Welcome to our monthly newsletter, where we highlight some of the amazing work our volunteer teams have been up to and how you can take action!
TEAM UPDATES
Want to get involved but not sure where to start? Fill out the Volunteer Form
Fossil Fuel Resistance Team
Our team is busy fighting Zenith Energy’s dangerous oil-by-rail facility, which will soon escalate to the state level. After the City’s backroom deal with Zenith was brought to light this summer, we hope this escalation will be in our movement’s favor, but this will only be the case if we all rise up and make our voices heard. Here is where you come in! We have two opportunities for you to get involved next week:
Nov 16: Rumble on the River #10: Community Forum & Action Night
Join us Thursday, November 16 at 6 p.m. at Havurah Shalom (825 NW 18th) for our 10th community forum in the Rumble on the River series! Learn more here.
Nov 17: Rally & Testify at the Environmental Quality Commission to STOP ZENITH
Join us on Friday, November 17, 10:30 am – 12 pm in-person at the DEQ office (700 NE Multnomah Street, Portland, Oregon 97232), or online (Zoom meeting info can be found here) to rally & testify at the Environmental Quality Commission to Stop Zenith! Learn more here.
Take action: Fight for Clean Air in Multnomah County!
Multnomah County has a huge opportunity to fight back against the gas industry and enact policies that ensure cleaner and safer air for us all to breathe. The problem? They’re stalling, and need to hear from us to take this bold action. Join us in calling and emailing Multnomah County Commissioners to say we need Clean Air Quality Standards NOW! Learn more here.
Communities in the Blast Zone coming together!
Do you live in the blast zone of Zenith’s oil trains? Use this map to find out. If you do, call and write to the City of Portland and share that you live in the blast zone and are concerned for your safety. You can also pick up a yard sign to have in your front yard or apartment window to educate your neighbors about the blast zone and what they can do to #StopZenith. Send an email to stopzenith@350pdx.org to coordinate receiving a yard sign from one of our team members.
We’re also helping folks hold Neighborhood Parties to educate their community about the issue, reach out to dineen@350pdx.org and lisebethjacobs@gmail.com to learn more.
GET CONNECTED: Our next meeting is on Tuesday, November 13 at 5:30 pm on Zoom. It’s a great time to join the team! Reach out to Dineen and Melanie to get plugged in and schedule an orientation meeting: dineen@350pdx.org, me
Forest Defense Team
On October 16th, The Forest Defense team hosted another Shade Equity Social for the growing network of urban forest advocates, arborists, neighborhood tree teams, climate activists and housing justice groups. This Social focused on weaving together the need for more affordable healthy housing, with the need to grow and tend our urban forest.
Speakers included:
- Eli Spivak, of Orange Splot housing development company with a mission to pioneer new models of community-oriented, affordable, green housing
- Tom Armstrong & Jeff Caudill of the Bureau of Planning & Sustainability
- Jacob Apenes, volunteer for both 350PDX and Portland Neighbors Welcome, and
- Micah Meskel with Portland Audubon
We then hosted breakout groups, where folks discussed Policy Barriers, Creative Solutions, and Building Political Power. Here’s a synthesis of those great discussions. The team got great feedback about the importance of these spaces to build connections, dialogue and momentum in the long campaign for a more equitable and climate-resilient city.
The Forest Defense team is also helping craft a new campaign against British energy giant Drax, who has proposed building a wood biomass processing and export facility in Longview, Washington. This plant would use one million tons of wood each year, to grind into pellets and ship to east Asia for burn in industrial power plants. We are learning from our allies in the Dogwood Alliance about the devastation these biomass plants have wrought on forests and communities in the south, and we’re gearing up to keep Drax out of the NW. More info coming soon!
City/County Watchdog Team
The City/County Watchdog team works to make sure we have local policies rooted in environmental justice and climate action. This month, we have suggested actions you can take to support strong climate justice policy at the city, agency, state, and federal levels. Together, we are making a huge difference for our region and our world.
Support Indigenous Leadership to Restore the Lower Snake River!
Last month, we supported an Indigenous-led “All Our Relations” Snake River campaign event stop in Portland, hosted by Save Our Wild Salmon, Native Organizers Alliance, and other groups. This tour around the Pacific Northwest drew attention to the plight of the salmon and their ecosystems along the Snake River. Four dams must be removed to restore essential salmon habitat before it’s too late. Send this letter today to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.
Take action for police accountability in Portland
In November 2020, 82% of Porlanders voted to create a police accountability oversight board. Now, City Council has suggested they’re interested in eliminating key parts of the Police Accountability Commission (PAC)’s suggestions regarding a Community Board for Police Accountability. We have less than a week before city council makes a decision whether to approve actual community oversight of police. Now is a crucial time to call for police accountability. Learn more and take action here.
GET CONNECTED: Want to get involved? Email Cherice (cherice@350pdx.org) to join us for our next monthly meeting or to learn more. You can also reach out to Cherice to get involved in 350PDX’s policy advocacy.
Arts Team
At our art build this Sunday, we will be working on and repairing puppets, helping make signs for XR’s action on 11/17, and a bit of drum practice! Last week we had a wonderful time at 350PDX’s 10th anniversary party, where we showed off our puppets, signs and drums with a mini-march. Thanks to all who helped put on a wonderful event!
GET CONNECTED: Reach out to Donna (murph1949@aol.com) to learn more and get involved with the team! There’s lots more to do! Let us know if you can join us by emailing Donna.
Creative Team
The Creative Team uses storytelling to make the climate justice movement irresistible. Last month, we finished gathering submissions for a writing and art contest we’re hosting with the Breach Collective, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Here Together Oregon — Flash Futures PNW: A Climate Fiction & Art Contest. Now we’re working on selecting submissions to add to a zine that we’ll be publishing in the spring
GET CONNECTED: Fill out this form to get on our creative roster, or reach out to Julia at julia@350pdx.org to get involved with the team.
SW Team
Welcome to our southwest neighborhood team, which includes neighborhoods on the south and west sides of Portland.
Street corner demonstrations: These demonstrations continue weekly to raise awareness of the climate emergency. These sign-waving events take only one hour of your time, once a week. Our street corner demonstrations in November will be every Monday at SW Terwilliger and SW Taylors Ferry. Some parking is in the Anytime Fitness lot or take the bus or ride your bike. We have extra signs to share.
Group Presentations: Does your group or community organization need a dynamic presentation on climate change issues? To schedule a presentation, please contact Pat Kaczmarek at patk5@msn.com. The one hour programs include: How to Save Our Planet, How to Replace Fossil Fuels, How to Rewild Our Planet, and How to Save Our Oceans
GET CONNECTED: Join our next monthly meeting on Monday, November 13th, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. on Zoom. A link will be sent out to SW Team members prior to our meeting. To get involved in our outreach actions, please contact Pat Kaczmarek at patk5@msn.com, or visit https://350pdx.org/campa
Washington County Team
Our team hosts monthly sign waving and film events, tabling for climate justice in the neighborhood, and lots more! Our next sign waving event will take place on November 18 from 11 to noon at the corner of NE Cornell and 25th in Hillsboro. In December we’re joining in a Friends of Trees planting in Hillsboro on Saturday, Dec 9th 8:45 AM – 1 PM. And we’re planning a social in-person get together on Sunday, December 17th 3-5 PM.
GET CONNECTED: We always welcome newcomers to our regular monthly 6:30pm second Tuesday (online) meetings and at all our events. Our next team meeting is November 14 at 6:30pm (learn more on the 350PDX calendar). If you are in Washington County and would like to receive updates from us, please sign up HERE. You can also like our Facebook page for updates.
Brooklyn Neighborhood Team
The Brooklyn Neighborhood Team has been busy spreading the word about Zenith Energy and distributing yard signs throughout the neighborhood. We’ve also been supporting a new cargo bike sharing scheme in the neighborhood, to help folks moving into the new apartment buildings not need to rely so much on cars. In October we’ll be focusing back on clean air issues in Brooklyn in anticipation for Multnomah County action on gas hookups in new residential buildings.
GET CONNECTED: Join our Brooklyn Climate Action Team mailing list here to get 1-2 emails a month with local action alerts. Know someone in our neighborhood? Forward this email onto them! Any questions, contact chris@350pdx.org.
Outreach Team
We’re relaunching our Outreach Team: a group of folks trained up and ready to do a variety of outreach activities, such as tabling in the community; putting posters up around the city; giving out flyers outside big events; wheatpasting; giving community presentations.
GET CONNECTED: Reach out to kiera@350pdx.org know and we’ll loop you in! You can also join our rescheduled in-person Quarterly Outreach Training on Jan 30, 2024, from 6-8pm – learn more here.
In solidarity,
350PDX Staff
350PDX Board & Team Leads