Hi everyone,
This past week, we’ve been celebrating another major win in the movement to stop Zenith Energy’s oil-by-rail operation. You may remember that over the summer, the City denied a key land use permit for Zenith after mounting grassroots pressure from our collective movement. Since Zenith appealed this decision, it’s been in court at the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). Last week, the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals affirmed the City of Portland’s authority to deny this land use permit, but stated that the City needs to provide more evidence to back up their decision.
This was good news overall, with LUBA affirming that fossil fuel companies need to follow basic rules and law. But this news also means the City needs to hear that we support their decision to deny the Land Use Compatibility Statement (LUCS) and that we thank them for fighting Zenith in court. We know the evidence is clear: Zenith Energy’s operations clearly do not comply with our City’s land use laws. Now the City just needs to provide that evidence to back up their decision.
Join us in contacting our City Council members (particularly Commissioner Dan Ryan, who leads the Bureau of Development Services) to share our support for their denial of the LUCS, urge them to remain firm in their denial against Zenith Energy and provide more evidence to back up for their decision:
Commissioner Ryan: CommissionerRyanOffice@portlandoregon.gov, 503-823-3589
Mayor Wheeler: mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov, 503-823-4120
Commissioner Mapps: MappsOffice@portlandoregon.gov; 503-823-4682
Commissioner Hardesty: joann@portlandoregon.gov; 503-823-4151
Commissioner Rubio: comm.rubio@portlandoregon.gov; 503-823-3008
For years, we’ve all been showing up to rallies, making calls and emails, and building a grassroots movement to make our voices heard. The City needs to hear from us again, so Zenith will stop endangering our communities and climate. Even though Zenith is lacking permits and legal battles rage on, the company is still operating. It’s also likely that Zenith will appeal LUBA’s decision from last week in court. That’s why we’ll keep fighting until we’ve stopped Zenith Energy’s oil-by-rail operations for good.
Read our movement’s press release about the LUBA decision here.
Take Action!
For quick actions like petitions, check out our Take Action Page. See here for our broader Volunteer Opportunities.
Join Divest Oregon* in telling your legislator to pass the Treasury Transparency Bill
By holding onto fossil fuel investments, the Oregon State Treasury is making risky financial decisions and actively funding the Climate Crisis. We know our Treasury is putting us all at risk with these investments, but we have no way of knowing by how much. The Treasury Transparency Bill (HB 4115-1) would ensure the Treasury tells us how they’re investing $140 billion, subject to statutory exemptions, and how those choices affect the climate. We deserve transparency. We deserve this bill.
*Divest Oregon is a grassroots coalition of over 85 organizations, including 350PDX, fighting for our state to divest from fossil fuels and invest in our future. We’re calling on our legislators to take the first step towards divestment by passing the Treasury Transparency Bill, as amended, which would ensure the Treasury makes public its investments and climate risk analyses not covered by exemptions to public disclosure. The result? An important step toward transparency.
The bill is in the Revenue Committee and may be heading to the House Floor soon. Join us TODAY OR TOMORROW in taking action to pass the Treasury Transparency Bill! Take action here.
Looming oil spill on the Willamette River sounds alarm for decommissioning of CEI Hub
On Monday, Multnomah County and the City of Portland just released an update to a sobering report confirming all of our worst fears about the dangers of the looming Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. Because of the Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub along the Willamette (where Zenith Energy is, as well as 630 other tanks holding gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel, and 90% of all of Oregon’s liquid fuels), estimates show that the earthquake would trigger an oil spill as big as the catastrophic 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This report must serve as an alarm bell for all levels of government to take swift and bold action to begin a managed decline of fossil fuels in the CEI Hub entirely, towards a just transition to clean and safe energy.
Email your legislator and tell them you support SB 1567, a bill that would require owners or operators of liquid fuel terminals to conduct and submit seismic vulnerability assessments to the State of Oregon. This is an important initial step in mitigating the immense risk these industries pose to our river, our community, and our climate.
Tell your Legislators to Support the Reach Code bill
The Reach Code bill (SB 1518) would allow Oregon cities to opt into stronger energy efficiency building standards within their jurisdictions. This bill would pave the way for climate action in the building sector, reducing climate and air pollution and increasing livability in cites that opt into the stronger standards.
Keep up the heat on OPB! Our public radio shouldn’t air fossil fuel ads
Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is still running advertisement and sponsorship ads for NW Natural – a fossil fuel company trying to sell the public greenwashed fracked gas. When OPB promotes the use of fracked gas through ads that ignore harms to our communities, they lose our trust as listeners. OPB already refuses to air ads from tobacco and weapons companies — why are fossil fuels getting a free pass?
Tell Oregon lawmakers farmworkers deserve fair pay
Oregon farmworkers ensure our families are healthy and well-fed in every corner of the state. Their hard work supports our entire economy. They deserve to be paid for every hour of their essential, difficult, and often dangerous work. And yet, in 2020, while working through wildfires and ice storms, Oregon farmworkers made, on average, less than $20,000 a year.
This week, The Emergency Heat Relief Bill passed unanimously in the House Committee on Energy & the Environment! Next stop: the Ways and Means Committee. Let’s get this bill passed!
Sign the petition to the Fed: Make lowering the Black unemployment rate a priority for 2022
The unemployment rate for Black workers is on the rise, and is now more than double the unemployment rate of white workers. The Federal Reserve has long fallen behind on supporting Black workers, and it’s time for them revisit their priorities. We need the Reserve to invest in increasing job opportunities and decreasing unemployment rates for Black workers throughout the country, who deserve good paying jobs. Join groups around the country calling on the Reserve to take prioritize lowering the Black unemployment rate in 2022!
Events & Opportunities
People Power Panel
Sat Feb 19, 10:00-11:30am, virtual
The Ecosocialist and Resiliency Working Group of the Portland Democratic Socialists of America are co-sponsoring a virtual panel discussion on February 19th from 10 to 11:30 AM. The panel will feature as the keynote speaker Ashley Dawson, author of People’s Power: Reclaiming the Energy Commons. The event will also feature DSA members from Texas, Louisiana, and Oregon chapters speaking to their experiences organizing and implementing mutual aid and relief projects in the face of winter storms, hurricanes, and wildfires brought on by climate change. If the past few years are any indicator, as members of the largest socialist organization in the US, we’ll be faced with crises around energy and climate extinction regularly, until we can build a movement large enough to change conditions. For questions, email ecosocialistpdx@protonmail.com. RSVP for this virtual event today!
Climate Activism Training with Families for Climate
Thurs Feb 10, 8:00pm, virtual
Oregon’s short session officially began on February 1st, and now the countdown is ticking to get important climate bills passed before the time runs out! Our allies with Families for Climate are hosting a “Climate Justice Advocacy Training” Thursday night at 8pm. his is a special opportunity to ask questions and learn from a seasoned panel of experts who have some huge climate victories under their belts, and can help us all be smart, strategic, and effective when it comes to climate advocacy. Register here.
Portland Black Lives Matter Protests
Throughout the week @ across the city – details here
News & Updates
Help make Resistance Rides a reality!
From Line 3 to Peehee Mu’huh to the Wet’suwet’en fighting the Coastal Gaslink pipeline, Indigenous-led resistance has been critical at stopping harm to local communities, water and the climate. Fossil fuel resistance movements often need people on the ground, although travel costs can be a barrier for people to get involved. Led by activists connected to these movements, Resistance Rides is a project aimed at decreasing those travel costs, particularly for Indigenous people and People of Color. Donate to Resistance Rides to help bring water protectors and land defenders to resistance camps.
150+ Organizations Demand Banks Defund Coastal GasLink, Respect Wet’suwet’en Rights
This week, over 155 organizations sent a letter in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en, calling on banks to defund the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Read the full update here.
Notorious polluter, JH Baxter, tells DEQ they can’t pay for dioxin clean-up!
This week, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced that JH Baxter, a chemical plant in Eugene, is refusing to clean up dioxin contamination in local neighborhoods. State and federal funds will need to cover clean-up costs while JH Baxter gets off the hook. Beyond Toxics and Eugene residents are meeting with agencies and elected officials to ensure that JH Baxter pays for their pollution, not Oregon taxpayers. Read the full update from Beyond Toxics here.
How WA farmworkers push for climate justice amid heat and wildfire
Farmworkers are facing worsening work conditions as the climate crisis heats up. By 2050, there will be almost twice as many workdays with dangerous heat conditions for agricultural workers. Not to mention the increased amount of toxic fumes driven by wildfires. That’s why farmworkers in Washington are calling for climate action. Read the full Crosscut article here.
MORE HEADLINES:
- How the Indigenous landback movement is poised to change conservation
- Hope is not passive: How activism keeps optimism alive
- 2021 was a landmark year for energy efficiency legislation in US states
- ‘We relied on the lake. Now it’s killing us’: climate crisis threatens future of Kenya’s El Molo people
- New York’s state pension fund to divest half its shale companies
Resources
Resources for learning and building people power to win a just and fossil free world.
Grists’ ‘What’s Next’ Issue
In Grists’ most recent issue, they explore what’s next for climate conversations in 2022. From the power of the Indigenous landback movement to what it means to keep hope alive in the middle of the climate crisis, ‘What’s Next’ covers some important topics and is definitely worth a read!
Insights from 76 Climate Persuasion Tests
Learning to message effectively is critical for growing the climate movement and empowering people to protect their communities in the oncoming crisis. See lessons in optimizing climate messaging in the 76 climate persuasion experiments
We know this is a difficult time for many, and we hope that you and yours are staying safe and healthy.
In love and gratitude,
Brenna, Chris, Dineen, Indi, Julia – the 350PDX staff
