June Chapter Meeting: How are we eating for the climate and forests?

plus Climate Legislative Action to Take Today!

Land Uses, Reforestation & Climate: June Chapter Meeting Tuesday, June 20th @ 7pm on Zoom

This month, we are so excited to have Dr. Sailesh Rao, founder of ClimateHealers.org, and Glen Merzer, author of Food Is Climate to lead a discussion on the relationship between land use and climate.

Up until now, most climate activism has focused on reducing emissions from burning fossil fuels. If we stop burning fossil fuels today, the CO2 from past emissions will remain in the air for several decades. And this is where forests and land uses will play a crucial role. Forests are critical carbon removal and storage players. Much of the formerly forested lands— twice the size of the US — are now used for grazing and growing feed for livestocks. If we reforested or rewilded much of the land, the restored trees would remove enough CO2 to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Join this month’s chapter meeting to learn more and be a part of the conversation! RSVP here! (Pre-registration required!)

Intersectional Environmentalism — Chapter Training, Wednesday June 14 @ 4pm PT on Zoom

Climate Reality Chapter Training Series is back! This session will provide an introduction to the frameworks of intersectional environmentalism – lenses through which we can look at social and environmental justice issues more holistically. Jamiah Adams, Climate Reality's senior vice president of diversity and justice, will speak about intersectionality from a national and historical perspective. We will also talk about these topics in the context of Climate Reality chapters and how they can be applied to advance our environmental justice work.

Intersectional environmentalism is vital to the type of local climate advocacy work you and your fellow chapter members do. In recognizing how intertwined social and environmental issues are, we can learn more about how racial equity is tied to climate and environmental justice and use that knowledge to build partnerships and coalitions and advocate for equitable solutions to the climate crisis. All are welcome. Pre-register here.

Climate Action Package in the Oregon Legislature

The 2023 Oregon legislative session is ending in 2 weeks. Because some of our legislators have been missing for more than 6 weeks, many bills that would significantly benefit Oregonians and our state’s beautiful environment haven’t been able to pass. This really is heartbreaking given that our state is now running the risk of losing millions of dollars in federal funding.

⚡️BUT here’s something we all can do!! 🙏

Climate and environmental coalitions across the state have developed a strategic, comprehensive “Climate Resilience Package” (HB 3409 & HB 3630), which brings together and provides $100 million in funding for more than a dozen priority bills related to climate action. We need to call on legislative leadership and the Governor the urgent need to prioritize passage and funding for the Climate Resilience Package in the special session this summer.

Email Governor Kotek, your Oregon Senator & Representative and ask them to prioritize climate using federal funding!

Email Template:

Subject: Please prioritize passage and funding for Climate Resilience Package

Thank you for all your hard work this legislative session. As you continue to work to advance the 2023-25 biennium budget and other key legislative priorities, we strongly urge you to prioritize passage and funding for the Climate Resilience Package (HB 3409, 3630).

It cannot be overstated: Oregon is running out of time to act on climate and protect our communities. Climate-fueled extreme heat, drought, and wildfires are already devastating entire communities, threatening local economies, and worsening public health outcomes across the state. At the same time, the legislature has an opportunity to leverage unprecedented federal funding for climate, clean energy, and critical public services that will benefit the lives and livelihoods of Oregonians across the state.

The Climate Resilience Package represents essential services that will make Oregon communities safer, healthier, more resilient and affordable. By investing nearly $100 million in crucial climate action, this package will also be vital to harnessing and translating unprecedented federal investments into meaningful near-term benefits for Oregon families, workers, and local economies. Conversely, without urgent legislative action to pass and fully fund these policies, the State risks leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table to improve the lives and livelihoods of Oregonians.

For these and other reasons, I strongly urge you to prioritize passing these meaningful policies and investments as soon as possible.

Lastly, here’s a podcast recommendation from the Dallas- Fort Worth Chapter for your summer! The Green Path - Our Climate Stories is a climate story podcast that has been featured in Climate Reality Project’s newsletter and social media! Listen in and get inspired from each other’s climate stories. Available on Apple, Spotify, Google, and Amazon Music. 

That's it for this newsletter. I hope to see you next week!💚 

- Li-Ya Mar (she/her)
Chapter Communication Lead