Moving the Political Machine

Posted by: engel | 08 Jan 08 | Leave a comment | Permalink

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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

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About Me

engel
Hillsboro, OR USA

Student at Pacific University

ENGEL: Environmental ethics; New leadership; Green development; Economic sustainability; Local action! As a student activist, I am working to bring attention to global warming in Oregon. Most of my work takes place at the local level; I have convinced my own city of Hillsboro, OR, to sign onto the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, and I am now working to get Washington County, OR to sign onto the county-level version of this same pledge. On my blog ENGEL (acronym explained above), I report on local government actions all over the state which either help or hinder the climate movement; there are lots of opportunities for readers of this blog to help contribute to the climate movement by making their voices heard; whether in city or county governments, at school, or anywhere else. Please help me make change in Oregon! -Nick

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