Greenpeace

 Yesterday I attended Oregon's first Local Climate Action Workshop, designed to look at ways city and county governments can reduce greenhouse emissions and find cost-effective solutions to global warming.  I listened to Mayor Tom Hughes of Hillsboro (the hosting city) welcome the audience during a speech in which he pointed out that, "If there's going to be leadership on this issue [in the US], it will come at the state and local level" - not from the federal government.  I listened to Michael Armstrong of Portland's Office of Sustainable Development describe how that city has achieved impressive reductions in greenhouse emissions, but also point out that much more will be needed in order to meet the goals scientists say we must meet to stave off catastrophic climate change.  I watched Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury give a condensed version of the slide presentation on which An Inconvenient Truth is based.  I listened to Amy Shatzkin, from ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability, explain the methodologies local governments are using to track reductions in greenhouse emissions, and set reachable goals for themselves.  The conference was attended by representative of most Oregon cities that have signed the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, including Corvallis, Eugene, Lake Oswego, Bend, and Beaverton, to name a few.  All of these government officials and public sector employees came together to prove that solutions to the climate crisis exist, and that they can be implemented at the local level.  It was a truly inspiring event.

As speaker Helen Berg, former mayor of Corvallis said, this was the day Al Gore received his Nobel Peace Prize for raising global warming awareness.  Also today, national leaders from all over the world are meeting in Bali, Indonesia, working on a new carbon treaty to replace Kyoto.  The workshop in Hillsboro was timely; this issue has never been more urgent.

The workshop will doubtless have an impact on the communities which sent representatives to the event.  Hopefully, though, it will also have an affect on Oregon's other local governments.  Cities and counties that have not yet made this kind of commitment to sustainability may begin to realize that there's a movement brewing.  Most notably, the Washington County Board of Commissioners, whose building sits across the street from the Hillsboro Civic Center, might feel the impact of this day.  No WA County commissioners were at the workshop, but I will do my best to make sure the event does not go unnoticed on that side of Main Street.  If we are truly going to conquer global warming, we need even more local governments on board.