Youth gathered in front of City Hall during 2021 Global Climate Strike. Isabella Garcia
A growing number of climate activists are calling for Portland leaders to take stronger action against climate change. They have planned a school and work walkout. March this Friday. Four climate villains in Portland will be highlighted by the march, which activists claim are hindering the city’s climate goals.
Many people I know have a very utopian view of the world around. [in Portland]Maia Lippay, one the youth organizers for the strike, stated that. Although they see many external threats, I believe it’s important to draw attention to the things happening at our doorstep.
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The strike, organized by the Portland Youth Climate Strike and Sunrise Movement PDX as well as Breach Collective, Extinction Rebellion and other local environmental organizations, aims to highlight ongoing calls for environmental action by various climate campaigns that have not been met by leaders. Last year’s Global Climate Strike. The strike also names four local climate villains: Zenith Energy (NW Natural), the Oregon Department of Transportation(ODOT), and Portland Business Alliance.
Dineen ORourke, an activist with 350PDX, stated that the four villains the strike identified are local reasons why climate crisis has been exacerbated. There are many culprits. These catastrophic events can be attributed at least to certain entities.
ODOT and Zenith Energy are both familiar targets for environmental activists. Zenith Energy is currently in a restructuring process. This company transports crude oil via trains and ships it out from a facility in Northwest Portland. Portland City Council – legal battleOver its operations. After much pressure from local activists, Zeniths operations were deemed not compatible with the city’s climate goals. The city denied Zenith the necessary permits to operate in 2021. This triggered a unique legal battle with the oil and gas industry. Zenith is allowed to continue operating while it contests the decision of the city in court. This could take years.
Sunrise Movement PDX has protested ODOTs plans with No More Freeways and other environmental advocates Expansion of Interstate 5 through Rose QuarterThe proposal will only increase the potential for more cars and, therefore, more carbon dioxide emissions. About 40% of Oregon’s carbon emission comes from transportation within the State. This makes electrifying Oregon’s transport system and encouraging people not to drive more a crucial step towards limiting the effects of climate change.
PBA and NW Natural are two of the most recent climate activists’ focus areas. NW Natural is Oregon’s largest fracked-gas supplier. But environmental activists claim the company has escaped scrutiny because of greenwashing, which is a form of marketing that presents companies to be more environmentally friendly than their actual actions. The company has set the goal to become carbon neutral in 2050. But environmental advocates argue that the region should move away from fossil fuels altogether. Strike organizers demanded that city leaders halt any expansion of gas infrastructure and devise a plan for converting all buildings to be completely gas-free by 2040.
Breach Collective organizer Nick Caleb said that NW Natural has been incredibly successful over many years in running a campaign to convince people they’re green. Their name sounds more like an organic grocer than a fracked-gas supply, even though it is their name.
NW Natural did not respond. MercuryRequest for comment by.
PBA, which represents over 100 Portland-based businesses, has been labeled by the organizers a climate villain because of its opposition to climate-conscious programs. Lobbying influenceThe alliance has representation at City Hall. PBA strongly opposed a 2020 city proposal that would have taxed major greenhouse gases emitters (many of whom belong the group) as a way to reduce emissions in the city. The opposition was met with a response. Leaders from cities presented the carbon fee proposalYou can read more about this topic later in the year.
Adah Crandall from a youth strike organizer said that Portland’s city council should be working for the people and not for corporate interests.
The alliance also The Portland Clean Energy Fund was opposed, which charges a surcharge on major companies to fund green energy projects. Better Naito project, which has increased bike access along the Southwest waterfront.
Strike organizers call for Portland leaders “to cut ties with PBA and publicly reprove the organization’s anti-democratic actions.”
PBA did not respond. MercurySend a request for comment.
Friday’s march will begin at Portland City Hall. There, march organizers invited all city commissioners to sign a pledge to take immediate action to reduce the effects of climate change. The pledge calls for leaders to oppose any new fossil fuel infrastructure and to refuse monetary contributions by the oil, coal, and gas industry representatives. It also asks them to support effective and just climate policy at all times. You can read the entire climate pledge here.
According to their respective offices and Commissioner Carmen Rubio, a staff member from Commissioner Jo Ann Hardestys’ office will meet with the marchers at City Hall in order to receive the pledge. Hardesty helped the organizers get permits for the march but will be out-of-town during the event.
According to his office Commissioner Mingus Mapps will not be able to attend the strike in order to sign the pledge. Mayor Ted Wheeler was not available for comment, nor was Commissioner Dan Ryan. MercuryAn inquiry to find out if they plan on signing the climate pledge.
Crandall stated that it will be interesting to see who signs, who refuses to sign, and who doesn’t show up at all.
After delivering City Hall’s climate pledge, the march will pass NW Natural headquarters and PBA headquarters. The march will then end at Revolution Hall, where it will host a climate festival with live music, speakers, information, and resources on how to become involved with various climate campaigns and organizations in the city.
Organizers hope that the event will help to bring together various environmental campaigns in Portland and emphasize the urgency of climate change.
According to the latest United Nations climate reportTo avoid global warming, greenhouse gas emissions must reach a peak by 2025 and then be reduced by half by 2030. This will prevent the risk of climate catastrophes such as extreme global warming. The report concludes countries do not have enough time to gradually transition away from fossil fuels. Global leaders are not taking aggressive enough steps to meet the deadline.
Environmental activists, particularly youth activists, have repeatedly called for drastic and aggressive changes from city and state leaders, such as demanding a restraining order. Stop major freeway expansionsPortland, OR Temporary acceleration of the city’s timelineTo become carbon neutral, the demands are often dismissed as unrealistic.
ORourke claims that dismissing the public by saying they don’t understand the complexity of an issue is a key strategy in the government’s playbook for decades.
ORourke stated that it is the exact opposite of democracy. It is a dangerous decision for elected officials to make to dismiss young people, and to dismiss any constituents and their intelligence.
Crandall says that young people should be demanding more immediate and important action given the unprecedented climate crisis.
Crandall stated that it shouldn’t be the responsibility of youth to create the step-by-step plan for how we’re going about fixing things. That is what leaders should be doing.
