writing letters, holding info sessions, actions big and small that catalyze ACTION.
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It’s time to stop the pollution that is overheating our planet. We have the tools. We know what to do. With the move to clean energy well underway, we need everybody everywhere to push for the real change that makes our communities safer, healthier and cleaner. Following Covid, momentum is building again across our movement, with new progressive groups emerging: legal, conservation, climate, labor, civil rights and think tanks, at every level of government and society. The world is waking up to the dangerous overheating of our environment, but those who are causing it are fighting back with disinformation and delays. That’s where the GRASSROOTS come in! April 22nd is Earth Day and the month is full of opportunities to learn and grow our movement. We think our job at 350 Eugene is to help more people understand the threat of climate change, so that they can care about it and force our leaders to prioritize taking action. Read on for information on our campaigns, and those of our allies, and see how you can join in. April Opportunities for Earth Day(s)Wednesday, April 10th - We’ve been invited to a Community Conversation on climate-change-related topics at the Eugene Library at 6:00 pm. This is the fourth in a series of six informal philosophical conversations on various topics. You can’t get any more grassroots-y than this! Please join your climate buddies at this event! Are trees the new coal? Friday, April 19th at 5:30 pm - An important film screening, BURNED - Are Trees the New Coal? Join us at the Campbell Community Center at 5:30 pm, 155 High Street, Eugene; free and open to the public. BURNED is a feature-length documentary, which takes an unwavering look at the latest electric power industry solution to climate change. This 74 minute documentary tells the story of how woody biomass has become the fossil-fuel industry’s renewable, green savior, and of the people and parties who are both fighting against and promoting its adoption and use. Joining us in person will be Natural Resources Defense Council Forest Advocate and Nature expert, Rita Vaughn Frost (bio here). Rita will share her expertise on the international biomass industry and how wood pellet mills are popping up everywhere, claiming they’re carbon neutral, but the emissions are worse than coal. Forests play a vital role in mitigating climate change, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Come learn how we’ll defend our communities from this dangerous industry. Watch the 2 minute film trailer here. Save our natural forests! That means don’t grind them up for pellets and toilet paper! The electric vehicle revolution is going strong! Earth Day is coming up, and one of the best steps you can take to reduce your environmental impact is to electrify your transportation! Discover all the in’s-and-out’s of driving electric at the Emerald Valley Electric Vehicle Association’s car show on Saturday, April 20, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Coburg Road in Eugene. EVEVA members will have a wide variety of cars and light trucks on display, and can talk about their experience owning and driving electric vehicles. The organization will also provide information about financial incentives from state and federal governments and from EWEB. EVEVA is a volunteer organization composed of electric vehicle owners, drivers, and enthusiasts, who are excited to share the joy and environmental benefits of driving electric. More information is at www.eveva.org. Enjoy a beautiful spring visit to an old-growth forest and one of the Coast Range's biggest waterfalls! Sunday, April 21st - Kentucky Falls Earth Day Hike - join our buddies at Oregon Wild and Cascadia Wildlands for a 4.4 mile moderate hike to Kentucky Falls, an icon of the Siuslaw National Forest. Learn about the Northwest Forest Plan, experience and help save our mature and old growth forests. More info and registration here! Children's Earth Day Art Contest - Kids Show Us What They See Monday, April 22nd (the real Earth Day) at Saturday Market on 8th & Oak Streets in Eugene: 350 Families and MECCA have assembled art from local young climate activists. Details to follow. CampaignsElectrify Eugene This spring, Eugene city staff are doing extensive community outreach to take input on plans to clean up dirty energy infrastructure (aka decarbonize our buildings). The Sustainability Office provided an excellent update to the city council on the Climate Action Plan (CAP) 2.0 on March 11th. We are making progress! You can watch it here. The city is considering policies this spring that will improve indoor air quality and reduce carbon pollution in residential buildings. We are watching the city of Ashland, as it makes progress on its policy. Although Eugene withdrew its electrification ordinance last summer due to a legal decision affecting a similar ordinance in Berkeley, there are other electrification options for cities. This blog post from 350 Contra Costa PAC nicely lays them out. The staff is researching options and will provide draft policy in early summer. Fossil Free University of Oregon Since UO is the single largest single-source of greenhouse gas emissions in Eugene, it’s appropriate the students and the community are pushing UO Trustees for the biggest and fastest transition plan to get off their gas boiler system. Students from the Climate Justice League, joined in solidarity by Students for Justice in Palestine, organized a loud rally on March 12th outside the Ford Alumni Center ahead of the Trustees meeting, but despite the consistent engagement of students and the community for two years, the Trustees decided to delay choosing a plan until fall. Shame! Stay tuned. The students are committed. Student rally photos here courtesy of Robert Scherle. Kudos to the Eugene Sustainability Commission: Commissioners sent a letter in January to the Mayor and City Council to raise their awareness about the university’s pending decision about upgrading their thermal heating system. GTN Express Last Wednesday, activists in Seattle faced-off at Amazon’s Headquarters to protest the company’s plans to connect three of its four data centers near Boardman, OR to the planned GTN Xpress gas pipeline expansion. Go, Troublemakers! Read their press release here. Forest Defense is Climate Defense Board of Forestry Votes to Approve the Habitat Conservation Plan A win! In early March, the Oregon Board of Forestry voted 4 to 3 to approve the long-awaited Habitat Conservation Plan. When implemented, this plan will significantly improve timber management and protect essential habitat in Western Oregon State-owned forests. Opposition from industry was fierce. Long-time activists say this was the first time since 1991 that anything facing united pushback from the timber industry has been approved in Oregon. All the grassroots work that has been done in recent years to secure a more open-minded Board and a new State Forester was fully validated by this vote. Thanks to everyone who submitted comments and showed up at public hearings. When we work together, we win! Where False Climate Solutions Come to Die A reprieve... Drax, the British peddler of false climate solutions has learned what organized opposition looks like in the Pacific Northwest! It has plans to build a wood biomass pellet manufacturing factory in Longview, Washington, downstream from Portland on the Columbia River. However, due to activists' pressure campaign demanding a rigorous environmental review, the Southwest Washington Clean Air Agency (SWCAA) withdrew their clean air permit and cancelled a public hearing on the Drax project scheduled for March 28th. A new permit will likely be submitted at a later date. Sometimes "delays" count as "wins"! Meanwhile, a well-organized ‘Ax Drax’ coalition in the U.S. is hard at work with activists in Asia, the U.K. and Canada to ensure misguided policy is corrected to reflect that burning wood for energy at scale is not a clean energy resource. Once corrected, this will eventually shut off the perverse demand for wood pellets to meet clean energy objectives and relieve the pressure on our vital carbon-storing forests. To learn more about the threat from Drax on the West Coast, tune in to the upcoming online forum on April 15th at 4 pm: “Golden State Natural Resources (GSNR) Biomass Boondoggle”. Register for the forum here. Northwest Forest Plan 30th Birthday Party: April 13th Since 1994, more than 24 million acres of federally-managed lands in the Pacific Northwest have been protected from the worst ravages of industrial logging, the first plan of its kind to successfully protect endangered species. Along with all the nation's national forests, this Plan is now due for an update to include issues not addressed in the original plan such as climate change, carbon sequestration, wildfire and tribal inclusion. A multi-stakeholder Federal Advisory Committee will present its recommendations soon. A public comment period will then begin. Meanwhile groups plan to come together in Portland on April 13th for a 30th Birthday Party for the Plan. Here’s where to find all the details of this free family-friendly event and to RSVP. Gotta celebrate progress! Divest Oregon It’s time to elect the next Oregon State Treasurer! The Divest Oregon Coalition is hosting a candidate forum in Portland on Tuesday, April 2nd. With the passage of the COAL Act in the Oregon legislature’s short session, this campaign has had tremendous success! Come CELEBRATE the HUGE wins for Divest Oregon and the national divestment movement & KEEP the MOMENTUM going with the next Treasurer! Candidates Jeff Gudman & Senator Elizabeth Steiner will be participating in the forum. Moderated by the Oregon Capital Chronicle's Alex Baumhardt, the forum is free and open to the public. Register to attend or join online here. A celebration reception including food, slide show, music and a chance to meet the candidates will follow. Live Streaming will be available for those outside the Portland area — but you must RSVP. Attendees are invited to submit questions as part of their RSVP. Get Out the Vote Some say this may be the most important election of our lifetimes! According to the US Census, 37.9 million Americans are living in poverty, experiencing the global intersecting crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, all while our Democracy is coming under attack from authoritarians and corporations protecting their short-term profits. What can we do? Here’s one thing… We send postcards to encourage and educate our fellow citizens about the power of their vote. "Your Vote is Your Voice!" Democracy is like a muscle - we must exercise it to keep it strong! If you haven’t already, please let me know if you want to help Get Out The Vote beginning in May! Races are won by very small margins, so every card we send matters! Gratitude to those who have contacted me to participate! Debby at Zaporegon123@gmail.com (As a non-profit organization, 350 Eugene does not support or provide resources to individual electoral candidates. However, as “Private Citizen Debby," I can. If you want partisan postcards let me know!) Resilience Mark Your Calendars In the Sacred Grove: Writing Our Relationship With Trees Gathering facilitated by Brian “Bragi” Sunset Saturday, May 11th 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM Campbell Community Center Suggested donation: $30. Pre registration opening soon Brian “Bragi” Sunset is a native Oregonian raised in the Willamette Valley. He holds an MA in Transformative Language Arts from Goddard College, in VT, and is a board-certified Holistic Healthcare Practitioner through the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. Creator of Soulful Oaks Journaling Arts, he facilitates process-oriented writing groups, including Journal to Wellness and In the Sacred Grove: Writing Our Relationship with Trees. Among other pursuits, Brian is currently exploring the ways in which journal writing moves energy, activates flow, and promotes physical, emotional, and spiritual health. In his spare time, he enjoys walking, playing music, and stargazing. Stay tuned for registration details. Sign On Today!Local Active Transportation (walking & biking) allies are working behind the scenes to make Eugene’s sidewalks safer. Please sign the safe sidewalks petition! Stop Northwest Natural’s luxury travel junkets for politicians! Sign on to Sierra Club’s latest petition about the scandal: Call on all Oregon and Washington legislators to say no to the gas lobby's efforts to wine and dine them in Scandinavia. This fall Salem Reporter article covered the expose. (Maybe we can get the next junket scheduled for April canceled! Can you sign on today?) Also, we got confirmation that the two dems attending are Rep Helm's chief of staff, Greg Mintz, and Senator Meek himself. Please call them and leave voicemails (and write personalized emails!): Rep. Helm’s staffer Greg Mintz - (503) 986-1427 / Rep.KenHelm@oregonlegislature.gov Sen. Meek (503) 986-1720 / Sen.MarkMeek@oregonlegislature.gov Talking points here. We're On Social Media
Have you noticed? We have a new FB page! Check Eugene 350 Facebook page here and our Instagram. Like us and share! A quote from Bill McKibben in the film BURNED: “It seems to me like climate change is a kind of final exam for our species. We’ll find out if the big brain was in fact a good idea or not. Maybe if it’s connected to a big enough heart to make a difference. We’ve been given ample warning by the world’s scientists. Now the question is whether we’ll heed it or not.” Bill McKibben, Author, Educator, Environmentalist, founder of 350.org & The Third Act It’s simple: carbon pollution from fossil fuels stays in the atmosphere, causing the planet to overheat dangerously and there’s complete scientific consensus on this fact. Join us in engaging the public to demand we protect our community, conserve and preserve what we love and upgrade our lifestyles to use safe, healthy and clean energy sources. Check out the video! Sometimes, you just have to laugh and let humor bring the issue to light. Our goal is to educate the public so we can make a speedy and just transition to clean energy. Thanks to the 350 Eugene volunteers who staffed the Fossil Free Eugene table at PIELC and provided updated beautiful materials on our campaigns! See you again next year! (PIELC - not just for lawyers!) Take ActionSupport UO’s Climate Justice League’s demand for a just transition off the university’s massively polluting gas boiler system - now! Join the students for a loud rally at 8:30 am on Tuesday, March 12th outside at the entrance of the Ford Alumni Building at 13th & Franklin. You can also send an email TODAY to the Board of Trustees urging them to take speedy and bold action. It’s all done for you. Just click here. Thank you! The UO has been a participant in the City of Eugene’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) since the beginning. It also has its own CAP and is currently considering options in its Thermal Heating Systems Transition Study to move its heating systems off of polluting and unhealthy methane gas. Of course we want the option with the greatest emissions reductions and the highest efficiency! Did you know over 72% of UO’s emissions come from heating buildings with methane gas? This also makes it the City of Eugene’s single greatest source of climate-polluting emissions. It’s time for a change, for our city’s climate goals, for healthier indoor air quality and to ensure a habitable planet for these students’ future! Send the letter today! Just click here. Thank you! We know too many cars contribute to congestion and pollution from the transportation sector. That’s why “active transportation” (biking and walking) is a huge climate solution. Our friends at Eugene Citizens United for Better Sidewalks want the City of Eugene to put more resources into fixing our sidewalks so that they are safer & cleaner. More people out of their cars = greater sociability, healthier neighbors and safer streets. Sign the local petition here. It will be presented at Eugene City Council in April. Grassroots gets the goods! CampaignsElectrify Eugene WHAT IS THE CITY OF EUGENE DOING TO IMPLEMENT ITS CLIMATE ACTION PLAN? Here’s what we’re watching:
Electrify Now is hosting a webinar on March 21 @12pm PST discussing gas appliance pollution. Read more about what's in store and register for the event here. Fracked Gas Resistance “Coal, Oil, Gas - None of these shall pass.” The GTN Express, owned by TransCanada Energy (TCE), is a 1,400 mile, 61 year old pipeline, bringing fracked methane gas (i.e., natural gas) from western Canada to the west coast of the U.S. The pipeline runs from Alberta through Idaho, Washington and Oregon to connect to pipelines in California. Because the badass Pacific Northwest activists have stopped ALL new fossil fuels projects, one new industry tactic is to expand existing infrastructure. TCE is investing $335 million to increase capacity by “biggie-sizing” the current compressor stations to move more methane at higher pressures. A 61 year old pipe... What could go wrong?! Between 2010 to 2021, there have been 368 documented pipeline explosions resulting in 440 injuries and 89 deaths. That's one thing that can go wrong. Two dozen environmental organizations (Including 350 Eugene), Senators Wyden and Merkley, Oregon's and Washington's Governors, as well as Attorneys General from Washington, Oregon and California have all told the FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) to deny this project. But rubber-stamping FERC Instead approved it last fall! The fight isn't over. Our allies have filed a lawsuit and more actions are planned in April. Methane gas is toxic to the planet and people. It is not necessary and continuing its use is not in the interests of the public. Stay tuned! Forest Defense is Climate Defense The wood pellet industry is coming for west coast forests! Drax is a multinational energy company that is proposing to build a woody biomass pellet production and exportation facility in Longview, Washington. The making of biomass wood pellets here to be exported and burned in power stations overseas to replace coal is a false climate solution. It has the potential to devastate our forests in the Pacific Northwest as it is already doing in the Southeast and in British Columbia. We must stop Drax before they get a toehold on the U.S. West Coast. We've stopped all the fossil fuel projects and now we're going to stop Drax's plan for a mill in Washington. AX DRAX! The film "Burned" brings to light the devastation visited upon communities where pellet mills are sited and the ecological harm that accompanies this false climate solution. You can watch the trailer here. Watch for the local screening. The Southwest Washington Clean Air Agency (SWCAA) will have a public meeting on this in Longview March 28. Public comment closes March 29. More information on Drax, biomass, and talking points for testifying can be found here. Statewide Legislative Updates I imagine you have all received many emails with information and requests about many bills this short session. The Session started February 5 and ends March 10. GOOD News: Making your voice heard makes a difference! -Healthy Homes SB 1530 received $15m! It passed overwhelmingly, with bipartisan support. -Congratulations to everyone who pitched in, with over a dozen groups sending action alerts resulting in more than 1000 emails! -SB 1596 Right to Repair: Will allow owners of most consumer electronics products to do their own repairs or have the repairs done by local small businesses. Passed! -HB 4083 “The Coal Act”: Begins to divest Oregon public funds from companies with holdings in coal. Passed the House 33-24. Passed the Senate on a partisan 16-1! -3HB 4015 Clarifies and streamlines the process for siting battery energy storage systems. Passed House 44-13. Passed the Senate on a partisan 16-13! EV Rebate Bill Supports a $20 million allocation to keep the Charge Ahead Electric Vehicle program operating throughout 2024 with consistent funding. This bill is needed to help reduce transportation-related climate pollution. On March 7, the Board of Forestry voted to finalize the State Forest Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP)! The HCP will protect essential habitat for 17 imperiled species of salmon and wildlife on 640,000 acres of Oregon state forests, establish buffers protecting forests from clearcutting, and create large Habitat Conservation Areas for species dependent on mature forests, like the marbled murrelet, coastal marten, and spotted owl. Divest Oregon Sometimes good things come in threes, and they’ve been happening FAST in our efforts to decarbonize Oregon’s BILLIONS OF DOLLARS of investments, including the $100 BILLION PERS fund. — First, the COAL Act in some form has passed both houses of the Oregon legislature! The COAL Act calls for the PERS fund to decarbonize from coal investments. The House passed the bill in this “short session” and sent it to the Senate. The Senate added a minor amendment to the bill (clarifying a definition) and passed the amended version on March 5. Since the House and Senate versions of the bill are not word-for-word identical, it is being sent back to the House for “reconciliation” — i.e., to pass the amended language. Legislative supporters are confident that this will occur before the end of the session Sunday. Here is a link to information about the COAL Act. — Second, on February 6, State Treasurer Read released his Net Zero Plan to lead the state toward decarbonization by 2050. Divest Oregon has vigorously lobbied the Treasurer and the Oregon Investment Council to move in this direction. Although we would like these actions to occur more quickly than outlined in the Treasurer’s plan, we applaud this important first step. See more about the Net Zero Plan and Divest Oregon’s comments at their website. — Third, on April 2 Divest Oregon will sponsor the Oregon Treasurer Candidate Forum in Portland. Optional live streamed for those who sign up. Current Treasurer Read is term limited from running for re-election. Divest Oregon has invited all announced candidates to share their vision for Oregon investments and learn how (and whether) they intend to implement the Net Zero plan. Here’s a link to forum information and free ticket reservation: Whew! We’re making progress. Contact Gary Wallmark at glwbiz1@gmail.com if you have additional questions. Get Out the Vote The 2024 general election approaches! In the last election, the 350 Eugene Get Out The Vote postcard writers sent 10,000 postcards to registered infrequent voters and it made a difference! Current data show that 60% of Americans live in poverty, often barely making it "paycheck to paycheck". At the same time "poor and low wealth" citizens are less likely to vote than their wealthier counterparts. Their voices matter! In May, we will launch the 2024 350 Eugene "Get Out The Vote" (GOTV) campaign! If you're interested in participating, please send an email to Debby at zaporegon123@gmail.com with the subject line: Get Out The Vote. I will send you all you need to know to participate in our 2024 GOTV campaign, in what might be the most important election of our lives. Together we make a difference! Thank you. Resilience The Dream of Now - William Stafford When you wake to the dream of now from night and its other dream you carry day out of the dark like a flame. When spring comes north and flowers unfold from earth and its even sleep, you lift summer on with your breath lest it be lost ever so deep. Your life you live by the light you find and follow it on as well as you can, carrying through the darkness wherever you go your one little fire that will start again. On a new Spring Creek podcast, distinguished professor emerita of Philosophy at OSU, Kathleen Dean Moore, tells a story about how W.S. Merwin’s prose poem, “Unchopping a Tree,” helped her students think through the question that possesses us all: How can one heart hold both a deep love for the natural world and the knowledge that it is being destroyed?
Happy New Year to our supporters and volunteers - a Busy 2024 is here! We are thankful to have many hands sharing our work that makes it both fun and accessible. We hope everyone has been able to stay safe and warm during this icy cold weekend. What a way to "slip" into the new year! YOU WERE THERE & OTHER UPDATESSuccessful Lobby Day in Salem on January 10th!Over 100 people, including 12 from Eugene, came from across Oregon to talk with and educate their legislators about the COAL Act. The Oregon Treasury invests money for the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). The Divest Oregon group has been working to divest their money from fossil fuels. This year the focus is on eliminating 1 billion dollars currently invested in Coal. The COAL Act is simple: 1) Phase out coal investments 2) No new coal investments 3) Report on the phase out of coal. Investments in Coal are a bad idea not just for our planet’s health but because it is a dying industry and not a good investment for recipients of PERS. The bill will have a number in the next week or so. You can stay informed at www.divestoregon.org. and learn how and when to best advocate for this bill! Update on UO Campus Thermal Task Force, action TBD in March 2024 We are watching for further developments: the University of Oregon Thermal Task Force is expected to finalize their recommendation to UO’s Board in February 2024 with action by the Board in March. There was no clarity on what that means for public comment and/or rallies. Stay tuned! CHECK OUT THESE WINTER WEBINARSLincoln Street Community MeetingTuesday, January 23rd, 6:00pm - 7:00pm @ Downtown Library, Bascom-Tykeson Room Community engagement has concluded for the Lincoln Street Bikeway Project. Come learn about what the City heard and see the preferred design for Lincoln Street! Join the City on Tuesday, January 23rd in the Bascom-Tykeson room of the Downtown Eugene Library from 6:00pm to 7:00pm for a Community Meeting about Lincoln Street between 13th Avenue and 5th Avenue. Transportation Planning staff will give a 30 minute presentation covering project background, what was heard during community engagement, and the preferred design of Lincoln Street. The presentation will be followed by time for questions and answers. Jan. 24 at 4 pm PT/ 5 pm MT/ 6 pm CT/ 7 pm ET: Register here. Speaker: Carra Sahler, Director and Staff Attorney, Green Energy Institute Lewis & Clark Law School. Other speakers may join. Webinar From our Friends at Electrify Now Appliance Standards Update - Impacts on Gas Prices and Electrification Appliance efficiency standards aren’t something most of us think about very often, but they have helped to reduce our energy consumption and our energy bills enormously since standards first took effect in the 1970’s. Join Electrify Now and the Advanced Water Heating Initiative as we explore these two important and interrelated topics of federal appliance standards and gas price increases Panelists Joanna Mauer + Steven Nadel Thursday, January 25 · 9 - 10am PST More info & Registration for the webinar: Register HERE CAMPAIGNSTake Action locally for our forests! The science on climate change and forest ecology is clear: we must protect remaining mature and old-growth forests in the Cascadia bioregion both as our best safeguard against the worst impacts of climate change and to conserve the myriad ecosystem services they provide to humans and other species. Connect to many current details for Action here: PNW Forests Need your Voice! This amendment will apply to all land management plans for the National Forest System. Following the scoping period, we expect an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to be published in May with a 90 day comment period. The EIS is expected to be finalized in January 2025. The Big Picture Moving Forward Overall, this is progress on old-growth forest conservation, but less so on mature forests. In areas like New England and the eastern US in general (where very little old-growth remains), this policy will have little immediate impact. The Climate Forests Campaign will use this comment period to urge meaningful protections for old growth in the amendment and as an organizing opportunity. We will continue to call for a national rule that protects mature and old-growth trees and forests. We are thanking President Biden for his leadership, and calling on the Forest Service to follow through on the direction of Biden’s Executive Order. And One More Forest Support Opportunity: We’re kicking off the new year right with an important opportunity to drive comments to the US Forest Service. Linked here is a 2-page overview of the recently proposed national forest plan amendment to advance protections for the last remaining mature and old-growth trees in U.S. national forests. Here is a toolkit to help spread the news about this opportunity - let’s continue to make hay out of this moment! What are the Home Energy Rebate Programs? The Home Energy Rebate Programs include $8.8 billion dollars in grant funding to help American households save money on energy bills, upgrade to clean energy equipment and improve energy efficiency, reduce indoor and outdoor air pollution, and create workforce training programs. Rebates are rolling out via the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)! Find out if you qualify! The Sierra Club has published an overview to help people get on board for incentives to a clean energy future. IRA Rebates We have a New and even BIGGER appreciation of the amazing web woven by our esteemed 350Eugene president and director as they are enjoying a well earned sabbatical while home volunteers learn the inner workings of our 350 movement chapter… no squeaky wheels or rusty links… we hope to turn each crank in time to keep you informed and involved.
Thanks for being with us in the new year! At 350 Eugene we are eager to usher in a swift transition to clean energy led with the Inflation Reduction Act and build upon the incremental success of COP28. Locally, we have our work cut out for us as Eugene City Council, led by Climate Mayor Vinis, is poised to bring back a legally defensible electrification ordinance this spring and continue delivering new policies to decarbonize our building stock with building performance standards. It’s going to be a big lift! But grassroots activists know how to apply the pressure! As we saw last year, purveyors of dirty energy in the fossil gas industry (and their serfs in elected office) have boatloads of money to delay, distract and misinform consumers. They ignore or dispute the profound health effects of burning fossil gas in homes and pretend they’re part of the clean energy revolution. (Hint: renewable natural gas and hydrogen are expensive and will never replace their product.) 350 Eugene, with our partners, stands ready to engage & educate our community about the overwhelming advantages of electrification and organize resistance to slick methane-messaging. Just watch us! In addition, 2024 will be the year for enacting durable policies to protect the Pacific Northwest’s most precious climate solution, our massive carbon-storing & sequestering biodiverse Forests! All national forests are reviewing and updating their forest plans this year and we will make sure throughout the public process that they hold fast to the goals of protecting mature and old growth trees. And we'll let you know of opportunities for you to do your part! Along the way, we’re committed to supporting the brand new Climate Rights campaign, building on the success of Our Children's Trust's case in Montana, to pass state constitutional amendments that will protect air, water and land for future generations, stopping gas expansion in the PNW with the GTN Xpress project, offering workshops to promote personal and community resilience, and passing a bill in the Oregon legislature to divest PERS investments from coal (a no brainer).
A big portion of our 2023 budget was spent with the Eugene Weekly where we sponsored short "Factoids" and longer articles under the header "It Must Be the Climate". The aim to inform readers on important climate related issues as written by community engaged authors. Regretfully, we are learning that the Eugene Weekly must stop their printed paper and will only be available online for now. We’re making plans for a fun-filled and edgy Earth Day in April. We hope you will plan to join us! Stay tuned. 2024 is going to be a big year. We’re glad to be fighting side by side with you toward a saner, safer and more just clean energy future. Thanks for considering 350 Eugene in your end-of-year giving. As 2023, the soon to be hottest year on record, comes to a close, we look ahead to 2024 with anticipation… for international financing to help poor countries leap to clean electricity, for market forces to push renewables to new heights and for a saner & stronger democracy! Locally, our noses are to the grindstone ensuring the City of Eugene doesn’t waiver on its commitment to bring back a legally defensible electrification ordinance for new residential construction this spring, and a plan of action to decarbonize existing building stock. Eugene continues to lead the way for Oregon cities to pass policy that significantly reduces building emissions, e.g., Ashland, Milkaukee, Bend, Corvallis and Multnomah County. This spring it’s our turn, again! During 2023, we strengthened our alliances with youth and BIPOC organizations, the local Fossil Free Eugene Coalition, the Pacific Northwest Forest Climate Alliance and the Divest Oregon Coalition. Why? Because relationships matter and when we work together - we win! Projects next year include:
DONATE TODAY: We’re a scrappy volunteer organization that has been on the forefront of local and regional climate action since 2012. We don’t need a lot of money, but we do need some. Thanks for investing in grassroots activism - it get’s the goods! You can make a tax-deductible donation to 350 Eugene at our website or send a check made payable to 350 Eugene to 1711 Willamette St., Ste. 301 #474, Eugene, OR 97401.
CampaignsFracked Gas Resistance The fight continues… The GTN Xpress fracked gas pipeline capacity expansion was recently approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a disaster for nearby communities and our environment. This Trans Canada project has met with opposition from Senators Merkley and Wyden, Governor Kotek, Washington Governor Inslee and Senator Murray (WA). GTN Xpress represents a significant expansion of methane gas infrastructure at a time when California, Oregon, and Washington are phasing out fossil fuels. “The Commission’s decision violates the public interest and common sense, and we will file a petition for rehearing challenging this project. Since the analysis for this project was published, two major TC Energy pipelines have failed, causing safety hazards and spilling fossil fuel,” Audrey Leonard, staff attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper, said in a statement. “If this were to happen in dry, rural, fire-prone lands or in the residential areas where TC Energy’s GTN pipeline is located, it would be catastrophic.” It’s not over yet! Columbia Riverkeepers and Rogue Climate, with support from coalition allies like 350 Eugene, have filed a petition to FERC for a rehearing of their uninformed decision. Go team! Thanks and Happy Winter Solstice! Deb McGee, Fracked Gas Resistance Campaign Lead, with Co-leads Doug Bovee & Elliott Grey Divest Oregon The goal of the Divest Oregon (of which 350Eugene is a member) is to divest the State of Oregon from fossil fuel investments. Divest Oregon is preparing for the 2024 “short” legislative session by introducing the Clean Oregon Assets Legislation (COAL) Act. LOBBY DAY JANUARY 10: Whether you’re an old pro or this will be your first time heading to Salem, come join us! You will be matched up with other constituents and a Divest Oregon representative to meet with your legislators. Sign up to go to Salem for Lobby Day on January 10, 2024. Registration here. The plan is to meet up at about 9am, do a brief training, and then head over for pre-scheduled meetings with legislators. Afterwards, we’ll debrief and have lunch together. If you’re unable to make it in person on that date, we’ll attempt to have virtual meet-ups too. Fill out this form to let us know and mark January 10th on your calendar. Questions: contact Gary Wallmark at glwbiz1@gmail.com. Forest Defense The Pacific Northwest Forest Climate Alliance will be holding a planning retreat in January to keep up our momentum to protect essential mature and old growth forests. A group is also convening to discuss the next forest defense training camp (Deep Roots) for this spring / summer. We’ll keep you posted. The Wall Street “Who Will Own the Forest?” Conference held in PDX in September, along with its amazing activist mobilization co-events, has catalyzed our movement. Here’s a nice (and short 1:57) recap of our beautiful rally & disruptive fun. Elliott State Forest: Some of you may have heard that OSU President Murthy withdrew the university from the Elliott State Research Forest Management project, as reported by Doug Pollock (Friends of OSU Old Growth) on November 16, 2023. Read Pollock’s blog post. Some people believe this is for the best. Stay tuned. Building Resilience Announcing Bob Doppelt”s recent book: Preventing and Healing Climate Traumas: A Guide to Building Resilience and Hope in Communities. Find the book here. Help the Lane County Board of Commissioners do the right thing. ACT today! Support the Integrated Material and Energy Recovery Facility (IMERF) near Short Mountain Landfill to eliminate 80,000 tons of waste per year (and reduce methane). Here's how: 1) Send your brief comments in support in an email to diana.jones@lanecountyor.gov by noon TODAY (12/4) or 2) Sign-up to testify at Tuesday's (12/5) 1:30 pm meeting using this link. Talking points and sample testimony from Beyond Toxics are here. (Please note: Pat Farr is on the fence, so if you live in District 4 (or not), send him a personal note TODAY at Pat.FARR@lanecountyor.gov.) Thanks! Want to be part of the grassroots climate movement? Want to see real local change? 350 Eugene has been gaining influence and agency for over 10 years, leveraging our advocacy to demand long overdue climate action. We’re part of a growing progressive network, with intersecting movement objectives: a swift & equitable clean energy transition that looks to Indigenous wisdom and rights past wrongs, and stands down the fossil fuel industry and the unjust systems that empower them.
Support 350 Eugene with a donation today! Thanks for being in this fight with us! In Naomi Klein’s latest book, Doppelganger, she shares what historian Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor said about this moment: “Movements change the people who participate in them.” When we organize towards a goal together we discover our shared interests and a new sense of our power. It’s about what we can make together. Our movement is on the rise, and progressive leaders are asking the Grassroots to make them do the right thing. As we change and grow stronger, individually and collectively, let’s build power that can demand a radical transformation. CAMPAIGNSElectrify Eugene Building more gas stations when we need to drastically lower carbon pollution makes no sense! (Plus: there is already one within 5 minutes of every Eugenian.) SPEAK OUT TO EUGENE CITY COUNCIL TODAY: Monday, Nov. 13th - Community members will be testifying in support of a moratorium on new gas stations in Eugene during public comment at 7:30 pm. Sign up to speak in person or online here. For talking points, read Beyond Toxics' informative blog. Come in person to 101 W 10th Avenue, Suite 114 in the LCC Downtown Building. The Sustainability Commission will present its work plan at 5:30 pm (virtual only). Watch the work session online here. ACTION: Sign on to Beyond Toxics Community letter to the Eugene City Council to ban new gas stations in Eugene. Thank you! Forest Defense The climate movement is throwing down to protect our climate-saving forests. We’re working hard with our forest conservation allies to learn the ropes. The national organization, Environment America, spotlights climate groups who are doing this intersectional work, and 350 Eugene’s president, Patty Hine, is featured on a recent field-checking excursion in the Elliott State Forest in their latest blog here. Divest Oregon The Divest Oregon team was out in force at the October 25th Oregon Investment Council (OIC) meeting along with powerful testimony by American Federation of Teachers Oregon President Jacob and 350 Eugene President Patty Hine! Topics that were presented:
Resilience Staying balanced while working for climate-sanity isn’t easy. But it is doable if you connect with allies in your community. Dr. Jenny Gordon, PhD, Jungian Analyst, and longtime 350 Eugene supporter, offers opportunities in connection with our Resilience work group. If you didn’t get a chance to attend the inspiring Celebration of Life on Earth As We Knew It event on Friday, Nov. 2nd, you can watch the video here. Bottomline: we need each other. Don’t you love the semi-regular “It Must Be the Climate” column in the Eugene Weekly? Thank the “Creatives Team” at 350 Eugene who’ve been researching informational pieces to help educate the public on the City of Eugene’s electrification work, the problems with EWEB’s Integrated Resource Plan, Factory Farms, hardening our communities against climate-driven fires & healthy forests, the health hazards of burning fossil gas in homes and more! You can find an archive of our articles on the Fossil Free Eugene website here. SAVE THE DATEJoin the creators of the new documentary Covenant of the Salmon People on Tuesday, November 16th from 6-8pm at the University of Oregon in Straub Hall room 145 for a free showing with light refreshments and Q&A with the director. RSVP here. Join Electrify Now as they dive into the serious problems of gas leaks. They’ll start by exploring gas leaks at a high level and what they mean for safety and climate change and how we can quantify the extent of this leakage. They’ll then zero in on one community, Richmond, Virginia, that is looking to understand just how bad the gas leak situation is in their city, and how they can hold their local utility accountable for fixing it. They’ll finally explore the financials of gas infrastructure where companies are building new gas lines to prop up old, aging infrastructure in an unsustainable system where bills are coming due. Join them November 16th at noon PDT. RSVP here. Tues. Nov. 21, 2023, at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene at 1685W. 13th at 6:00 pm. A Jan Haaken Production - As political pressure mounts in the US to meet net zero carbon goals, the nuclear power industry makes its case for a nuclear “renaissance.” This documentary by NECESSITY Director Jan Haaken follows activists as they expose the true costs of the new small nuclear reactor designs. Our cosmos has no edges. It is vast and we are insignificant in comparison. Sometimes we get discouraged. But we have a part to play at this moment, in this place.
You are deciding right now where to put your resources, giving to causes that can make the biggest difference in the short time we have. Whatever you do, demand no less than transformative change: the phase out of fossil fuels, massive public and private investments in clean renewable energy in all sectors, and regulate and hold polluters and their financiers accountable for their misdeeds. “Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it." - Mahatma Gandhi. Let’s come together to do what needs to be done. Let’s be fierce. Community Grief Ritual Friday, November 3, 2023 7:00 p.m. FREE First United Methodist Church 1376 Olive St., Eugene, OR Join us in A Celebration of Life for the Earth as We Knew It as we acknowledge the mounting death toll and staggering losses associated with the collapse of our planetary eco-system. May this offering of music, image and words of reflection, nourish our deep need to grieve what we hold dear - in community. Eulogy offered by Patty Hine, President, 350 Eugene, a local climate justice organization. Music offered by Dave Himber (flute), Agnes Vojtko (alto), Caleb Saunders (organ, piano), Kathryn Brunhaver (cello). Facilitators: Jenny Gordon, PhD & Rev. Dr. Karen Love Baisinger A reception with light refreshments will follow. DEEP LISTENING CIRCLE: Climate Emotions Saturday, November 4, 2023 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Suggested donation: $20-$60 Emotion is the chief source of consciousness. There is no change from darkness to light or from inertia to movement without emotion. C. G. Jung, CW 9i, para. 179 In this workshop, we will engage a variety of methods to express our climate emotions and share them with each other. Whether you are feeling sadness, anxiety, guilt and anger OR wonder, joy, gratitude and love, each emotional response illuminates meaning and holds value. Listening deeply to what you are feeling cultivates connection to your heart's wisdom. How might listening to what you feel guide your response to existential crisis of our time?
Facilitators: Jenny Gordon, PhD, Psychologist, and Karen Love Baisinger, D.Min., Pastoral Counselor Both Programs are Sponsored by The Health Ministry Team of the FUMC and 350 Eugene. FORESTS OVER PROFITS!The Forests over Profits mobilization held at the World Forestry Center in Portland Sept. 26-28 was a huge success! While capitalist investors and false solutions peddlers (we’re talking about you, biomass energy & carbon off-set speculators!) plotted how to make more money from forests at their "Who Will Own the Forest?" conference, hundreds of people gathered over three days to protest and also hold our own "Forests Over Profits" conference. Together, we shone the spotlight on financialized forestry and began a new era of anti-capitalist, decolonial forest defense. We’re just getting started! Thanks to the folks who traveled to Portland and put in tons of time to make the event a success. (Thanks to our generous PDX home-stay hosts too!) A special thanks to our Artivist team led by Joanie Kleban and to the Fireflies affinity group for showing up to engage, inform and disrupt. For an inspiring one-stop-shop recap of the Who Will Own the Forest? Conference counter-protest and alternate conference, here’s the Coast Range Radio podcast that tells the tale. TAKE ACTION Who’s Eugene’s Biggest Polluter? According to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s GHG inventory, the University of Oregon’s gas boiler system is now the single largest source of non-industrial climate-polluting emissions in the City of Eugene. Transitioning this outdated system to run efficiently on clean, renewable electricity will slash emissions, help the UO meet its climate goals, protect the health and safety of students and community members, and show the UO to be the innovative, forward-looking institution it claims to be. UO students have been hounding the administration for 13 years to Get Off the Gas! Let’s support UO’s student-led Climate Justice League this fall to apply max pressure. Turn out for the student demonstration at the EMU Green, at 13th & University on Tuesday, Oct. 24th at 5:15 pm Meanwhile… the UO has created a Thermal Systems Transition Task Force, which has launched a survey to collect information and provide an opportunity for feedback on its climate action plan. Perfect! Please take a minute to urge the UO to take strong action on climate & dramatically reduce emissions through a conversion of its gas system to an electric one. Take the survey here. (Here are some suggestions for your survey answers too!) Thank you! Stay tuned for more info on Task Force hearings scheduled for Tue., Oct. 24th 6-7:30 and Thur., Nov. 2nd, 12-1:30 pm. DIVEST OREGONOver 100 organizations call on the current Oregon State Treasurer, Oregon Investment Council members, and candidates for Oregon Treasurer to create and support an effective climate risk action plan that includes these components: -Ends NEW investments in fossil fuel -Phases out all CURRENT fossil fuel investments while protecting returns -Uses a JUST TRANSITION framework to reduce climate risk to frontline communities -Requires annual release of a public list of ALL portfolio holdings This campaign is heating up! Please sign the petition to the Oregon Treasurer & Oregon Investment Council and demand action! FRACKED GAS RESISTANCE - GTNXPHouse and Senate Republicans recently penned a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the nation's top energy regulator, calling for the immediate approval of the Gas Transmission Northwest XPress Project (GTNXP). The project would upgrade three existing compressor stations, increasing capacity on an existing system that has transported natural gas in decades old pipes. This group was led by Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., and joined by fellow Oregon GOP Rep. Cliff Bentz, with four other House Republicans in Idaho. While these “leaders” say that gas is better / cleaner than coal powered electrical plants, they are not listening to the latest science. Fracked gas is as bad or worse for the planet's carbon pollution problem than coal. We must stop burning fossils if we are to have a liveable planet! FERC, which is chaired by Willie Phillips, a President Biden appointee and Democrat, has delayed granting final approval for TC Energy to move ahead with construction in the project. In July, FERC removed the project from its open meeting agenda and one day before that meeting, Democratic Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden wrote to the regulator, imploring it to reject the project. The commission again opted against discussing it during its following meeting on Sept. 21. Send an appreciation email to Senators Merkley and Wyden for their stand against more dirty gas in Oregon! Deb McGee - Fracked Gas Resistance Team Lead SAVE THE DATEBiomass pretends to be a clean way to generate electricity and dispose of “woody wastes” from our forests - it is anything but… Webinar: Forest Biomass, Oregon and Beyond Thursday, October 19th 5:00-6:15 pm The biomass industry is looking to expand into the Pacific Northwest. Wait. What? More and more money is being allocated for thinning and logging in the name of wildfire safety. How are these related, and what does this mean for our wildlands, timberlands and rural communities? As part of the Global Day of Action on Big Biomass on October 19th, the Sierra Club's Oregon Chapter Forest Team invites you to attend: Forest Biomass: Oregon and Beyond, a free webinar with Rita Vaughan Frost and Dr. Dominick DellaSala (from Phoenix, OR). REGISTER HERE. Eugene has its own biomass business at Sierra Pacific Industries on Highway 99. Read about it here. Not a climate solution. Not good for the forest. Not good for our air. How do we take care of ourselves so we can sustain effective action? Here are two opportunities. Fri., Nov. 3rd at 7:00 pm - A Celebration of Life for the Earth As We Knew It - A Community Grief Ritual - at First United Methodist Church (FUMC), 1376 Olive St., Eugene. Music, images, words of reflection. Facilitated by Jenny Gordon, PhD & Rev. Dr. Karen Love Baisinger. Light refreshments to follow. Free and open to the public. Sat., Nov. 4th - 9:00-12:00 pm - Deep Listening Circle: Climate Emotions - at FUMC. “How might listening to what you feel guide your response to the existential crisis of our time?” Programs sponsored by the FUMC Health Ministry Team and 350 Eugene. Suggested donation: $20-$60. Eugene's first Beam Bright Parade was a big hit last Saturday night! 350 Eugene was there with our beautiful forest-themed salmon flags & lanterns, singing and chanting for our climate-saving forests! Thanks to everybody who turned out! Forest defense is climate defense! Post-pandemic, things are picking up at 350.org. We have a new energetic national director, Jeff Ordower. There’s a new campaign emerging to make monopolistic utilities accountable to their ratepayers and not finance public relations campaigns that hinder a just & rapid clean energy transition. (Perfect for our Northwest Natural work!) There’s momentum and cohesion building across our movements. How are you plugging in? To change everything, we need everybody. See you in the streets! Surveys and CommentsSave the Forests! Right now policymakers are asking for the public's opinions on the future of Oregon's forests. ALL FORESTS - not just state parks. All Oregonians are asked for input to help direct policy for the next several decades. Right now the comments are being flooded by a few special interest groups who plan to take advantage of our forests just to make a profit. This is why we need YOUR VOICE! Fill out this survey by Oregon's Kitchen Table, a Portland-based non-profit by Monday 10/09. I know the deadline is approaching fast but with this quick survey you can tell our state government why the forests are important to you and urge them to protect our trees. EWEB EWEB is considering adopting the changes to PURPA (Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act) which would make EV charging more readily available and provide consumers with more affordable rates, and they want to know what you think. Currently, EWEB does not have any demand response programs in place. The updated PURPA standards require that EWEB "...shall promote the use of demand response and flexible demand" and "a utility may establish rate mechanisms to recover costs of demand response practices". This would lower energy consumption during times when there is unusually high demand. The demands are expected to increase with more EV charging, smart thermostats and other 'DR capable' technologies that become available. EWEB promotes EV use but does not currently have any specific incentives to push for electrification. PURPA requires that EWEB should promote transportation electrification, promote equitable and affordable charging options, reduce charging times and promote third party charging infrastructure, and appropriately recover costs of delivering this electricity to EVs. Urge EWEB to go through with the updated PURPA standards by emailing your comments to aaron.yale-bush@eweb.org by October 14. Volunteer Opportunities!350 is lighting up in the BEAM BRiGHT Parade on October 14. If you would like to join us in celebrating and sharing out love for mature and old growth forests meet us at 5th Ave and Oak St at 6:15pm day of to get ready and learn the chants! If you would like to participate email coordinator@350eugene.org to RSVP. More info in the flyer below: We have a new Facebook page! For updates on 350 Eugene's events and events we are sponsoring/promoting check us out here.
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