Celebrating major victories against Jordan Cove LNG & Kalama Methanol!

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Celebrating major victories against Jordan Cove LNG & Kalama Methanol!

On Tuesday, January 19, two major fossil fuel projects we’ve been campaigning against for years alongside our coalition partners— Jordan Cove LNG and the Kalama Methanol Refinery—were dealt major setbacks and permit denials. These are huge wins for our entire movement, region, and futures.

This is yet another example of how people power and grassroots organizing works, and how powerful we are when we work together in coalition across the region.

Early that morning, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) upheld the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s denial of the key Clean Water Act permit for the proposed Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline. The Jordan Cove LNG project cannot move forward without a Clean Water Act approval from the state of Oregon.

This is the latest in a series of regulatory losses for Jordan Cove LNG, representing a huge blow to the 15-year-old proposal that has been vehemently opposed by Tribes, impacted landowers, fishermen, climate advocates, and others. The project has also not qualified for other critical state, federal, and local permits needed to move forward. Pembina is hanging on by a thread, and still wasting money trying to push this project through without a viable path forward. Read what our coalition partners in Southern Oregon and across the state have to say about this huge news here!

Then, just about an hour later, the Washington Department of Ecology issued a major decision to deny the key Shorelines permit for the proposed fracked-gas-to-methanol refinery along the Columbia River in Kalama, Washington.

The state agency denied the fossil fuel processing and export proposal after deciding it would have a significant negative impact on the climate, Washington’s shorelines, and the public interest. Read what our coalition partners in Kalama and across the region have to say about this huge news here!

These victories come after thousands of us have spoken up at every hearing, every comment period, and every town hall. It comes after dozens of letters to the editors in local papers, hundreds of calls and emails to decision makers, countless hours campaigning and educating the public. These are victories we’re able to celebrate today because of the hard work of everyday people like us, led every step of the way by community members facing these disastrous projects in their own neighborhoods.

While the fights against Jordan Cove LNG and Kalama Methanol aren’t over just yet, today’s victories are both major setbacks for Pembina and Northwest Innovation Works, putting these disastrous projects in an even more precarious place. We’re winning. We won today, and we’ll continue to win tomorrow, and the next day, and every day ahead.

The Reluctant Radical – A Journey of Climate Activism

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The Reluctant Radical, a new film about local climate activist Ken Ward, is having its Portland premier at the EcoFilm Festival at the Hollywood Theatre on Saturday, April 21st at 7:30pm. Co-sponsored by 350PDX, it explores the complexity of a life dedicated to activism, including the personal costs and questions that can arise when one is trying everything they can to stop the destruction of the planet. Portland filmmaker Lindsey Grayzel and co-producer Deia Schlosberg will attend and do a Q&A session after the film. Pre-film music by the Road Sodas, and an after party at Columbia River Brewing are also planned.

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The Changing Face of the 350PDX Board

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2017 has been a busy year for the 350PDX Board. Luckily, leaders from the non-profit, small-business, and accounting sectors stepped up to help the organization tackle some big projects that happen behind the scenes. Since December 2016, we welcomed four new board members, said goodbye to two, and as 2017 draws to a close we are ramping up recruitment to add more next year.

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Youth-Led Climate Fundraising Event Makes Quite A Splash

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Fourteen local students participated in a youth-led swimathon on Sunday, April 23 at Columbia Pool in North Portland. Sixth-grader Dylan Beckett organized the fundraising event, LAPS 4 LIFE Swim for the Climate, to raise awareness and to help combat climate change. To recruit swimmers, he presented in front of several classes at his school where he discussed climate change issues and asked students to sign up and help raise money. Most of the swimmers were from ACCESS Academy. The youngest participant was 8-years-old and the oldest 15. Read more

Swim for the Climate

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My name is Dylan Beckett; I live in Portland and I am in sixth grade.

When I started school, I was hearing all these scary things on the news—things like ice caps melting, and weather changing, and animals going extinct—that made me worry about the planet. People always say, “even if you do something small, it can have a big effect,” and I felt like I wanted to do something. So in third grade, I decided to do a Climb-a-Thon for Climate Change. We raised almost $3500 for 350PDX, a non-profit that works to help stop climate change.

With everything happening in the world this year, I felt like it was time to do another event. So this year I’m organizing Laps for Life—a Swim for the Climate. Read more

Standing on the Corner, Waking up the World

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Since the election, members of 350PDX Southwest team and SW HOPE have been holding periodic vigils in the Multnomah Village area.  There were about a dozen of us this past Saturday, November  holding signs and banners as well as umbrellas lettered with messages of peace and justice.  We had some of the beautiful 350PDX sunflower umbrellas in case it rained, but the universe seemed to think we’d do better under dry skies.

SW TeaMany drivers honked or gave us a thumbs-up as they drove by, and some of their passengers applauded.  A few pedestrians stopped to ask about our various signs: No DAPL (“What is DAPL?”), Racial and Climate Justice, Income Equality (“So many messages; who are you with?”).  A man driving by informed us, “Obama is the real racist, people.” Read more

Emma’s Story of Self

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350bio (1)Hello! My name is Emma Rosen and I am the web and tech intern at 350PDX. I grew up in Southeast Portland with two environmentalists for parents. This meant I spent a lot of time learning about the wildlife and ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest, and of course, about climate change (or as it was still known during my childhood, global warming). I still have a board game called ‘The Life Cycle of Salmon’, which taught me about the importance of strong river banks with shady trees for hatching Salmon’s eggs, and that if your dice roll landed you on a river dam square you were definitely screwed. Everything I learned enforced the idea that climate change was an issue that needed to be addressed quickly, and by as many people as possible.

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Rachel’s Story of Self

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DSC_0008My name is Rachel Levelle, and my plan was never to be an organizer. I had plenty of other possibilities in my life – I wanted to be an astronaut, I wanted to own a 24-hour coffee shop/bookstore, I wanted to be a research scientist. There were a million things I wanted to do, and none of them entailed chaining myself to train tracks.

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Rebecca’s Story of Self

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DSC_0021My name is Rebecca Smith. I am a junior at Sarah Lawrence College and an intern at 350PDX. I first became familiar with the climate movement when, growing up in a conservative family in the Portland area, I was taught very carefully to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. My family started this journey by carefully setting aside our soda cans in one paper bag and our cardboard in another for trips to the local recycling center. Later, other plastics and paper products would be added to these bags. Finally, the city supplied recycling cans and pick-up dates for these and other recyclables. I remember feeling quite proud of myself in these recycling endeavors. In doing so, I felt I had single-handedly saved the planet, a sentiment that was reinforced my education system’s emphasis on our individual efforts to be green. Such individualistic notions about what it meant to be sustainable suited my conservative family very well. However, when I got to Sarah Lawrence, a liberal arts college in New York, my views on both sustainability and conservatism rapidly changed.

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Southwest Team Picnic

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DSC_0832 On Sunday evening, July 17th, the 350pdx Southwest Neighborhood Team partnered with Southwest HOPE (Heal Our Planet Earth) to hold a Team Picnic at Gabriel Park.  350pdx has 5 neighborhood teams across Portland that each work to strengthen local communities’ efforts towards reaching a fossil fuel- free future.  We want you to join us!  You can contact the neighborhood team in your area here.  The SW Neighborhood Team is currently working to encourage participation in the FFRN demonstration on the 23rd, the last Tesoro-Savage Testimony on July 29th, and the Capping Carbon Campaign.

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