OLCV E-Bulletin: Action Around the State, Dine out for the Earth

Take Action Now for Transportation Choices

Your help is urgently needed today to preserve a BALANCED Jobs and Transportation Act.

The Oregon Jobs and Transportation Act will provide critical funding for road maintenance, public transit, and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. The package includes three crucial elements that the Oregon Conservation Network believes are essential if we’re to meet the goal of giving Oregonians more transportation choices while combating global warming.

• Allows transit districts to increase the payroll tax by one-tenth of one percent over ten years for much needed transit improvements;
• Directs a small pot of federal transportation funds to be spent on non-highway transportation investments, providing choices for the one million Oregonians who cannot drive;
• Gives Oregon’s fast growing communities planning tools they need to meet the state’s goals to reduce global warming pollution by doing essential transportation and land use plans and investments.

The problem? Development interests, led by the Oregon Home Builders, are fighting the new planning tools. They want to continue business as usual: big roads and more sprawl on Oregon’s valuable farmland and open space. Roadbuilders are fighting the efforts to direct the small pot of flexible federal funds to transportation choices other than highways. And anti-tax activists are fighting the efforts to fund transit.

These three separate, powerful special interests are putting an enormous amount of pressure on legislators. If they win, we lose.
 
Please take action by emailing your legislators and urge them to support a balanced transportation package.

Hearings on global warming pollution bill continue

Due to the volume of public interest in Senate Bill 80, the centerpiece of this year's climate agenda, last week's hearing continued into this week. SB 80 would establish a clear path to reduce Oregon's carbon emissions according to the goals set by the Legislature in 2007. Without accountability for reaching those goals, we can't stop global warming or create a new green energy economy.

In the past few wee, Senators Vicki Walker and Jackie Dingfelder and Representatives Ben Cannon, Jules Bailey, and Tobias Read have drafted a series of proposed amendments to SB 80 in an effort to forge a compromise on how Oregon will move forward in meeting the state greenhouse gas reduction goals. The proposal would establish a deliberative, public process for crafting a comprehensive approach that will meet Oregon's reduction goals. Read here for more information on updates and amendments.
Tell your legislators Oregon's future depends on global warming solutions now.
 

AFL-CIO and OLCV Agree: Keep Promoting Green Job

Last Sunday, the Eugene Register-Guard ran an opinion piece co-authored by OLCV Executive Director Jonathan Poisner and Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain. The opinion piece made the case that Oregon should continue to invest in policies that promote green jobs.

"2009 is a year of crisis. We are in an economic crisis that has been described as the worst since the Great Depression. Double digit unemployment, record home foreclosures, tens of millions without health insurance, and a financial system in chaos are just a few symptoms of this crisis.


We are also in a climate crisis. Years of misuse of our air, water and land threaten our children with unimaginable environmental and economic costs. New evidence shows that Antarctic ice sheets are collapsing decades ahead of climate model predictions, threatening an additional several feet of sea level rise this century. The scientific consensus is that we must begin cutting global warming pollution rapidly.

The good news: Policies to encourage green jobs are part of the solution to both of these crises. Of course, there’s been a lot of spin about green jobs. People are properly skeptical of what they believe could just be a marketing gimmick. But green jobs are not a gimmick."

You can read the whole article on the Register-Guard's website.

Polluters one vote away from tougher fine

On Monday, the Senate passed Senate Bill 105 by a 16-13 margin. This important bill would adjust the maximum penalties for environmental violations.

Ridiculously, they haven’t changed since 1973 and Oregon’s maximum daily penalty for violations of pollution standards on air quality, asbestos, hazardous waste, and water quality remains $10,000. In consumer-price-index inflation terms, that fine is 80% lower today than it was 36 years ago.

Senate Bill 105 is a small step, raising the maximum penalty to $25,000 per day. Now it’s up to the House.

Clearing the air – and our lungs

Across Lane County, opinion sections of local papers are full of calls to protect the public and end field burning, a practice that has been fouling the air and causing respiratory problems for many Oregonians for decades. As one writer in the Eugene Register-Guard put it: “The debate is over. It’s time to end field burning.”
Representative Paul Holvey has heard the call and is leading the charge.
 
Senate Bill 528, co-sponsored by State Senator Floyd Prozanski, would spell the end for field burning immediately across Lane County and the state.

Representative Holvey’s dedication highlights the importance of electing pro-environment leaders at all levels of government.

Events

Why Repower Oregon? Find out tonight!

Please join us for a special presentation on the benefits of taking responsible, immediate action in the fight against global warming vs. the high cost of doing nothing.
If you can't join us tonight or if you have already RSVP'ed, please take a moment and forward this email at least two of your friends.

WHAT: Experts will discuss steps we can take to minimize the negative impacts of global warming on our economy, our health, and our community

WHEN: TONIGHT! Thursday, April 16, 2009, 6 PM - 8 PM

WHERE: United First Methodist Church, in the Carrier Room, 600 State Street

SPEAKERS: Experts, including:

Bill Bradbury, Former Oregon Secretary of State
Bob Stacey, Executive Director at 1000 Friends of Oregon
Catherine Thommason, MD, President of Physicians for Social Responsibility

Capacity is limited to 100 people.

Please register now to attend.

OLCV Eat Out for the Earth Day Around the State
Local OLCV chapters in Deschutes, Jackson, Lane and Lincoln Counties have teamed up with local restaurants who are offering up donations to the county chapters based on percentages of Earth Day – or Earth Week – proceeds. Here are the dining details:
 
Deschutes: Eat at participating restaurants on Earth Day (Wednesday, April 22).
 
Jackson: Eat at participating restaurants on Earth Day (Wednesday, April 22).
 
Lincoln: Eat at participating restaurants on Earth Day (Wednesday, April 22).
 
Lane: Eat at participating restaurants during Earth Week (April 20 to April 26).

OLCV Multnomah County Seed/Seedling Exchange Potluck Brunch w/a twist
WHAT: Come hang out with a bunch of Foodie/Gardeners brainstorming ideas and swapping seeds, starts and divided plants.

WHEN: Sunday, April 19, 2009, 9:30 AM
WHERE: 2224 N Willamette Blvd, Portland

In addition, the Multnomah County Chapter of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters has been invited so you can learn more and support a great cause. We're asking for a small or large donation to help ensure we get the most conservation minded folks elected to office...($5 - $10 - or, hey, $100!)

Provided: Organic Waffles (ahh, the fantastic excuse to get Lemon Curd from Old Wives Tales), Potatoes, Happy Pig Bacon.

Please bring: Anything you want for us to snack on and/or veggies/cheese/whatever for the potatoes and a check book.

Eating will commence around 10ish, then we'll get to the seeds and OLCV.

This is definitely a DO-NOT-MISS brunch! Even if you have no seeds to trade, some may be willing to cut you in to their supply for a little $.

QUESTIONS/RSVP: Alice: 971-563-3051

Nearly your last chance to purchase tickets to OLCV's 12th Annual Dinner for the Environment

It's not too late to join hundreds of your fellow conservationists, civic leaders, and sustainable business representatives at OLCV's legendary Annual Dinner. But it will be very soon.

WHEN: Friday, April 24, 2009; no-host cocktail at 5:30 pm, dinner & program at 7 pm

WHERE: Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Portland

Keynote: Dan Kammen, Distinguished Professor of Energy at UC Berkeley, and Director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center. Kammen is a contributing member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that shared the 2007 Nobel Prize. Kammen directs the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at UC Berkeley and is host of the Science Channel series 'Ecopolis.'

Menu: Sustainable Northwest Menu (vegetarian and vegan options available) with great Oregon wines donated by some of Oregon's finest wineries

Ticket price: $125 per seat. 10 seats to a table; 5 to a half table. Purchase tickets now.

Event sponsorships are also available. Contact OLCV Development Director, Molly Kramer, for more information at 503-224-4011 or via email.

Volunteer opportunity for Earth Day

We need volunteers to staff a table at the annual City Repair Project Earth Day celebration in Portland. his is a great way to help OLCV get our name out and meet a bunch of cool people interested in protecting our planet.

This year's gathering is:

When: Saturday, April 25, 2009,10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.m
Where: Wallace Park / Chapman School, NW 25th and Quimby

More information about the City Repair Earth Day gathering.

We are looking for two to three people to work each of the following two-hour shifts:

*Note that the first shift will have to get things set up and the last will have to take things down:

11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
3 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Sign up online or contact Tresa to sign up: tresa@olcv.org or 503-224-4011.
 

What's happening in Salem?

 
Sign up for SalemWatch, your best source for news on significant environmental decisions being considered right now by the Oregon Legislature.
 
During the Legislative Session, SalemWatch is published every Friday. It includes details on important bills and special action alerts on how you can influence the votes of your elected representatives.