In This Issue:
- CALENDAR: XRPDX Meetings
- NEW TO XRPDX? Sign Up for an Intro Presentation
- UPCOMING EVENTS: April 20, 21, 24, 26, 29
- EDITOR'S NOTE: Heading Out
- TAKE ACTION: Stop Freeway Widening
- DONATE: We Get by with a Little Help from Our Friends
- NETWORKING WITH ALLIES: Oregon Treasury Investment Failures
- IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: "Doom or Bloom" Speech
- NEW ON THE BLOG: Take Action, Write an LTE
- XR MOVEMENT BUILDING: XR Is Everywhere
- CONTACTS: WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
- SPREAD THE WORD!
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Getting the word out at Monday's (April 17) Transit Theater action
at the Hollywood Transit Center in NE PDX. TriMet is planning a 12% fare raise!
(Photo credit: Diana Meisenhelter)
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XRPDX Meetings
Wednesday, April 19, 7:30 pm: Coordinating Team meeting
(Note new date & time - this month only!)
Tuesday, April 25, 6 pm: Full Chapter meeting
Tuesday, May 2, 6 pm: Action/media meeting
Thursday, May 4, 7 pm: Coordinating team meeting
Tuesday, May 9, 6 pm: Action/media meeting
Every Wednesday, 2:30 pm, Regenerative Culture working group meetings.
Please RSVP with your name and email by an hour prior to whichever meeting you want to attend, to receive zoom info.
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New to Extinction Rebellion? Get to Know Us!
New to Extinction Rebellion? Here's your form to request an introductory presentation and discussion. Hope to see you on Zoom soon!
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How much longer will these dangerous oil trains going to Zenith's facility
threaten our region and city?!
(Photo credit: Janet Weil)
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Upcoming Events
Thursday, April 20, 6 pm Info Tabling; 6:30 pm Panel: "Rumble on the River," the 6th in a series of community forums on the ongoing pollution and catastrophic risks of Zenith Energy and the entire Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub, and what we can DO about them. Free event at St. Johns Church, 8044 N. Richmond Avenue. Speakers: Cager Clabaugh, ILWU, Local 40; Sharon Meieran, Multnomah County Commissioner (District 1); Sarah Taylor, Linnton Neighborhood Association President; Yumei Wang, Affiliate Faculty member and Senior Advisor, PSU. Info: 503-705-1943.
Friday, April 21, 10 am: Youth Climate Strike. Gather at 10 am at the Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE MLK Blvd. March steps off at 11 am and goes to downtown. All ages welcome. As we have for years, XRPDX rebels will be there in support!
Monday, April 24, Noon: Spring Rebellion Action #1! Meet at Pioneer Courthouse Square at the Umbrella Man statue. Let’s pop the fossil fuel bubble, focused on the banks funding the climate catastrophe!
Wednesday, April 26, 8:45 am: Spring Rebellion Action #2! TriMet meeting on raising fares in Room 206 at 1120 SW 5th Avenue. Testify to oppose the fare increases in person at the meeting, or submit written testimony to boardtestimony@trimet.org by 5 pm on April 25. To testify virtually on April 26, register early by going to: https://trimet.org/meetings/board/pdfs/TriMet%20Board%20Meeting%20Public%20Join%20Guide.pdf. For more info and talking/writing points, see Diana Meisenhelter's blog post: https://xrpdx.org/stop-trimet-from-raising-fares/
Saturday, April 29, Noon: Spring Rebellion Action #3! Shut Down Zenith! Gather at 5501 NW Front Street. Stop the bomb trains, Save the People, Heal the Earth! Music, speakers, and more.
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Snow in April? I can handle it!
Thanks for the memories, XRPDX!
(Photo credit: John Weil)
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Editor's Note: Heading Out
By Janet Weil
"Love and rage" - the Extinction Rebellion closing motto.
Tonight, as I am editing the XRPDX newsletter for the last time, I am filled with memories and that wistful feeling of saying good-bye to people and places dear to my heart. It's been an intense few years. Climate inaction and gaslighting by local government! COVID! Wildfires and Smoke Apocalypse! Homelessness and addiction crises! 2021 Heat Dome! Manchin's Dirty Side Deal! (Which XRPDX played a part in stopping.) City Council's backroom deal with Zenith!
Amidst all that and more, my time in XRPDX has brought me challenges, camaraderie, opportunities to meet wonderful people and build my skills, and the delightful zest of taking action for climate justice. “Justice is what love looks like in public," to quote Professor Cornel West, and even calling for justice in public can contain love's depth and urgency, as well as the rage we all feel.
Thanking everyone I've worked with in XRPDX would make this a very long newsletter, so I'll just say: please feel my affection and respect for you all! Stay strong and keep the XRPDX banner raised high!
Fairly soon, I'll be heading south to the austere beauty of the Coachella Valley/Cahuilla Land. Plenty to do there to help protect what I love. See the photo at the very bottom of the newsletter.
If you've been waiting to get involved, please wait no longer! Your unique skills and passion for climate justice are needed. Come to an action or a meeting, and find your place in Extinction Rebellion.
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Take Action: Don't Widen I-205, ODOT!
By Diana Meisenhelter
Freeway-pushing ODOT is at it again! Please write to demand an Environmental Impact Study for the proposed I-205 expansion. Go to nomorefreewayspdx.com/i205expansion/ for more info and the quick and easy form to send your message to ODOT.
Talking/Writing Points: Adding 14 miles of lanes would add 1.2 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2050 - which goes against Oregon's carbon reduction goals. Cost: $515 million or maybe more; ODOT is (in)famous for cost overruns. These funds could be used for public transit and the 700+ bridges needing seismic upgrade in Oregon.
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Wet'suwet'en people oppose the Coastal GasLink Project -
which the State of Oregon is invested in!
(Photo credit: Katie Wilson)
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Networking With Allies
From Susan Evans
Divest Oregon’s Big Report Launch: Oregon Treasury’s ESG Investment Failure! PERS (state pension funds) fossil fuel investments fund human rights violations, community destruction, and climate chaos. Coastal GasLink, Zenith Energy, ConocoPhillips' Willow Project, and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline are included in the investments PERS beneficiaries are supporting. Learn what the Oregon Treasury is investing in and what you can do about it: Wednesday, April 19, 2 pm. Here's the Zoom Link. Eve Saint, from the Wet’suwet’en affected by the Coastal GasLink project that the Oregon Treasury funds, will share what this project means to her community. Frontline activists opposing Zenith Energy will be speaking about their concerns.
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Getting the word out takes some buck$.
(Photo credit: Janet Weil)
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Please Donate!
By Janet Weil
"I get by with a little help from my friends." - Beatles hit song
We're planning lots of community outreach actions in the coming months; in fact, we've already started. Below is a photo of Diana Meisenhelter at a recent showing of the "Rebellion" documentary "Finite" at the Hollywood Theater. (Email her at meissun@hotmail.com if you can help with flyering at farmers markets or other spots.) None of us active XRPDX-ers is paid for our work, we don't have membership dues, and we keep our expenses down. But, our website and flyers and banners and tabling fees and more -- they do take money. If you can, please donate online: https://xrpdx.org/donate/ or make out your check to XRPDX and mail to 11918 SE Division Street, #105, Portland, OR 97266. Much appreciated!
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In Case You Missed It
Did you know that the Willamette River was once a braided river? Do you know about the "Zenith 5"? Do you remember when we pledged to "choose to bloom" right at the Zenith Energy gates - or do you wish you had been there?
Well, here you go - a "braided" speech from June 4, 2022 by Zenith 5 defendants Jan Zuckerman and Margaret Butler:
https://xrpdx.org/zenith-5-defendants-jan-zuckerman-and-margaret-butler-remarks-at-zenith/
Excerpt:
Zenith’s shiny new infrastructure is deceiving. The tanks where they store their oil were built in 1957, when Chevron used this facility for mostly asphalt. After many different owners, and numerous spills and toxic releases, that didn’t stop the DEQ from giving owner Arc Logistics a permit to expand the terminal’s rail unloading capacity, moving dangerous crude oil through our neighborhoods.
Community members, many of whom are here today, protested and blocked trains to try to stop owner Arc Logistics from operating at higher levels than their permit allowed. In 2017, when Zenith Energy bought the facility, they continued this legacy, quadrupling its rail unloading capacity, and transporting, by rail, tar sands and other crude oil from Canada and the Bakken fields in North Dakota, for shipment to Asia and other ports.
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Yes, we blocked the gates of Zenith Energy! June 4, 2022.
(Photo credit: Janet Weil)
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New On The XR Blog!
It's Time for Our Spring Rebellion!
https://xrpdx.org/its-time-for-our-spring-rebellion/
Excerpt:
XRPDX and allies will be taking to the streets to say it’s time to transition from doom to bloom.
(Note: please use this handy link to post to your own social media accounts, or share via email.)
Spring Rebellion Sample Letter to the Editor
https://xrpdx.org/spring-rebellion-sample-letter-to-editor/
Excerpt:
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said on March 20 we must stop new oil, gas, and coal development now. Global temperatures will stop rising if we slash heat-trapping emissions, starting now. Here in Portland and Oregon, our public institutions and private corporations must step up to the task.
Evergreen:
How To: Write a Letter to the Editor!
https://xrpdx.org/write-a-letter-to-the-editor/
If published, we'll post it to our blog (send to info@xrpdx.org).
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Extinction Rebellion is everywhere - including on the radio airwaves.
(Image credit: XR Los Angeles)
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XR Movement-Building: XR Is Everywhere
By Janet Weil
Calling all radioheads! Extinction Rebellion in Los Angeles has a weekly radio show, every Thursday at 4 pm! Listen live, or catch the program later online at KPFK.org and XRLA.org. The most recent program is about Scientist Rebellion, featuring scientists Rose Abramoff and Peter Kalmus.
Want to know what other West Coast XR groups are up to?
XR in the San Francisco Bay Area: https://extinctionrebellionsfbay.org/
XR in Seattle: https://xrseattle.org/
Complete list of XR groups in the US: https://extinctionrebellion.us/local-groups/
XR UK uploads inspiring content to their youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ExtinctionRebellionUK
There will be livestreams of the actions during the "Big One."
Here's a 2-minute video calling everyone to turn out for the 4 days of rebellion, April 21 -24: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uotVSJkGjmM
Overview of the global Extinction Rebellion movement:
https://rebellion.global/news/#blog
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Contacts: Who You Gonna Call?
City of Portland:
Commissioner Rene Gonzalez: 503-823-4151
Commissioner Mingus Mapps: 503-823-4682
Commissioner Carmen Rubio: 503-823-3008
Commissioner Dan Ryan: 503-823-3589
Mayor Wheeler's Comment Line: 503-823-4127
Multnomah County Commissioners:
Jessica Vega Pederson, County Chair: 503-988-3308
Sharon Meieran, District 1: 503-988-5220
Susheela Jayapal, District 2: 503-988-5219
Diane Rosenbaum, District 3: 503- 988-5217
Lori Stegmann, District 4: 503-988-5213
Governor Tina Kotek: 503-378-4582
Handy Tip: Put these phone numbers in your cell phone!
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The eerie beauty of the Joshua Tree, also threatened by climate change.
Let's protect what we love.
(Photo credit: Janet Weil)
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Spread the word!
If someone forwarded you this email, please visit https://xrpdx.org/sign-up-form/ to sign up to receive XRPDX newsletters. If you're already signed up, please forward this to someone - help us spread the word. As a reminder, here are XR US's 4 Demands and XR's 10 principles. Also be sure to follow us on social media! - Janet Weil, Editor
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