For those who used the ENGEL blog to find out about climate-saving action in Washington County, I'm pleased to announce the launching of the new site from which such info will be distributed: http://exposeintel.blogspot.com/ For now, the blog's focus is on the Expose Intel campaign, which in coming months will shed light on the anti-environmental lobbying activities of a major Oregon employer that likes to paint itself as "green." However, also look for updates about the Cool Washington County campaign and other projects. -Nick

Oregon's environmental movement is constantly changing, with exciting new developments all the time.  Accordingly, the "engel" blog will in a few months be replaced with a new blog, at a slightly different address, that can better address local actions in Oregon's Washington County area.  Look forward to more diverse posts from multiple authors, as well as an expanded focus that takes into account the way major businesses in our area influence government.  Laying a foundation for this new approach will require some time - thus the blog is out of service for a while.  Check back here around July for access to the new blog.  And in the meantime, you can still sign the PETITION TO THE WASHINGTON COUNTY BOARD in support of strong action against global warming.

-Nick

 I'm happy to report that Forest Grove has become the thirteenth city in Oregon (out of more than 800 across the nation) to endorse the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement - thereby making a public commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  While the Agreement is not binding, it is one more way for cities to show their good intentions, and provides citizens with a tool to hold their local governments accountable.  Forest Grove's decision follows its approval of a new Vision Statement, "Goal 1" of which is to "Promote safe, livable, and sustainable neighborhoods and a prosperous dynamic green city."  And not long ago, Forest Grove became the first city in Oregon to officially oppose all Liquefied Natural Gas terminals and pipelines in the state.  Even to a skeptic like me, it's becoming more and more apparent that this city is serious about going green. 

Forest Grove also joins Beaverton and Hillsboro as the third city in Washington County to endorse the Mayors Climate Agreement.  This might just give a little extra ammunition to citizens who suggest that perhaps Washington County itself should endorse the county-level version of the same document - the Cool Counties Declaration.  If you live in Washington County, ask the Board of Commissioners to consider doing just that - SIGN THE PETITION TODAY!

-Nick

On April 1st, Fossil Fools Day, about ten of us students at Pacific University - accompanied by two staff members from the Oregon Sierra Club - set out to march around the Pacific campus and into downtown Forest Grove, letting everyone we met know that we think fossil fuels are just plain foolish!  We built up petitions, talked to passers-by, and had a good time; we even got a little press coverage.  Ours was one of over 100 actions taking place across the country in protest of the fossil fuel industries - such as coal, oil, and liquefied natural gas.  It's time to make these bad investments a thing of the past!

-Nick

   

 Pacific University Students for Environmental Activism will be celebrating "Fossil Fools Day" on April 1st by reminding our Forest Grove community why investment in fossil fuels is a bad investment for everyone.  Read our news advisory for the event below!

-Nick

News Advisory

For April 1, 2008           
Contact: Nick Engelfried, 503-737-7666, enge5135@pacificu.edu                                         

Pacific University Students Call for a Clean Energy Future on “Fossil Fools Day”                          

Who: Pacific University Students for Environmental Activism                                                 

What: Fossil Fools Day is a national day of action against fossil fuel development, with over 100 actions planned nationwide.  For the Forest Grove event, &quoton't be a Fool: Say No to Fossil Fuels,” Pacific University students will parade through their campus, then into downtown Forest Grove with signs and creative costumes that bring attention to the “foolishness” of investing in dirty energy sources like coal, oil, and liquefied natural gas.                               

When: The parade will start at 12:00 pm, finishing with a news conference at 12:45 pm            

Where: The parade will circle the Pacific campus, then go down Pacific Avenue, onto B St, and back down 21^st Avenue.  Press conference will be at Trombely Square on-campus.

Why: Pacific students are utilizing this national day of action to draw attention to some of the dirty energy projects currently threatening western Washington County.  In keeping with our slogan, “Say No to Fossil Fuels,” we hope to encourage residents to take action against fossil fuel development in their community.  At the press conference, students will highlight a few of the major fossil fuel threats our area faces.
For more information on the national event, please see www.FossilFools08.org

#        #        #

 

Pacific University, in Forest Grove, has become the 9th college in the Northwest to have its student government endorse the Cascade Climate Declaration - a document written by Northwest students, calling for strong action against global warming from all levels of government.  The student-run Cascade Climate Network, which put together the Declaration, has cited it when testifying before the state legislatures of both Oregon and Washington, and those of us at Pacific will be alerting our local and state elected officials that the student government which represents the undergraduate student body here has decided this issue is important enough to take a position.  I have already emailed the Washington County Board of Commissioners.  One by one, our colleges and universities in the Northwest are showing that students care about climate destabilization, and reducing the carbon footprint from our area.  Let's get every student government in the Northwest to endorse the Cascade Climate Declaration!

And if you live in Washington County, and haven't already, please SIGN THE PETITION TO THE WASHINGTON COUNTY BOARD, and ask them to follow the lead students are taking!

-Nick

 

After much talk about becoming a "model of sustainability," the Forest Grove City Council showed Monday that they are genuinely willing to stand up against fossil fuel interests.  On Monday, the city council unanimously passed a resolution opposing a new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal proposed for a site close to Astoria; one the pipelines running from the terminal would pass through Forest Grove's watershed, and the city would be within the "blast zone" of an explosion, should an accident at the pipeline occur.  Worst of all, among many environmental hazards surrounding LNG, the enormous energy project would significantly increase Oregon's carbon footprint and our reliance on foreign fossil fuels.

 

Proponents of LNG have been making a lot of enemies lately (Forest Grove's Pacific University was where Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury first came out against the project), but the City of Forest Grove is the first local government in this state to actually pass a resolution opposing an LNG terminal.  The fight's not over yet, but it's good to know we have the City Council's support.  And today, to show how much we appreciate their efforts, students at Pacific University collected signatures on a giant thank you-card, which will be delivered to the City Council on Monday.  We will also be hosting a local activist who will speak on the dangers of LNG on-campus, March 19th.  It's time to stop this destructive energy project in its carbon-filled tracks!

Now, if we can just get Forest Grove to sign onto the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement...

-Nick

Thanks to the student environmental group at Portland Community College's Rock Creek campus, the Cool Washington County petition is not over thirty signatures stronger - and the petition is fast-approaching the 300 mark.  PCC students set aside some of their valuable time during the past couple weeks to gather signatures from the many Washington County residents who attend the Rock Creek campus - and their efforts paid off!

The snatches of information I've been getting from the Washington County Board indicate that the Board is still working on their "Washington County Sustainability Plan - apparently some kind of progress is being made.  It won't be long now before its time to formally present the petition to the Board, as a way of helping to show how much support there is in our area for measures that reduce greenhouse emissions.  Stay tuned for more!

And if you haven't already, and you live in Washington County, please SIGN THE COOL WASHINGTON COUNTY PETITION YOURSELF!

The Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV) just released their 2006-2007 Environmental Scorecard for the Washington County Board of Commissioners, rating each commissioner on how often he or she voted to protect air and water quality, our area's natural ecosystems, and the climate.  OLCV reports that the Board's record is considerably improved since the last time they were assessed, in 2004-2005.  That's great; it's good to know that Board members are keeping the environment in mind more often.  Especially encouraging is Commissioner Dick Schouten's score - the only 100% of all the Board members.  And this was the second time in a row that Schouten achieved this perfect rating!

Click here for the most recent scorecards for the Washington County Board and several other local governments.

The Washington County Board is thinking more about the environment.  But why should Dick Schouten be the only one to achieve a 100% rating?  Maybe the next scorecard will see more than one member of the Board make this perfect score.

For now, you can urge the Board to build on their efforts by SIGNING THE COOL WASHINGTON COUNTY PETITION!

Epilogue:  I wrote this post last night, and have been thinking a lot about the OLCV scorecard since then.  My initial reaction to the scorecard was that it showed the Washington County Board was doing a pretty good job, and they deserved mostly praise.  Then, however, I got to thinking.  Chairman Tom Brian received a rating of 80% - the second highest after Dick Schouten's.  Not bad, I thought at first.  But put it in perspective: to those of us in college, 80% means a B-.  Commissioners Andy Duyck and Roy Rogers each received a 75% rating - otherwise known as a solid C.  Commissioner Desari Strader, who I've praised on other occassions for initiating the Washington County Sustainability Plan, got a 50% - that's, well, an F.  Granted, Strader was elected only part-way through OLCV's 2-year reporting period, and got the chance to vote on major environmental decisions only twice; I'm willing to believe her score would have been considerably better if averaged out over more than two votes.  But while the County Board deserves praise for doing better than last year time, in "Local Environmental Policy 101" they'd be a pretty average class - hardly quite prepared for "Advanced Climate Action 200," where every decision takes account of the dire threats posed by global warming and shortages of cheap fuel.  Luckily, the 101 course isn't graded on a bell-curve; there's nothing standing in the way of them getting more A's next time.

-Nick

 There's a green buzz going around Forest Grove, a city of 20,000 or so in western Washington County.  Community residents at a town meeting in January expressed their preferences that the city develop alternatives to car culture, and curb urban while at the same time working to maintain its small-town feel.  Word has it the mayor is talking about making Forest Grove a "model for sustainability."  It's a little unclear, so far, how much is just talk and how much is true commitment, but it seems as if local politicians are becoming genuinely concerned about transitioning to a sustainable future.  In the next couple of weeks, I hope, we'll find out just how far they are willing to go in their commitment.

The night of one of Pacific University's Focus the Nation events, I was able to talk to Suzanne Casaus of Oregon Environmental Council, about the green movement in Forest Grove.  We had just finished listening to Secretary of State Bill Bradbury describe the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement as one of the most hopeful climate initiatives in this country; we agreed that this is a movement Forest Grove should be a part of.  So this week, I am sending a letter to the Forest Grove City Council, accompanied by one from Oregon Environmental Council, asking them to sign onto the Climate Agreement.  Don't get me wrong: when all is said and done, signing a piece of paper endorsing the Agreement does not, in itself, do anything to reduce a city's carbon footprint.  However, here in Oregon this initiative has become a way for cities serious about reducing their carbon emissions to identify each other, and initiate cooperative efforts; this was made very clear at the first Oregon Local Sustainability Workshop.  Signing the Agreement is also a way for a city to publicly state their intention to go sustainable, and their willingness to be held accountable on this commitment.  I, for one, hope Forest Grove rises to this challenge.

-Nick

Well, its been more than a week since Pacific University students rallied outside the Washington County Administrative Building to show their support for a strong Washington County Sustainability Plan.  The weekend after that event, we flooded the Inboxes of the Board of Commissioners with emails in support of the demands we were making at the rally.  Commissioner Dick Schouten sent me a message saying he supported our efforts and wishing us well.  As for the rest of the Board of Commissioners; you guessed it - ever in tune with the communities they govern, they've given no sign of noticing our work.

I'm still trying to get in touch with Commissioner Desari Strader, who has been receptive to our efforts in the past, and who in fact initiated the sustainability plan in the first place.  I may still get in touch with her; but it's frustrating how little this County Board seems to care about citizen input.  Are such things really just for hippies ultra-liberals?  It's hard for me to believe.  Surely participatory democracy is supposed to be what our country is about; that, at least, is what I thought.

If you haven't already, and you live in Washington County, please SIGN THE PETITION TO THE COUNTY BOARD, asking for firm commitments on reducing greenhouse emissions!

-Nick

           

Friday afternoon, ten students from Pacific University headed for downtown Hillsboro, to show their support for a strong Washington County Sustainability Plan.  It was a cold and windy two hours, but we stood outside the County Administrative Building with our home-made signs, and got lots of support from passers-by.  We'll follow up on this event over the weekend by generating emails to the Board of Commissioners.  A strong sustainability plan for this county is on the way!

If you haven't already, and you live in Washington County, please SIGN THE PETITION TO THE BOARD, now!

-Nick

 Here in western Washington County, we're still waiting for governments at the city, county, state, and federal levels to take the firm action needed to stave off the effects of climate change.  Concerned citizens are naturally worried by this government inaction - after all, global warming is perhaps the greatest threat to the safety and security of people all over the world today.  So what's to be done?  Luckily, the newly-established Washington County Carbon Patrol Unit is picking up the slack, identifying dangerous "carbon crimes" in our area and keeping them under strict surveillance.

Reports show our local Carbon Patrol Unit has so far discovered "gas guzzling" to be one of the most rampant carbon crimes in the area.  They've had a tough job tracking down criminal SUVs and giant pickup trucks, and awarding their owners violation tickets for their transgression (see the pictures on this post).  The Unit is confronting hardened criminals, here - vehicles that have burned thousands of pounds of carbon, releasing dangerous greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.  It's not a job for the faint of heart, but it needs to be done.  It's time to get tough on carbon crime!

Help bring carbon crimes under control - SIGN THE PETITION TO THE WASHINGTON COUNTY BOARD!

-Nick

 

On Monday night, I got back from a three-day weekend at the Northwest's first Cascade Powershift - a convergence of student environmentalists meeting in Eugene, Oregon, to discuss the climate crisis and finds solutions that we can implement on our campuses and in our communities.  It was a busy three days of workshops, amazing keynote speakers, and brainstorming.  About 200 students from across Oregon and Washington attended, representing over 20 colleges and universtities.  We finished up the weekend by sending delegations of students to Salem and Olympia, to lobby the state capitols for strong action against global warming.  And I, for one, came away inspired.  Who says youth aren't stepping up to the plate, now?

One of the most exciting projects we continue to work on at Pacific University is pressuring our local governments to use their influence to reduce greenhouse emissions.  If you live in Washington County, please SIGN THE PETITION TO THE COUNTY BOARD, and ask them to commit to reducing global warming pollutants.

-Nick

And here's a few pictures form Powershift:

           

            

 

It's become fashionable for older folks to bemoan the fact that youth activism today isn't what it was in the 60s era; the New York Times article "Generation Q" by columnist Thomas Friedman, may be the most prominent example, but there are many others.  The gist of these peoples' arguments is that young people today are quiet (hence Generation Q), meek, and in awe of authority; they just don't take to the streets and protest the way they did in the good old 60s. 

Well, it's time to set the record straight for Generation P - Generation Pass-the-Buck.  One characteristic of the various articles and editorials criticizing youth's inaction is that the authors almost always describe some personal experience visiting a college campus, make observations about the meekness of students there, and blythely assume that what they saw there represents the entirety of American student-dom (there's one priceless bit in Friedman's article where he implies that his daughter and her college just must represent every college student and campus in the country).  I have to ask these authors: what if you looked at a few random representatives of the previous generation (or generations)?  What would you see?  Perhaps a disturbingly large number of parents who are worried about their children's futures, but doing precious little about it.  How many "baby boomers" today are seriously rallying against global warming, campaigning to stop a new generation of coal plants from being built, or even writing to their representatives in Congress on a regular basis?  Is it really the younger generation that deserves the criticism?  What Thomas Friedman didn't mention in his article was that, even as he wrote, thousands of young people across the country were preparing for "PowerShift 2007" - a mass-convergence on Washington DC in support of firm action against global warming.  This month will see PowerShift Cascadia take off in Oregon - I will be one of many students from the Northwest gathering in Eugene to strategize for a clean energy future; and the event will end by dispatching student delegations to Salem and Olympia to lobby the state legislatures.  Meanwhile, student groups all over the country have been an integral part of the campaign to stop new coal plants, jumpstart fuel efficiency in Detroit, and bring on the green revolution.  Maybe Thomas Friedman should have looked beyond the actions of his daughter. 

It might seem crazy to talk about baby boomers "taking to the streets" to protest global warming - surely that's the domain of hot-headed college students.  But Generation Pass-the-Buck is overly eager to shift the blame for a dearth of activism onto young people.  By pretending that rabble-rousing is the job of students alone, and writing thoughtful essays on how the youth at this or that college are not living up to the 60s ideal, older folks neatly absolve themselves of the responsibility of doing anything about global warming themselves.  Isn't there a certain irony in this?  Especially when you consider that it is the older generation that sculpted the messed-up world we now find ourselves in?

Passing the buck to the younger generation is a great way to avoid a giant guilt trip.  When you think about it, Generation P had a chance to change the direction of national policy a long time ago.  They didn't take it, and now their children's futures are blighted as a result.  For Generation P, confronting that reality head-on might mean admitting that it's time they made up for opportunities blown.  How about a crowd of baby boomers outside every state legislature building, holding signs that say "Global Warming Threatens my Children"?  What about a massive gas-guzzler boycott led by adults - after all, young people with their student loans the ones driving most of the Sequoias and Tundras today?  College students everywhere are working to reduce greenhouse emissions from their respective campuses - how about a "Workplace Climate Challenge" led by private-sector employees?  Why not?  Is it just that Generation P is used to a comfortable life revolving around work and home?  Perhaps the idea that preserving a livable planet for their children will mean taking to the streets themselves is just too much to face.  Yet these people are rightly worried about the world they are leaving their progeny, so they circumvent the dilemma by shifting the blame onto students themselves.

Friedman-esque editorial writers are fond of reminding us that global warming, the oil war, and other intertwining issues present us with perhaps the greatest challenge every confronted by this country.  What they fail to realize, however, is that a problem of these proportions means every generation will have to pitch in to solve it.  They'd like to pretend that by passing the buck on to young people, they can negate the massive responsibility they themselves hold for contributing to climate change.  It's hard to admit that you messed up, and that your mistakes are now having dire consequences.  It can be daunting - down-right terrifying - to face up to what really needs to be done.  Generation P is in a tough place, no doubt about it.  But I think it's time they woke up to the reality of their situation.  They future of my own generation may depend on it.

-Nick

This week, over 1,500 colleges and universities across the country held educational events for Focus the Nation - a national "teach-in," intended to raise public awareness of global warming and the challenges presented by the climate crisis.  Here at Pacific University, at least, the event was a huge success.  On Tuesday, renowned photojournalist Gary Brassch showcased his years of work documenting the effects of global warming on landscapes, natural ecosystems, and communities.  On Wednesday, Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradburry gave a version of the slide presentation on which An Inconvenient Truth was based.  Finally, Thursday saw a discussion of how we can realistically and effectively combat global warming, by a panel that included Pacific students and faculty.  All told, well over 100 people attended one or more of the events. 

Throughout the three days of Focus the Nation at Pacific, the emphasis was on the fact that we need change at every level - individuals need to pitch in, as well as every level of government.  Bill Bradburry explicitly stated that "the national, state, county, and city governments" all have to be on board.  It's something to keep in mind as the Cool Washington County campaign continues to pressure Washington County for real action, and as we look into the seriousness of the City of Forest Grove's commitment to becoming "green."  We need change in this area - and the time for that change is now.

If you haven't already, and you live in Washington County, please SIGN THE PETITION TO THE COUNTY BOARD asking them for firm action on global warming!

-Nick

A nice article in the Forest Grove News-Times today, about Pacific University's upcoming Focus the Nation global warming event, also mentioned the potential for the City of Forest Grove to go sustainable.  Apparently, Forest Grove's "vision statement" now includes a commitment toward sustainability, and the city government wants to go greener.

I've been hearing rumors about the mayor and city council of Forest Grove going to the green side.  I don't know enough yet to say how true they are - but I hope to find out soon.  After all, in addition to pressuring the county government, the Cool Washington County campaign needs to begin looking at getting the individual cities working on reducing greenhouse emissions.  It will be great if Forest Grove turns out to be really serious about sustainability - though I'm not getting my hopes too high, yet.  Saying you're a "leader in sustainable development" is awfully popular these days, as is revising "vision statements" to include sustainability.  In fact, the S-word seems to be all over the place right now, and if everyone was really as committed to it as they say, we'd be in pretty good shape.

TELL WASHINGTON COUNTY TO LIVE UP TO THEIR OWN "SUSTAINABILITY PLAN" IN-THE-WORKS RIGHT HERE!

Some more research on Forest Grove is in order.  Though much smaller than Hillsboro or Beaverton, it's one of Washington County's most rapidly-expanding cities; and the form that new development takes over the next several years has a lot of potential to keep greenhouse emissions out of the air - or add them.  Watch for more news on the Grove.

 

Some people think they need a giant SUV complete with four-wheel drive to manage a little inclement weather in our Northwest.  Well, after riding my bike through an inch of snow to get to work one morning, I can safely report that it's do-able with two wheels (of course, maybe those folks driving SUVs half the size of a bus are hoping to cause so much global warming that we won't have any snow in Oregon - but that's another story).  So if you can't afford a hybrid, try a much cheaper transportation option that's much better for the environment, anyway: the bicycle.  And if the journey's too long to make it on pedal-power, then there's always public transportation.  Here in the Portland area - even out in rural Washington County - you can get almost anywhere using the bus and other public transportation options.  I very rarely even ride in a car anymore, these days.

Heck, a Prius still runs on oil; and you're still giving your money to Toyota - money the company can then funnel into suing states like Oregon that want to place tougher regulations on vehicle pollutants.  Simply finding ways to drive whatever car you own less often can be a more effective way to combat global warming than buying a hybrid.  Stick it to the oil companies, the car dealers, and the energy-intensive cement-making industry too, while you're at it.  Ride a bike.

-Nick

Though things are finally beginning to move in the county government, the Cool Washington County campaign is gathering steam - not slowing down.  The petition asking the Board of Commissioners to set strong goals for reducing greenhouse emissions is collecting signature like mad; many of them from students and staff at Pacific University.  During the past week, I myself and other members of Pacific's student environmental group have been collecting signatures on-campus, while at the same time advertising the university's upcoming events for Focus the Nation - a national event during which thousands of colleges across the country will spend educating students and community members about global warming.  The response we've been getting - both to the petition and to Focus the Nation - has been good.  People here care about climate change, and want to see firm action taken to prevent it.

With all of this, the total number of signatures on the Cool Washington County petition has passed 200; it now stands at 213 (it looks like there are 236 signatures, but 23 of these are invalid ones from over-enthusiastic souls who signed without realizing you need to live in Washington County to count, or who accidentally signed the same petition twice). 

If you haven't already, and you live in Washington County, be sure and SIGN THE PETITION YOURSELF, RIGHT NOW! 

Today the Oregonian's "Washington County Weekly" section ran a piece discussing the state of Washington County's global warming action plan (or lack thereof).  The gist of the article was this: while cities within its boundaries, like Hillsboro and Beaverton, are taking the initiative to put forward new programs that will reduce greenhouse gas pollutants, and networking with other local governments to inspire a truly regional movement to curb emissions at the local level, the Washington County government itself is lagging behind.

The article was authored by yours truly (link coming soon, but it doesn't seem to be on the Internet yet).  Considering my last post on this blog, commending Washington County for finally taking some steps in the right direction, does the above article description sound more like something I would have written a month ago?  Well, as it happens, I did write it more than a month ago, and the Oregonian only just now decided to run it.  So the article is a little outdated, but I stand by its basic message. 

Washington County is showing signs of moving in the right direction - and that's great.  You can urge them to keep up that good work RIGHT HERE.  But we've got a long way to go, and need to see verbal assurances translated into concrete policy.  One of the main points of the article I wrote was that the Washington County Board failed to send any of its members to Oregon's first Local Climate Action Workshop which took place, well, across the street from the county building (some workshop delegates came from as far away as Bend to participate).  Is the Board doing all it can to network with other local governments?  That's a difficult argument to make, after the Climate Workshop affair.  Maybe a day will come when I have nothing bad to say about the sustainability policies of the Washington County government.  However, while small steps in the right direction are worth of praise, that day is still a long way off.  I stand by almost all of what I said in the article.  If given the choice today between running it as-is and pulling it from the paper, I'd have chosen to run it.

Oh, and another of the main points of my article was the unresponsiveness of the majority of the Board members to citizen emails.  Today I sent messages to Commissioners Dick Schouten and Desari Strader, who are indeed now answering my emails, explaining that the Oregonian article was a little outdated.  As for the other three members of the Board - well, they've given no indication so far that they care about my opinions; a little article in the newspaper shouldn't bother them at all.

I have it from Commissioner Desari Strader of the Washington County Board of Commissioners that the Board is discussing a Washington County Sustainability Plan, which will probably go through in one form or another.  After four months of the Cool Washington County campaign doggedly working to generate emails to the Board, collect signatures on a petition, hold a rally outside the County Building, gain publicity in local papers, and more - all in the face of most members of the Board continually ignoring us or, at best, telling us to go away and bother someone else - I can tell you this taste of victory is great.  Of course, some  might say the initiation of the Sustainability Plan after four months of work on our part is coincidence; local governments in the Northwest are moving more and more toward sustainability, and Cool Washington County can take no credit for a recent poll that showed residents of the county are becoming more environmentally conscious, and probably prompted the Board of Commissioners to take this issue more seriously.  However, I don't think this is coincidence.  It's simple: an urgent global issue + citizen action = government response.  We are making real progress at last.  And Commissioner Desari Strader, who helped bring this about, deserves our thanks. 

To be sure, the fight's not over yet.  We have to make sure that the final Sustainability Plan has substance to it - that it meets or beats the goals the goals of the Cool Counties Declaration.  To this end, the Cool Washington County Petition is still collecting signatures - so if you live in Washington County, and you haven't signed it already, DO IT NOW!  And enjoy the feeling of being one step closer to victory.

-Nick

It is safe to say that the vast majority of the young people in this country have no idea how badly their future is threatened.  When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change came out with a report last year, stating that the world has until 2015, at the latest, to stabilize greenhouse emissions and prevent the worst effects of global warming, relatively few of us paid attention.  It is no large surprise: we are all so caught up with our own lives - with school, with day-to-day activities, with plans for our future careers and the life ahead of us.  This is supposed to be one of the best times of our lives; in college, new worlds open up to us - new independence, new experiences, and new possibilities for the future.  And yet it is ironic that the very future we are all preparing for is in more danger with each passing year.  Massive shifts in global climate - and the drought, flooding, famines, and loss of biodiversity this will bring about - threaten to transform our world beyond recognition.  Will the college degrees we worked so hard to earn be meaningless by the time we are in our thirties?  Will the global economy and natural environment be in such chaos that no one cares what accredited schools we attended, what ideas once sparked our imaginations, what dreams once kept us awake at night? 

The world is altering around us - and it is hard to blame the majority of us for failing to see the danger.  Do we not have a right to enjoy young-adulthood as generations before us have?  To be relatively carefree for a while?  To just savor the experience of growing up?  We did not ask for the mess that previous generations made of this planet.  But now it is our job to set it right - whether it is fair that the task fall on our shoulders, or not.  Those of us who have awakened to the danger - we must kick, scream, agitate and protest at the injustice served to us, and attempt to set it right before it is too late.  But we cannot do it alone.

Realistically very few of us, if any, are going to be in a position to alter the course of history anytime soon.  Ironically, then, we depend on the generations before us - some of the very people who got us into this mess - for help.  We can and must do our part to become involved in politics, influence elections and laws, and bring pressure on our elected representatives ourselves.  But to a certain extent, our future rests in the hands of others - of people who may not even be able to understand what it is like to have your life blighted for no reason, because ExxonMobil wanted to make money.  The politicians currently in power - at all levels of government - are the ones who might be able to save us.  Yet most show little inclination to do so.  So what is there for us to do?  We agitate, we protest, we hope that our demands will be heard.  We watch the world crumbling around us, and wonder if it can be re-built.  We scan the newspapers for hope.  And we wait.

Any day now, I hope to be contacted by Commissioner Desari Strader from the Washington County Board of Commissioners - to learn whether she and other members of the Board are willing to work with some of us young people to reduce greenhouse emissions from this area.  I don't know what the answer will be.  I do know that I am grateful to her for at least trying to work something out.  I also know that if the Board still refuses to acknowledge our demands, we will keep fighting - what we students have done so far in Washington County is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what we can do.  I wonder, though, whether our efforts will come too late.  I wonder if all levels of government across the country can be wakened to act quickly enough.  I wonder.  And I think of the future.  And I wait.

-Nick

Some people have observed that this blog tends to take a harsh view of policy-makers in general, and certain county commissioners in particular.  Why do I seem so set on criticizing people?  Why don't I try to see politicians as allies, rather than opponents?  Haven't I heard that you catch more flies with sugar than with vinegar?

Well, there's a brand of environmentalism that says we will only get anywhere by focusing on the positive, cooperating with polluters rather than campaigning against them, and forging alliances with politicians rather than attacking their reputations.  Perhaps the loudest proponents of this view are Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, whose essay, "The Death of Environmentalism," argued, soon after the 2004 elections, that environmentalists were losing ground because they focus on doom and gloom.  Who wants to read about pollution and habitat destruction, right?  According to Shellenberger and Nordhaus, the route many environmentalists are pursuing would have been equivalent to Martin Luther King attempting to inspire his audience with the admonition, "I have a nightmare."  Didn't the Civil Rights Movement achieve success by focusing on the positive?  Shouldn't environmentalists do the same?

Well, I have some issues with Shellenberger and Nordhaus' analysis.  First of all, that's a pretty simplistic view of the Civil Rights Movement.  Listening to these guys, you would think that racial segregation was solved because one day day Martin Luther King came along and said, "Hey, people - wouldn't it be great if we were all equal?  Wouldn't you like to live in a world where everyone was good to each other?  Isn't that an inspiring vision of the future?"  Ridiculous, of course.  Visions of a better future were an essential part of the Civil Rights Movement, but so was protest - the loud, bitter criticism of racial prejudice and those upholding it.  King himself was often one of those loud critics.  And in fact, from the end of the Civil War to the classic Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, there were people pursuing both strategies - trying to work "with" policymakers, and railing against them.  To me, the groups and individuals suggesting today that we congratulate car companies for the few hybrids they churn out, and ingratiate ourselves with politicians so they'll do us favors later, are a little too reminiscent of Civil Rights strategists who ended up getting very little done, because they tried too hard to "cooperate" with those in power.

The livability of this planet is at risk.  Young people like me stand a greater chance of having our future destroyed than any generation since the one at the height of the Cold War.  Is this a time to "cooperate," and hope that politicians will do something about our problems if we just ask them nicely?  I don't think so.  Do I seem angry, or bitter, on this blog?  Well guess, what: I often am.  And I have a reason to be.  Let me end with a quote from one of my personal Civil Rights heroes - W. E. B. Du Bois.  It's from a letter Du Bois wrote in answer to a reader of his magazine articles, who thought Du Bois was being too negative and "bitter":

"For now  nearly twenty years we [African Americans] have echoed and applauded every shameful accusation made against 10,000,000 victims of slavery...And what was the result?  We got 'friends.'  I do not believe any people ever had so many 'friends' as the American Negro today!  He has nothing but 'friends' and may the good God deliver him from most of them, for they are like to lynch his soul...If this be bitterness, we are bitter."   - W. E. B. Du Bois

I'm not in this to make friends.  I'm not in this to suck up to anyone.  I'm in this because my own future, and the future of every other young person on the planet depends on it.  All of us have reason to rail against the catastrophe that has been thrown in our faces by previous generations.  We have a reason to shout.  We have reason to be seriously ticked off.  And if this is bitterness, we are bitter.

Well, today I met with Commissioner Desari Strader from the Washington County Board of Commissioners.  And I have so much to say that I can't possibly get it all into this one post. 

First of all, I thank Commissioner Strader for taking the time to meet with me.  According to her, Washington County may be willing to work with us activists on a plan to reduce greenhouse emissions.  They might not join Cool Counties per se, because they dislike the idea of signing onto a "declaration" that someone else came up with (whether or not I agree with logic, that is a valid point of view).  The important thing, however, is that greenhouse emissions go down.  So the Cool Washington County campaign now heads into tricky territory.  We may soon have the Board of Commissioners ready to work with us, and members of the Board may be very serious when they say they support sustainability.  However, we still have a set of demands for Washington County, and those demands must not fall by the wayside.  The final plan for reducing emissions must pave the way for the county to do more than it is doing now; it's not enough to point to already-existing projects and say that's all we need to do (that's "I'm already doing it" syndrome, and gets us nowhere). 

I'm hopeful that the Board is going to make a sincere effort but, while we should recognize and thank them for a willingness to work on this issue, we need to keep the pressure on.  If the Board of Commissioners doesn't want to sign a piece of paper and be an official Cool County - well, maybe that's fine.  But Washington County needs to meet or beat the Cool County reduction goals, even if it does so completely independently. 

Here is what we must make sure comes out of Washington County's emission-reduction plan (and I am fully aware that members of the Board themselves may be reading this post):

1) We need a goal of cutting emissions at least 80% below current levels by the year 2050.  That's what it takes to stop catastrophic climate change; that's what we need to do.

2) An action plan must include new initiatives for reducing emissions, or significant upgrading of old initiatives.  Business-as-usual is not an option.

Gathering signatures on the Cool Washington County petition is more important than ever.  As the total number climbs higher into the hundreds, we will show the Board of Commissioners how much support there is for the Cool Counties goals.  If they're not going to sign that document, they'll need to find another way to meet or beat those goals.  If you live in Washington County, PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION HERE

Now, stay tuned.  Things are beginning to get very interesting.

 

-Nick

 One of simplest ways to curb your contribution to climate change, while saving on energy bills at the same time, is to replace ordinary incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent blubs (CFLs).  A CFL consumes about a quarter of the energy used by an incandescent bulb; while you might have to pay more for CFLs than ordinary bulbs up-front, the electricity saved over the bulb's lifetime will more than make up for this.  Another advantage to CFLs is that they can be recycled.  They do contain a trace amount of mercury, so be sure and recycle them at a toxic waste disposal site (unsurprisingly, fossil fuel interests, led by ExxonMobil, have hugely exaggerated the mercury content of CFLs - the truth is that they contain a very tiny amount, and the environmental benefits far outweigh this disadvantage). 

Over its lifetime, an average CFL will keep about 700 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.  If every household in the US replaced all its incandescent bulbs with CFLs, approximately 90 power plants could be retired.  Talk about fighting global warming!  Finally, unlike older fluorescent bulbs, new CFLs produce a light indistinguishable from that of incandescent bulbs; they can also fit into any socket made for incandescents.

Find out more about energy efficient lighting!

As the New Year begins, the Cool Washington County campaign is revving up for major action.  In the last month, County Commissioner Desari Strader has offered to meet with me to discuss the Cool Counties Declaration, and a post about the campaign was published on BlueOregon - one of Oregon's more widely-read progressive blogs.  But in the next couple of months, I hope we can accomplish much more.  As the school year starts up again, the various student groups supporting this campaign will be able to kick into higher gear.  I will be working to find a way for these groups to partner more effectively with organizations like the Oregon Sierra Club, and Washington County Peak Oil, in holding the Board of Commissioners accountable to the climate.  Support from Commissioner Strader is not certain yet, but is a very real possibility - we will see what happens at the meeting.  If she does pledge to support the Declaration, we will have two commissioners out of three, and will need only one more to win a majority. 

If you live in Washington County, PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO THE COUNTY BOARD!

Finally, the month of January should see another rally in downtown Hillsboro, asking the remaining commissioners to support the Cool Counties Declaration.  It is important to keep the pressure on, and show them that we are not going to go away.  I am confident that we can stage a rally even larger than the one in November, which brought the campaign its first real media attention.  When dealing with a Board of Commissioners whose at-large-chair suspects there will "be a backlash to the environmental movement when people realized its costs in the face of today's current economic anxiety" (no mention there of how rising energy prices mean continued reliance on fossil fuels will cost us more than shifting to renewable energy) greening a county can be a challenge.  I, for one, like a challenge.

 -Nick