350 Eugene has been advocating for strong climate policy, in our town, state and region, with our partners and allies, for over 10 years. We've helped bring about the first-in-the-nation Climate Recovery Ordinance in 2014, amended, at our urging, and a new Climate Action Plan 2.0, bird-dogged all the way to its adoption in 2019. As a result of our consistent demands for real reductions in local greenhouse emissions, through testifying at council, meeting with councilors, writing letters, signing petitions and public education, we've made solid progress, educating the council and building lasting community support.
One of the first steps we took was to encourage the Eugene City Council to renegotiate the franchise agreement with Northwest Natural (the local fossil gas utility) when it expired to include an agreement to reduce emissions from fossil gas and phase out new distribution lines. A great starting point was to focus on stopping the expansion of new fossil fuel infrastructure by way of a local ordinance that would require new low-rise residential buildings be constructed with only electric appliances.
With extensive research and community outreach, the Eugene City Council passed an electrification ordinance in February 2023, which would have taken effect in June 2023 to ensure new low-rise residential construction did not use fossil gas. Unfortunately, but not unexpected, the local gas utility with deep pockets mounted a (>$1M) opposition campaign to instead refer the ordinance to the voters, under the auspices of “providing voters energy choice.”
Their efforts to refer the ordinance to the ballot succeeded just in time for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to uphold a challenge by the Restaurant Association to a similar ordinance in Berkeley, California, which invalidated Berkeley's ordinance under an obscure and old federal energy
statute.
Due to the legal uncertainty, the Eugene City Council wisely withdrew the ordinance in June 2023 with the commitment to return in the 2023-2024 session to decarbonize our existing building stock and bring back a legally defensible ordinance for a vote in late spring. We can't wait!
This December (and last August) two dozen environmental organizations and eight elected officials sent a letter to Oregon's Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, asking her to investigate Northwest Natural's misinformation campaign to confuse consumers. Listen to the Dec. 14, 2023 OPB interview,
Lawmakers and activists petition Oregon AG to investigate NW Natural, with Oregon Representative Mark Gamba, who explains how massive amounts of industry PR money seek to distort the facts regarding the well established hazards of burning fossil gas in homes.
For a shocking visual of cooking with gas in homes, watch the latest Beyond Toxics' documentary, Fumes in Focus, to see the infrared video of actual emissions, usually invisible, that are present when cooking with gas.
One of the first steps we took was to encourage the Eugene City Council to renegotiate the franchise agreement with Northwest Natural (the local fossil gas utility) when it expired to include an agreement to reduce emissions from fossil gas and phase out new distribution lines. A great starting point was to focus on stopping the expansion of new fossil fuel infrastructure by way of a local ordinance that would require new low-rise residential buildings be constructed with only electric appliances.
With extensive research and community outreach, the Eugene City Council passed an electrification ordinance in February 2023, which would have taken effect in June 2023 to ensure new low-rise residential construction did not use fossil gas. Unfortunately, but not unexpected, the local gas utility with deep pockets mounted a (>$1M) opposition campaign to instead refer the ordinance to the voters, under the auspices of “providing voters energy choice.”
Their efforts to refer the ordinance to the ballot succeeded just in time for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to uphold a challenge by the Restaurant Association to a similar ordinance in Berkeley, California, which invalidated Berkeley's ordinance under an obscure and old federal energy
statute.
Due to the legal uncertainty, the Eugene City Council wisely withdrew the ordinance in June 2023 with the commitment to return in the 2023-2024 session to decarbonize our existing building stock and bring back a legally defensible ordinance for a vote in late spring. We can't wait!
This December (and last August) two dozen environmental organizations and eight elected officials sent a letter to Oregon's Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, asking her to investigate Northwest Natural's misinformation campaign to confuse consumers. Listen to the Dec. 14, 2023 OPB interview,
Lawmakers and activists petition Oregon AG to investigate NW Natural, with Oregon Representative Mark Gamba, who explains how massive amounts of industry PR money seek to distort the facts regarding the well established hazards of burning fossil gas in homes.
For a shocking visual of cooking with gas in homes, watch the latest Beyond Toxics' documentary, Fumes in Focus, to see the infrared video of actual emissions, usually invisible, that are present when cooking with gas.
If you like “hitting the streets,” our Climate Messaging Team meets at strategic locations to engage the public on all our issues. Watch them in action in the video to the right and check our website calendar to find out when and where we meet. |
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It's time to REALLY reduce climate pollution with an focus on creating climate justice for our marginalized and low-income communities, and we can! It's going to take a lot of grassroots pressure to back these changes. That means we need your voice! Join us in the next phase of climate action in Eugene! Watch our website calendar for opportunities to show up at city council. See you there!
There is a new pipeline fight in the Pacific Northwest, and we’re the Resistance!
What’s the Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) Xpress Expansion Project?
It’s a 1,377 mile interstate gas pipeline expansion project designed to increase throughput of fossil gas starting in British Columbia and running to Malin, Oregon to supply more planet-heating methane to users in California. It’s wholly owned by TC Energy, formerly Transcanada. (Remember the Keystone XL pipeline?) The plan is to replace some existing compressor stations and add a new one to accommodate greater capacity. Sounds climate-safe, right? Not.
Communities along the route in Washington, Idaho and Oregon are organizing to resist a project that would commit us to more gas emissions than our planet can afford. This project is inconsistent with Oregon's Climate Protection Plan. Columbia Riverkeeper and Rogue Climate are the organizations with staff leading the charge.
They have filed a request for a rehearing of the Federal Regulatory Commission's (FERC) approval of the project and we are supporting their legal challenge.
TAKE ACTION TODAY: You can sign the Columbia Riverkeepers' petition challenging the FERC's decision to approve the GTN Xpress here and read the Guardian article that explains the project and where we are today.
What’s the Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) Xpress Expansion Project?
It’s a 1,377 mile interstate gas pipeline expansion project designed to increase throughput of fossil gas starting in British Columbia and running to Malin, Oregon to supply more planet-heating methane to users in California. It’s wholly owned by TC Energy, formerly Transcanada. (Remember the Keystone XL pipeline?) The plan is to replace some existing compressor stations and add a new one to accommodate greater capacity. Sounds climate-safe, right? Not.
Communities along the route in Washington, Idaho and Oregon are organizing to resist a project that would commit us to more gas emissions than our planet can afford. This project is inconsistent with Oregon's Climate Protection Plan. Columbia Riverkeeper and Rogue Climate are the organizations with staff leading the charge.
They have filed a request for a rehearing of the Federal Regulatory Commission's (FERC) approval of the project and we are supporting their legal challenge.
TAKE ACTION TODAY: You can sign the Columbia Riverkeepers' petition challenging the FERC's decision to approve the GTN Xpress here and read the Guardian article that explains the project and where we are today.
Divest Oregon is a diverse coalition of individuals and organizations representing unions with PERS members, racial and climate justice groups, youth leaders and faith communities advocating for the Oregon State Treasury to divest its $140 billion from fossil fuels. Eugene 350 is a coalition member and you can join individually, too.
The Asks:
1. Immediately: No NEW investments in fossil fuels.
2. Annually release a public list of all portfolio holdings in every asset class.
3. Transparently phase out of all publicly traded CURRENT fossil fuel investments six months after bill passage and all private fossil fuels investments by 2035. Move to climate-safe investments, using a social justice framework that accounts for the climate impacts on frontline communities across the state, including rural communities and communities of color.
How we get there:
Oregon’s fossil fuel investments are not fully transparent, but you can learn more.
https://www.divestoregon.org/treasurys-private-investment-problem-report
https://www.divestoregon.org/report
https://www.divestoregon.org/climaterisk
Support the 2003 Oregon Treasury Investment and Climate Protection Act: https://www.divestoregon.org/treasury-investment-climate-protection-act
PERS Members, retirees, and beneficiaries support “Your Right to Know” campaign: https://www.divestoregon.org/right-to-know-campaign
2024 Legislative Work in Oregon - As the growing Divest Oregon campaign continues to build momentum, we're preparing for the 2024 “short” legislative session by introducing the Clean Oregon Assets Legislation (COAL) Act and lobbying our representatives in Salem. Check out the Divest Oregon website for details.
The Asks:
1. Immediately: No NEW investments in fossil fuels.
2. Annually release a public list of all portfolio holdings in every asset class.
3. Transparently phase out of all publicly traded CURRENT fossil fuel investments six months after bill passage and all private fossil fuels investments by 2035. Move to climate-safe investments, using a social justice framework that accounts for the climate impacts on frontline communities across the state, including rural communities and communities of color.
How we get there:
Oregon’s fossil fuel investments are not fully transparent, but you can learn more.
https://www.divestoregon.org/treasurys-private-investment-problem-report
https://www.divestoregon.org/report
https://www.divestoregon.org/climaterisk
Support the 2003 Oregon Treasury Investment and Climate Protection Act: https://www.divestoregon.org/treasury-investment-climate-protection-act
PERS Members, retirees, and beneficiaries support “Your Right to Know” campaign: https://www.divestoregon.org/right-to-know-campaign
2024 Legislative Work in Oregon - As the growing Divest Oregon campaign continues to build momentum, we're preparing for the 2024 “short” legislative session by introducing the Clean Oregon Assets Legislation (COAL) Act and lobbying our representatives in Salem. Check out the Divest Oregon website for details.
Forest Defense
Climate Defenders in the Pacific Northwest have everything in common with our Forest Conservation allies. The forests in our region hold the promise of sequestering and storing more carbon than tropical forests... but only if we stop the wholesale clear-cutting of what is left of our mature and old growth
trees!
President Biden signed an Executive Order on Earth Day 2022, directing his land managers at the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to inventory our national forests and include in their new management policies conservation of biodiversity, equity and climate impacts going forward.
Last year, with the help of the national Climate Forests Coalition and regional partners, we submitted over half a million public comments to steer policy-makers to preserve and protect these priceless resources, busting all records!
trees!
President Biden signed an Executive Order on Earth Day 2022, directing his land managers at the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to inventory our national forests and include in their new management policies conservation of biodiversity, equity and climate impacts going forward.
Last year, with the help of the national Climate Forests Coalition and regional partners, we submitted over half a million public comments to steer policy-makers to preserve and protect these priceless resources, busting all records!
This year all our national forests are undertaking reviews of their forest plans, and it's time for maximum public engagement! Sign up for our newsletters and watch for opportunities to flood the system with comments that demand durable protections for mature and old growth trees.
Meanwhile, we, along with the regional Pacific Northwest Forest Climate Alliance are challenging industry's misinformation and wanton disregard for forest climate science with events, trainings and actions to bring attention to this important issue. This spring we'll have a massive public comment campaign. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, we, along with the regional Pacific Northwest Forest Climate Alliance are challenging industry's misinformation and wanton disregard for forest climate science with events, trainings and actions to bring attention to this important issue. This spring we'll have a massive public comment campaign. Stay tuned.
Forest Defense is Climate Defense and forests are a vital climate solution.
We need them now more than ever. Let’s protect them.
We need them now more than ever. Let’s protect them.
As an example, at the Who Will Own the Forest conference, held each year at the World Forestry Center in Portland and attended by hundreds of Wall Street investors, the Alliance planned and executed an effective on-site counter-demonstration, alternative Sustainable Forest Management conference, accompanied by complementary disruptive actions in late September.
We're running out of time to avert the worst of climate breakdown, but the timber industry and government agencies continue to ignore impacted communities, economics, tribal informed consent and participation, and the intersecting biodiversity and climate crises. The grassroots is taking a stand. This campaign is building massive resistance. The Timber Wars are back!
We're running out of time to avert the worst of climate breakdown, but the timber industry and government agencies continue to ignore impacted communities, economics, tribal informed consent and participation, and the intersecting biodiversity and climate crises. The grassroots is taking a stand. This campaign is building massive resistance. The Timber Wars are back!
Resilience and Regeneration
350 Eugene Resilience Workgroup recommends resources to increase the capacity for mental/emotional wellness and mitigate trauma associated with the climate emergency.
Kathleen Dean Moore - Author, Moral Philosopher, Environmental Advocate Willamette Farm and Food Coalition facilitates and secures the development of secure, sustainable, and inclusive food systems Francis Weller - community building & soul work Joanna Macy and her Work Michael Meade Mosaic Voices Provides mythic imagination and healing stories in this time of polarization and great uncertainty. The Trauma Healing Project - Eugene - trainings & resources Cascadia Quest - Eugene - Adult grieving ceremonies, community & leadership trainings centered in nature & regenerative practices |