This week, I moved into my dorm room at Pacific University, where I am working on my Environmental Studies degree.  School is, of course, first and foremost about classes, homework assignments, and working toward your degree.  For me, however, school is also about activism.  Living on-campus at a university is a great way to interact with dozens of other people who share an interest in conserving the planet's riches.  I expect to make progress on the Cool Washington County campaign here, and also hope to start a movement aimed at making Forest Grove (the hometown of Pacific University) a Cool City.  This really is the time to pitch in and do your bit for the Earth - environmental initiatives are springing up everywhere, and it has seldom been so easy to find other people who are worried about the state of things on this planet.

Like many places across the country, Forest Grove, Washington County, and the entire Portland Metropolitan Area are already taking strides toward sustainability.  Yesterday, walking the streets of Forest Grove, I saw a couple of buses (line 57, which I myself often ride) with "powered by biodiesel" labels on the back; it's the first time I've seen this on ordinary buses in the Portland Area, and I hope it means that biodiesel buses are being phased in, to eventually replace gasoline-powered public transportation vehicles altogether.  Granted, biodiesel is not without its environmental problems (should the United States ever start importing large quantities of biodiesel crops from tropical countries, where rainforests are burned and bulldozed to make way for fuel plants such as sugarcane, the environmental implications would be devastating).  However, if biodiesel is produced locally, using production methods that are not too energy-intensive, they can make a great alternative fuel that is less polluting, and less damaging to the environment in general, than oil is.  So let's have a cheer for Tri-Met (the entity in charge of public transportation in the Portland Area), and hope that more biodiesel buses are on the way!

Partly due to increased awareness of global warming and other environmental problems, Washington County residents will soon also find that they can recycle more materials using curbside recycling.  Formerly, the only plastic containers that could be recycled at the curbside were thin-necked plastic bottles.  Soon, though, WA County residents will be supplied with recycling cans into which you can put any plastic bottle or tub numbered 1 through 7 on the bottom (paper, cardboard, and metals will also go in these containers).  The improved recycling system has yet to infiltrate Hillsboro, but I noticed some of the new cans on my walk yesterday, so it has arrived in Forest Grove. 

Washington County, and the cities within it, are taking steps toward sustainability and environmental protection.  Want to make sure this kind of thing continues?  If so, please sign the PETITION TO THE WASHINGTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, asking them to pass the US Cool Counties Climate Stabilization Declaration in WA County.

-Nick

I was delighted to learn this morning that the city of Bend, Oregon has signed onto the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, committing itself to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  I myself lived in Bend for a time, and can tell you that its wilderness areas and tracts of open space are worth taking strong measures to protect.  Like ecosystems across the country, the pine forests and sagebrush plains of Bend will be impacted by global warming, so it makes sense for the city to commit to reducing greenhouse emissions. 

Of course, only time will tell if the city is really going to follow through on its lofty goals - but there are some promising trends.  Curbing greenhouse emissions has, in the past, not been a priority for the city, and former mayor Bill Friedman was opposed to the idea of endorsing the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.  However current mayor Bruce Abernathy, and other members of the city council, seem like they may be serious about reducing emissions.  Bend has purchased hybrid vehicles for its city fleet, and installed some solar panels (the cloudless, sunny days of summertime in Bend make solar energy an obvious option for reducing fossil fule dependence!).  Last year, the rapidly-growing city also began work on its first public transportation system.  Bend still has a long way to go before it can truly be called a "green" city, but these steps make a good start.

Bend is the 11th city in Oregon to sign onto the Mayors Climate Agreement, and it is the first city from Central or Eastern Oregon to sign on.  Perhaps Bend's decision is a forecast of things to come - we can only hope.

-Nick

I am doing my best to spread awareness about global warming in my community.  I will soon be asking the County Board of Commissioners in Washington County to pass the US Cool Counties Climate Stabilization Declaration, and will be presenting them with over 40 signatures from attendees of the Washington County Peace Vigil in support of this action.  I am also starting classes at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, next week, and I hope to get other students involved in asking the City of Forest Grove to reduce its global warming pollutants.  Like I say, I am doing my best, but the problems that confront us are sometimes daunting; there is so much to do, and so little time to save the planet.  Will you join me in getting local governments working on global warming?  Will you go to your city council, or your board of commissioners for the county, and ask them to act against climate change?  Please click here for step-by-step instructions on how to get your city working on reducing global warming pollutants (a similar plan of action can be used for county governments).  There are lots of things that cities and counties can do to fight climate change; please get involved and make sure your local government acts.

-Nick

The peace and environmental movements - with their shared goal of ending US dependence on fossil fuels - continue to gather steam in Oregon.  I was reminded of this yesterday evening, at the weekly Washington County Peace Vigil in Beaverton.  Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of the Peace Vigil, and crowd of people who gathered to take advantage of their right to speak out was even larger than usual, numbering over 100 participants.  Cars honked and passengers reached out the windows to make peace signs with their fingers, as we held up signs demanding a non-violent, environmentally sustainable future.

This was my third time collecting signatures on "peace doves" at the WA County Peace Vigil.  I now have forty-three signed, dove-shaped cards asking the Washington County Board of Commissioners to reduce the county's dependence on fossil fuels.  All the signatures come from people who attended the Peace Vigil, or who stopped by our gathering to ask questions and find out how they could help.  I will be delivering the "peace doves" to the Board of Commissioners in person, and asking them to pass the Cool Counties Climate Stabilization Declaration in Washington County.  Forty-three signatures from participants in the Peace Vigil - a group known to be serious about its goals - should be fairly impressive to the Board of Commissioners.  Let's hope they decide to take real action against human-induced climate change, and address the largest environmental problem of our time.  If you want to help this movement roll forward, please SIGN THE PETITION to the Washington County Board of Commissioners, asking them to pass the Cool Counties Climate Stabilization Declaration.  Together, we can make real change.

-Nick

I'm currently visiting the city of Santa Cruz, California, which has long been an official Cool City, in one of our greenest, and "coolest" states.  Santa Cruz is hardly an Ecotopia - the highways are still full of cars, and far too many of them are SUVs - but the city is deffinitely taking steps in the right direction.  It has been pleasant to observe the biodiesel filling station, the solar panels on the roof of a hotel, and the ease with which organic produce can be purchased in this city.  The Santa Cruz city government has created a position for a "global warming coordinator" to oversee projects that will reduce the city's emissions of greenhouse gases.  Surely, this city is on the right track.

Santa Cruz has good reason to be concerned about global warming - particularly the implications of rising sea levels.  The coastal city would be in deep trouble (no pun intended) if the waters were to rise by very much.  However the ocean, while sometimes a hazard, is also a blessing to the city; hundreds of residents and tourists enjoy Santa Cruz's beaches and sea-side views, where brown pelecans, sea otters, and sometimes even porpoises can be sighted on a regular basis.  Global warming threatens all of this sea life, with its potential to turn kelp beds into wastelands, and change the very chemistry of the ocean itself.  In Santa Cruz, and in California in general, preventing global warming will be a neccessary part of environmental protection.  The same holds true for Oregon; our forests, rivers, and, of course, our own coastal ecosystems, are also threatened by climate change. 

Let's get down to work.  By taking measures to curb global warming at the local level, we can help protect the entire global environment.  This movement in Oregon is still running strong, and it is my personal goal to see that Washington County, OR becomes one of the first Cool Counties.  Want to get involved?  Check out the GLOBAL WARMING ACTION DASHBOARD.

-Nick

I have long been a patron of the Portland Metro Area's lightrail Max trains, and of the region's elaborate bus system.  Today, though, I took my first ride on Portland's third public transportation service - the Portland Streetcar.  It was a short ride, from the Galleria Max Station to Powell's Bookstore and back, but it was enough to get a taste of this final public transportation option. 

Within the city of Portland - and much of the rest of the Metro Area - it is possible to get almost anywhere on public transportation, whether Max, bus, or streetcar.  It is the most environmentally way to get town.  If you ride public transit, you add no additional global warming pollutants to the atmosphere.  Furthermore, you are not giving your money to oil companies that drill critical ecosystems from Alaskan tundra to Nigerian rainforests.  The clenching benefit of public transit, of course, is to your bank account; dedicated Max, bus, and streetcar riders have no worries when gas prices rise (you must of course pay a fare to ride public transit in most areas, but it is much cheaper than paying for gasoline - frequent customers can reduce costs by buying monthly passes). 

Emissions from automobiles are one of the largest contributors to global warming - and do you really want to give your money to oil companies, anyway?  Every trip you take using public transit instead of a car decreases your impact on the environment.  There's no time like the present for change; the public transportation on your day out.

-Nick