Our Year In Review

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What a year it has been.

  • We started out helping submit a record high number of comments (50,000!!) to stop the Jordan Cove fracked gas project.
  • We helped Zenith go from an unknown facility to the most high profile campaign in the City of Portland.
  • We set up two brand new campaign teams, Transportation Justice, and Forest Defense, to expand the number of fronts we’re fighting this crisis.
  • And we put on the biggest climate mobilization Portland has ever seen (and had a festival while we were at it!)

But we’ve also had some setbacks.

Trump is eroding states’ rights to decide the fate of massive fossil fuel projects, meaning we’ve had to reevaluate our strategy on fighting the Jordan Cove pipeline.

And by supporting the high schoolers and young people of Portland we spent a significant amount of money on the beautiful, powerful, but spontaneous climate strike that wasn’t in our annual budget.

Will you donate today to help us enter 2020 with a burst of momentum and energy?

I’m incredibly hopeful about 2020. It will be the most crucial year in history for the climate, but also our biggest opportunity yet to make huge social change.

Donate Now!

Thank you so much for your continued support.

In solidarity,

Chris
350PDX Volunteer & Communications Coordinator

 

P.S. It’s A Big Give Day!

Donate Today to get entered into a draw to win new snow gear from Patagonia [$600 value], a two-night stay at Five Pine Lodge and four single-day lift tickets to Mt. Bachelor! And to our young supporters, donors age 36 and under get an extra raffle entry and a free pack of Umi Noodles!

Let Metro know – we need a bold transportation plan!

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Metro has finally released their recommended projects list for a dismal transportation package (attached). The package brings together a disparate set of spot-fix projects with no commitment to building a bold transit system that will inspire the rapid reduction in driving needed to meet the region’s goals for reducing GHG emissions.

Read what the Families for a Livable Climate team have to say about this, and sign onto their testimony here!

Take action!

Today: Write a statement urging Metro to reject expanded roadway capacity and spot fixes to our transit, bike, and walking system.  Demand a bold vision. See below for expanded notes. Read Metro’s recommendations here.

Wednesday: Turn up for the next task force meeting.  Wear red.  We will be joining other organizations concerned about Metro’s process and direction to flood the Council and Task Force with statements. We will be testifying with our presence at the meeting.  Be there!

When – Wed Nov 20, 5:30PM – 8:00PM
Where – Metro Regional Center, Council Chamber, 600 NE Grand Ave, Portland.

With questions or requests for assistance, email Jessie at jessielucidamaran@gmail.com

What do I do with my statement?

Metro has announced that only 15 slots will be available for testimony at the meeting.  To keep those slots open for testimony from a broad range of organizations, submit your statement to the Metro Councilors via email (see below) and bring a hardcopy to the meeting to submit in person.

getmoving@oregonmetro.gov

Lynn.peterson@oregonmetro.gov

Bob.stacey@oregonmetro.gov

Sam.chase@oregonmetro.gov

Christine.lewis@oregonmetro.gov

Shirley.craddick@oregonmetro.gov

Craig.dirksen@oregonmetro.gov

Juancarlos.gonzalez@oregonmetro.gov

Sample email
“Addressing climate change in the face of growing regional population and congestion requires that we reduce the length and distance of trips taken by car. To do so, we must have a transit system, supported by protected bikeways and a complete and safe walking network. Metro’s package includes projects that widen roadway capacity for autos, which always leads to increase levels of driving. The package also includes some transit projects and some bike projects and some improvements to sidewalks and pedestrian crossings across the Metro region (Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties).  
To truly make a dent in our climate emissions, we must spend the billions of dollars being ask for by this bond measure ONLY on a big bold vision for the region, a vision that will significantly improve non-auto access for all of the region’s residents. A resilient transportation network that generates ridership, improves safety, and provides equitable access to all of the social and economic benefits this region has to offer. The transit system should:
  • Build integrated regional networks of bus and rail transit, in dedicated lanes, linking neighborhood centers, commercial centers, and job centers.
  • Build integrated regional networks of protected bikeways connecting to centers and neighborhoods
  • Build safe, connected pedestrians access to stations, beginning with the most transit dependent areas of the region.
Essentially, we are asking that Metro stop its progress toward approving the recommendations that have been issued and generate a proposal that it can prove will substantially reduce transportation-related carbon emissions within five years of bond passage.”

Why is this funding package so important?

Over 40% (and rising) of the region’s climate emissions come from the transportation sector.  This is a critical time–and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity–to turn the rising tide of emissions and shape a transportation future that divests from reliance on fossil fuel infrastructure.

We urge you to contact every Metro Councilor (email addresses above) to share your thoughts on the importance of a bold transit-focused vision for the future of the Portland region. The projects and programs put forward by Metro Council must be a visionary rejection of climate change, of transportation inequality, and the mortal dangers posed by drivers to every user of the region’s roadways.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity must effect a significant region-wide mode shift to transit.

This measure should be shaping a transportation system that meets the challenges of climate change with a comprehensive and systemic solution.  With modeling of an ‘aspirational’ transit system, and analysis of the benefits, we take the crucial first step toward a resilient transportation network that generates ridership, improves safety, and provides equitable access to all of the social and economic benefits this region has to offer. The transit system should:

  • Build integrated regional networks of bus and rail transit, in dedicated lanes, linking neighborhood centers, commercial centers, and job centers.
  • Build integrated regional networks of protected bikeways connecting to centers and neighborhoods
  • Build safe, connected pedestrians access to stations, beginning with the most transit dependent areas of the region.

With questions or requests for assistance, email Jessie at jessielucidamaran@gmail.com

Thank you for all you do,

Jessie Maran and Jesse Lopez, 350PDX Transportation Justice Team Co-Leads

Update in regards the Change of Color petition

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We have been asked by the teenagers who were affected by police brutality during the Climate Strike on Friday, September 20th, to pull back on public displays of support, including the Color of Change petition. Initially, they supported the petition and appreciate all the community support, however, at this time they have decided they would like privacy, time, and space to heal and understand what they need. They are asking for any witnesses of the violence to please contact us, 350PDX at info@350pdx.org or Misha at misha@350pdx.org. 

The students and their families are concerned about the videos circulating of the police brutality. In our original statement we provided the article, “How Videos of Police Brutality Traumatize African Americans and Undermine the Search for Justice.” We ask our supporters to read this article, consider the ways racialized trauma impacts people of color, and reconsider before sharing violent imagery of police brutality against people of color. We understand the intention of informing the public, but please consider the impact on people of color.

Thank you all for your support and attention to this issue. We will not be posting publicly about what we are doing to support the students and their families until given express consent. However, we are working diligently to make sure that any needs they have, including legal, financial and emotional support, are met through any connections or resources we may have.

350PDX Staff

350PDX condemns police brutality and white supremacy in all its forms.

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350PDX is proud of the work we did to build an inclusive and just Climate Strike Rally and Festival. However, we live in a judicial system that targets and harms black and brown bodies, and 350PDX took on the responsibility of creating a safe and free environment for the youth to exercise their rights in, that included securing permits for the rally, march, and festival. Still, we know that with permits comes police presence, and for many in our community, the presence of police creates neither a safe nor a free environment. 

Knowing this, we worked to minimize the presence of police and other types of uniformed responders. With the community in mind, we created a policy that on the festival grounds, police and first responders would only be allowed to enter the event when called in response to an emergency. Volunteer staff were instructed to notify attendees before the arrival of police and first responders, to accompany them at all times to limit contact between them and the community, and had identified safer spaces for community members to gather if they did not feel comfortable being near police and first responders. In accordance with this policy, volunteers did turn away three police officers that had entered the festival grounds without invitation or permission. 

We sincerely apologize to our black and brown community members who were unsafe or felt unsafe at the Climate Strike Rally. Right now, we are currently working behind the scenes to support the students and their families who were targeted by police violence at the Strike on Friday, September 20. We are working to provide the type of support that is desired by these students and their families, such as legal and financial support. We encourage the rest of the community to join us in offering this support and we will broadcast to the community ways to do so when and if it’s appropriate. 

We know that we can always do more to counter white supremacy in our work, and limit the risks that black and brown people experience at the hands of police. We want to share this resource about “How Videos of Police Brutality Traumatize African Americans and Undermine the Search for Justice,” as we recognize that many videos have been shared of the incident on Friday. We understand this is coming from a genuine place of concern for these students’ safety. “Yet because the images of police violence are so pervasive, they inflict a unique harm on viewers, particularly African Americans, who see themselves and those they love in these fatal encounters. This recognition becomes a form of violence in and of itself—and even more so when justice is denied.”

With that in mind, 350PDX pledges to do the following at any upcoming action we hold:

  • Work with Don’t Shoot Portland and other racial justice activist organizations to learn best practices of protecting black and brown people from police brutality
  • Train our volunteers, especially peacekeepers, in the importance of diversity of tactics and how to interrupt police violence with nonviolence
  • Ensure that white folks are at the front of any action in which police are present, keeping those folks of color protected within the crowd
  • Continue to develop policies around police and first responder presence that limits potential contact with the community and create safe spaces for community members to gather if it becomes necessary for police and first responders to be onsite with us. 

We know that our community requires us to be accountable. We are working hard to ensure that any actions of police brutality are interrupted, that police are held accountable for their violence, and that white supremacy is dismantled in our own organizing.  

In solidarity with black and brown people,

350PDX Staff

Zenith Tar Sands Testimony & Demands to City Council

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This testimony was delivered by Jessica on July 15 2019 to a packed public hearing about the Zenith tar sands terminal in NW Portland. It was co-written by Jessica, Dineen and other 350PDX staff and volunteers.

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My name is Jessica Beckett and I’m the Executive Director at 350PDX. Thank you for this opportunity to share our deep concerns about Zenith Energy’s operations in our city. 

Right now, our City is complicit in the expansion, storage, transportation, and burning of the most destructive form of energy on Earth. We appreciate the City’s recently-proposed plans to address the problem of tar sands and toxic crude oil, but we must be moving more boldly and quickly if we are ever to reach 100% renewable energy – and to redress the harms done to frontline communities who must every day breathe and live in this injustice. 

350PDX urges you to do the following:

  • Deny any upcoming permits, including the recent application for a new pipe on Front Avenue. Treat all such permits with a deserved skepticism. Insist on public hearings like this before permitting decisions are made. 
  • Work with the DEQ to ensure Zenith’s plans receive detailed agency and public review, including environmental, public health, and climate assessments of Zenith’s operations. 
  • Implement the fossil fuel zoning code amendments that made history when passed unanimously in 2016, and hold companies like Zenith accountable for attempting to circumvent them.
  • And until all of this is complete, we urge the City to place an immediate stop work order on Zenith’s operations. 

The Northwest Industrial District is where Portland’s just transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy can become reality. This industrial zone can become a model for community-driven renewable energy projects — like those made possible by the Portland Clean Energy Fund! — which can power our city on affordable clean energy and provide jobs to thousands of Portlanders. We have a vision for our community. We ask you, our elected leaders, to join us in this vision by following our demands and putting an end to Zenith.

We have ten short years to save this planet. The time for incrementalism is over. We need action that we’ve never seen before. Mayor Wheeler, Commissioners, what will our legacy be? 

Thank you.

The Green New Deal: creating the care infrastructure for a just transition

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Opinion blog post from Rachel Slocum, co-facilitator of our Green New Deal Team

“Life after a Green New Deal would be a world of free healthcare and childcare, cheap and beautiful public housing, first-class public transport infrastructure, well-funded arts programs and ample leisure time.” Clare Hymer, Novara Media

The Green New Deal: creating the care infrastructure for a just transition

What do Medicare for All, universal child care, child care subsidies for low income households (HB 2348) and paid family and medical leave (HB 2005-3) have to do with climate policy? They represent parts of the ‘care infrastructure’ we need to allow people to live with dignity now, survive climate change tomorrow, and fully decarbonize our society over the next ten years.

As the Pacific NW climate movement takes aim at fossil fuel projects, many advocate a just transition for workers who would no longer build LNG plants and pipelines, but instead would install solar panels or build high speed rail lines. But being able to build green infrastructure requires a scaffold of care: someone to take care of the kids while you’re at work, the time off you need to help your father, health care you can afford.

That scaffold is largely missing in the US. Among OECD countries, the US is second to last, just ahead of Turkey, in public spending specifically aimed to benefit families and children. Consequently, in the US, the net child care costs of a couple earning minimum wage amount to 65% of household income. For a lone parent, it’s much worse.  

In the home, US women do the majority of care giving and housekeeping tasks. With paid labor, household labor, and emotional labor, women do a triple shift. Across society, the absence of a care infrastructure weighs disproportionately on women, indigenous, Black, and people of color.  Indeed, the failure to dedicate spending toward family benefits in this country sends younger, lower income households with children toward poverty.

Read more

Perspective on HB2020: “We Support HB2020 the Clean Energy Jobs Bill”

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This blog post was written by 350PDX volunteers on the State Legislation team. Given the broad range of convictions, analyses, and strategies within our community, 350PDX is neutral on HB2020 as an organization, but we encourage our volunteers and supporters to continue to engage in the crucial work of crafting just, ambitious, precedent-setting climate legislation for Oregon.

You can find a companion blog post discussing critiques of HB2020 here.

350PDX State Legislative team and other climate justice groups in Oregon are working together to achieve passage of a strong Clean Energy Jobs bill (HB 2020) that will accomplish these four key objectives:

  1. Legislate a declining cap on greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution and drive down emissions to at least 80% of 1990 levels over the next 30 years.
  2. Make polluters pay for emissions of GHG in our shared atmosphere.
  3. Invest in a just transition to a clean energy future by allocating funds to low income and communities impacted by climate change.
  4. Provide strong, transparent and accessible oversight with representation that ensures geographic and demographic diversity.

HB2020 was developed by some of the most progressive legislators in Oregon, guided by lessons learned from cap and invest programs elsewhere.  The process included a wide array of environmental and social justice groups, members of impacted communities, economists and scientists, public officials, and the general public.  

The proposed HB2020, as sent to the Ways and Means committee will:

  • Raise about $550 million in the initial years, with the majority of the funds to be invested with impacted communities for projects to reduce GHG emissions and support adaptation to climate change;
  • Require all offsets be real, permanent, quantifiable, verifiable, enforceable, in addition to reductions required by law, and at least half of the programs must be in Oregon;
  • Limit use of offsets to 8% of emissions for any entity and ensure that offsets cannot be used by a covered entity in any Oregon community that does not meet established air quality standards;
  • Decrease the number of free allowances by using the ‘best available technology’ standard; and
  • Cover all of road transportation, electric and gas utilities, and industrial sectors. It also mandates study of non-covered sectors including landfills and fuel for airplane, marine and rail locomotives.

Big emitting industries criticize the bill as too much regulation despite economic projections of increased growth resulting from the shift to cleaner energy. Some social justice groups criticize it based on experiences elsewhere where weak caps, low allowance prices and loose offset programs delivered less than hoped for results. Total emissions decreased with these early programs but left some communities with the same or slightly more local emissions. The State Legislation team has watched this bill develop and studied the issues in depth. We see how this bill is different from the earlier versions with a strong declining cap, limited issue of allowances, and controls on pricing and hoarding allowances. Many environmental justice groups around the state participated in work groups and provided advice to the Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction.

In addition to the energy efficiency and bill rebate programs through the utilities, the bill provides specific allocation of the Climate Investment Fund to impacted communities (40%), Tribes (10%) and natural and working lands (20%).  Administration, rule making, and monitoring includes several citizen advisory groups and the Environmental Justice Task Force.

The many benefits that will be achieved with passage of HB2020 far exceed any potential harm. HB2020 will be a key addition to Oregon’s climate legislation, and a national model in progressive cap and invest legislation. It is not a complete solution; there is no single solution for a problem as complex as climate disruption. There will be more work to do.

We will push for the cap decline to ZERO by 2050, as well as a faster decline in free allowances. We must continue to work for additional legislation to stop all new fossil fuel infrastructure in Oregon; to change the State Constitution to divert more transportation funds to public and electric transportation; and to develop statewide legislation to significantly increase carbon stored by forests and agricultural lands.

Passing a strong HB 2020 is a good next step in the plan to reduce GHG emissions to net zero. This bill gives us a framework to improve as public will and momentum grows. Community oversight is built into the program, and will be essential. We will need to protect the declining cap on climate pollution when this law is challenged through the referendum process and assaulted by fossil fuel companies who want to see us fail. We have spent many years getting to this point; now more than ever we need to rally together and act with ongoing commitment and resolve.

The latest IPCC report gives only 10 years to get climate pollution under control, and we cannot afford to wait several more years for “better” legislation.

350PDX State Legislation Team / Capping Carbon Campaign

Perspective on HB2020: “We Oppose Harmful and Ineffective Offsets and Allowances Trading”

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This blog post was co-produced by Khanh Pham with OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon and Adam Brunelle, a 350PDX Board Member. Given the broad range of convictions, analyses, and strategies within our community, 350PDX is neutral on HB2020 as an organization, but we encourage our volunteers and supporters to continue to engage in the crucial work of crafting just, ambitious, precedent-setting climate legislation for Oregon.

You can find a companion blog post in support of HB2020 here.

To our friends and allies in 350PDX,

We are deeply grateful to you for hearing us. When the 350PDX board chose to remain neutral on House Bill 2020, we felt that someone in the climate movement was finally acknowledging that important disagreements exist, and that frontline communities around the country and world believe we can and must do better.

Let us remember what we all agree upon. We share the urgency of the moment with all of you. Every one of us is terrified about the signs of climate breakdown. The warnings get worse, the impacts have been here for decades and now are undeniable, and there’s no national leadership on climate. But we must not let our sense of urgency turn to desperation to accept anything- especially not ineffective, false solutions. The economists behind carbon trading make bold claims that are not supported by the evidence or the experience of our communities.

HB2020 allows polluters to continue polluting by gaming the system. California’s carbon trading law, already 6 years old, has not done much at all to reduce emissions. 350 shouldn’t support an approach that fails to reach its emissions reduction goals. But beyond carbon reductions, there is also great potential for harm from carbon trading. Richmond, California’s refinery-impacted Black community members have seen emissions in their backyards rise under carbon trading. Refineries are pouring more carbon into the air than they were a decade ago. The health of Black people in Richmond is further decimated as a result. These frontline communities don’t support HB2020’s trading regime.

Replicating California’s harmful failure would be irresponsible. The world is watching Oregon. If we repeat their mistakes we set a bad example for Washington and everywhere else. Our fear, and the fear of international communities watching who signed the letter opposing HB2020, is that legislators replicate a system of offsets, allowances, and trading proven ineffective in California, and then declare victory.

What we learned from the Portland Clean Energy Fund campaign, which we won with nearly 2/3 of voters in favor, is that holding major corporations accountable and funding a transition to clean energy is possible, and voters will support it. The business community cried foul over PCEF for the exact reason it was so popular: it actually holds big businesses accountable.

A working proposal should include a diminishing cap. Polluters should pay for the harm their pollution causes, reduce pollution, and fund direct investments to frontline communities. Carbon regimes relying on trading, offsets, and allowances are unjust, ineffective and harmful. The negative impacts, potential for manipulation, and failure to reduce pollution tell us that carbon trading is the wrong approach to achieve climate justice here or anywhere. We have done our research to offer a list of resources for readers to better understand our position. We invite 350PDX members to engage with these resources so we can work toward a shared understanding of climate justice. Take action to support our position here.

Thank you,

Khanh Pham, OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon

Adam Brunelle, 350PDX Board Member

 

Board Statement on HB2020

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The Clean Energy Jobs bill, HB2020, has generated much debate and dramatically divergent opinions, both within the Oregon climate community and within 350PDX. Our allies, our staff, and our volunteers are sharply divided: some argue that the bill represents an important and realistic step forward, while others hold that its provisions are both inadequate and unjust.

After weeks of discussion and consultation, 350PDX’s Board of Directors has decided not to take an organizational position on HB2020. This decision represents a consensus of the board, as informed by meetings of the organization’s leadership. We believe that our formal organizational neutrality on this issue is both necessary and accurate, given the broad range of convictions, analyses, and strategies within our community.

Many of our volunteers have poured countless hours over a number of years into making HB2020 a reality. We are grateful for the dedication of our State Legislative Team, and we hope they continue their important work to strengthen the bill. At the same time, we fully acknowledge and deeply appreciate the dissenting views of those within our organization and among our allies that oppose this legislation.

As we build a diverse, grassroots movement, we recognize — and celebrate! — that 350PDX is not a monolith. We are a volunteer-driven organization. Volunteer energy gets the work done and makes us strong. We want to continue to foster that energy and to support this organization as a vehicle for a wide range of ideas and strategies to take on the climate crisis.

We also want to acknowledge that the endorsement process around this bill — or, rather, lack of clear process — has been acutely painful for many of our key volunteers and for our staff. The past several months have been emotionally fraught and for some frankly agonizing. We’re grateful for the honesty, vulnerability, and passion that our community has brought to this question, and we hope that a formal position of neutrality will now allow us to move forward together on the many fronts of our important work.

We intend to continue the dialogue around HB2020 as well, and will be inviting both proponents and opponents of the bill to share their reasoning with our community. We believe that when we embrace our differences with empathy and courage, they can in fact make us stronger.

We are neutral on HB2020 as an organization, but we encourage our volunteers and supporters to continue to engage in the crucial work of crafting just, ambitious, precedent-setting climate legislation for Oregon. In addition to this statement, we will be sending out some guidelines to help our volunteers communicate about our neutral position with allies and legislators.

We are not neutral in our commitment to building a diverse grassroots movement to address the causes of climate disruption through justice-based solutions. That is our mission, and — although we may sometimes disagree on how best to realize it — our community is united behind it.

You can read some of the views of our community on the 350PDX blog, in support here and in opposition here.