350PDX Weekly Update – Pause to celebrate – Jan 27 2020

Hi everyone,

Last week we saw more major setbacks for fossil fuel industry than perhaps any week ever before. Two of our major local fossil fuel fights — Jordan Cove LNG and the Kalama Methanol Refinery — were dealt serious blows from which they may never recover. The Biden administration put a freeze on federal fossil fuel leases and permits, and cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline. New York City Pension Funds–the largest municipal fund in the world with $239 billion in investments to divest–voted to begin selling off an estimated $4 billion of holdings in fossil fuel corporations. And of course the US rejoined the Paris Agreement. 

While we still need to keep up the fight against remaining projects such as Line 3 and Dakota Access Pipeline (watch this must-see 2-min video), we’ve moved vastly in the right direction towards a fossil-free future. Too often in the activist world we’re quick to move onto the next fight without pausing to reflect and to celebrate. So, if you’re able, try to find a moment this week to lean into optimism and celebrate these important, historic wins! Woohoo!

Actions

All these actions and more can be found on our website’s Take Action page – 350pdx.org/action

Updates​​​​

  • Goodbye to our office space!

    After being in our office inside the Central Lutheran Church for 5 years, and our lease recently expiring, we’ll be moving out of our office at 1820 NE 21st Ave by the end of this month (although our mailing address will stay the same for the foreseeable future!). Staff will continue to work from home until pandemic conditions make sense for us to be finding a new office. We want to thank everyone at the Central Lutheran Church for your support and partnership for all these years. We will miss you!

  • Readers respond: Change Oregon forestry lawCheck out and share 350PDX Forest Defense team member Eugenia Team’s letter to the editor: “While appalling, this state of affairs is not surprising given that Oregon statutes allow for up to three of the seven members of the Board of Forestry, which oversees the Department of Forestry, to receive significant income from timber operations.”
  • A Small Town’s 15-Year Fight Against Natural Gas“Citizens of Coos Bay knew they had power. But wielding it would be more complicated than anyone imagined.” Looking for a longform read on the Jordan Cove fracked gas project fight. This 36-min read is for you! It’s behind a paywall, but a brand new publication with a pay-per-read model.

Opportunities​​​​

  • “Other Side of the Hill”: Bridging Oregon’s Rural-Urban Divide film screeningThurs Jan 28, 7:00PM – 8:00PM, OnlineAn external event we’re happy to share! “We are excited to invite you to a screening of Other Side of the Hill being shown virtually this Thursday, January 28th, 7 pm hosted by SOCAN (see below) and followed by a Q & A with some of the film stars.  If you haven’t seen this beautiful 29-minute documentary film featuring community-based projects in three Eastern Oregon counties as told through local leaders on the ground, we encourage you to join the screening. Click here to register!”
  • 350 Spokane’s “Kiss the Ground” film eventThurs Jan 28, 6:30PM – 9:00PM, OnlineCome join 350 Spokane for an online screening of Kiss the Ground, followed by a panel discussion to further explore and expand upon the film’s introduction to restorative farming, and the role this has to play in combating the climate crisis. The panel includes Chris Bachman and Mike Peterson of The Lands Council, as well as Beth Robinette, co-founder of LINC, a local worker-farmer-owned cooperative food hub.

    Register here, and share Facebook event here

  • 350PDX February General MeetingWed Feb 10, 6:00PM – 7:30PM, OnlineSave the date for our February General Meeting – the topic isn’t confirmed yet but we’ll likely be doing a Lobbying 101 training and hearing an update from our Forest Defense team’s active campaign to change the make-up of the Board of Forestry, as well as hearing what the rest of our teams and campaigns are up to. Register today and you’ll get a reminder with more details closer to the time!
  • Portland Black Lives Matter Protests
    Every day @ across the city – details here
    Click here for our advice for showing up to protest

Thank you all for the work that you do, stay safe, we’re all in this together,
Ashley, Chris, Chuck, Dineen, Indi, Lucy – the 350PDX staff