350PDX Weekly Update – An exciting new campaign – Dec 2 2020

/in /by

Hi everyone,

Next month will see the launch of an exciting new campaign – a statewide push for a climate justice package that includes 100% clean energy for all, economic justice via low-income energy discounts, and good job opportunities in climate-resilient home retrofits. Frontline communities from every corner of Oregon have been envisioning clean energy opportunities and we have a chance to help realize that vision of climate justice.

Sign up for our December meeting to learn more – we’ll be taking a deep dive into it!

What – December General Meeting
When – Mon Dec 14, 6:00PM
Where – Online, register here

Here’s your 350PDX weekly update.

How is the election going?

It looks like the worst of the attacks on the integrity of the election may be over. Last Monday likely was decisive. Local organizing in Michigan pushed-back against wayward electorates — ending with Michigan officially certifying election results. And the General Services Administration officially announced its transition to President-elect Biden.

Democracy survived this election. There are also fundamental issues that need addressing. We witnessed a scorched-earth policy, a mass refusal to push-back on falsehoods, and a withering attack on democracy. It is not going away. The distrust and distortions have taken root in much of the country’s psyche. So we thank all of you who helped us avoid a catastrophic coup, including Choose Democracy, and all of you who are preparing for the fights ahead.

Actions

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

  • Youth Strike For Our Lives – Week of Action

    All the in-person actions have been postponed due to the current COVID spike, but the virtual actions are happening this weekend and next week! Youth Strike for Our Lives (YSOL) is a BIPOC-led youth coalition based in Portland that 350PDX helps to coordinate. The week of action will be in support of Black liberation, abolition, Indigenous sovereignty, environmental justice, gender equity, and educational equity for a livable future. Follow @yslives on Instagram and Twitter for updates.

  • Line 3 frontline fight needs your help today!!

    Many of you have worked on stopping the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline and taken action in solidarity. This pipeline, like Keystone XL, would likely extend the economic life of the dying tar sands crude oil industry just long enough to be game-over-for-the-planet, cross through treaty territory against the will of tribal nations, and threaten hundreds of waterways including the Mississippi and Lake Superior.

    Things have accelerated rapidly in Minnesota with the state and federal governments issuing permits faster than expected. Yesterday, Enbridge got the last permit they needed and has reportedly moved from “pre-construction” activity to actual construction in at least one spot. Some of thousands of out of expected state construction workers are arriving in the midst of a COVID surge

    We need your help! Minnesota’s Governor Walz has until TODAY to have the Department of Commerce join in a legal motion for a stay of construction. Can you call Governor Walz (651-201-3400) and DOC Commissioner Grace Arnold (651-539-1755) today to tell them how much we need a stay on construction?

    Your message can be quick and simple: “Hi, my name is Name and I’m calling from Minneapolis to tell you how critical it is that the MN Department of Commerce support a stay on construction for Line 3. The deadline is tomorrow, December 2! Enbridge should not be allowed to build because there are pending legal challenges to the pipeline that we need to let play out, and the construction of this pipeline will lead to more spread of COVID-19. I’m urging you to take action now and protect the legal process by supporting a stay on construction.”

    If you get a full voicemail for the DOC, you can email Commissioner Arnold instead (commissioner.commerce@state.mn.us or grace.arnold@state.mn.us)!

    Another way you can get involved is to tune into the Public Utilities Commission hearing at 10:00 AM on Friday, December 4, where the PUC will discuss and decide upon the motion for a stay. The PUC may deny the motion, in which case the parties will bring the motion to the Court of Appeals.

  • Stop mega-dairies’ unlimited access to our water – Deadline today!

    Our region’s iconic threatened species like salmon and steelhead need all the water available in the Columbia River, but mega-dairies are sucking the river and nearby aquifers dry.

    Under Oregon law, mega-dairies have unlimited access to water without a permit under a “stockwatering” exemption if they use the water as drinking water for their cows. We need to stop the abuse of Oregon’s water resources by mega-dairies and save our critical aquifers! Oregon’s water shouldn’t be up for grabs.

    Tell the Oregon Water Resources Commission: Close the “stockwatering exemption” loophole and protect Oregon’s water resources from mega-dairies.

Updates​​​​

  • Wanted: Social Media Intern (paid internship!)

    We’re recruiting for an intern to help us develop our social media channels from January – March 2020. This will be a paid position ($15/hr for 100 hours over 3 months). Is this you? Know anyone who might be interested? See more details and apply here.

  • OJTA is hiring a Tribal Liaison

    The Oregon Just Transition Alliance is hiring. The Tribal Liaison is a 12-month limited duration position with potential for transitioning to a regular position at the end of the year. This position will work to build and deepen OJTA’s relationships with Oregon Tribes, support the Energy Democracy campaign and solicit input on the Oregon Green New Deal policy platform. More info here.

  • NCAI Calls on Insurance Companies to Adopt FPIC Policies

    Earlier this month, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) passed a resolution calling on U.S. insurers to adopt policies that ensure the fossil fuel projects they insure have obtained the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of impacted Tribal Nations.

    As Dallas Goldtooth tweeted: “THIS IS HUGE.” It provides a really strong foundation from which we can pressure U.S. insurers to stop insuring destructive, rights-violating projects like Keystone XL and Line 3 and push for strong policies on FPIC that would prevent them getting involved with any such projects in the future.

  • UN Secretary-General calls out the role of finance in driving the climate crisis

    The UNSG gave a big speech this morning about the “State of the Planet” and directly called out the role of financial institutions in driving the climate crisis. Read and watch here.

  • Listen: Fracked Gas on the Columbia

    “On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with Dan Serres with Columbia Riverkeeper and Dineen O’Rourke with 350PDX about the continuing saga of the world’s largest methanol refinery, proposed for Kalama, Washington. We’ll also talk about a project in Umatilla County, where developers of the proposed Perennial WindChaser fracked gas plant started clearing land illegally for a road at the site near the city of Hermiston.”

Opportunities​​​​

  • Climate Justice 101 training

    Thurs Dec 3, 6:00PM – Online

    The first time we’re rolling out our repeating Climate Justice 101 training. We’ll be trying out some new content before we launch this training in earnest in the new year.

  • Defend Cordillera: Join the Global Fight against Chevron

    Mon Dec 7, 5:00PM – 6:00PM – Online

    350PDX is co-sponsoring this important intersectional webinar:

    “The Cordillera region in the Philippines has long been occupied and controlled by multinational corporations and the military, ravaging the islands with destructive energy projects that have had devastating impacts on the land and the people. Chevron continues this legacy of plunder and exploitation hand-in-hand with the Duterte regime through its Kalinga geothermal project, violating the free prior and informed consent of the Indigenous peoples in the Cordillera.

    Indigenous peoples’ ancestral lands continue to be treated as a resource base for profit by the State and private corporations at the expense of their self-determination and human rights. As environmental, land and climate defenders in the US it is our duty to unite in solidarity with land defenders in the Philippines in their struggle for self-determination and land!

    Join us to learn more about the fight against Chevron in the Philippines, and take a stand against corporate plunder around the world!”

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

350PDX Weekly Update – Eta & Iota – Nov 18 2020 Support the Red House