In This Issue:
- CALENDAR: XRPDX Meetings
- UPCOMING EVENTS: April (Earth Month) Is Busy!
- EDITOR'S NOTE: The Power of Connection
- TAKE ACTION: Oppose HB 2722
- NETWORKING WITH ALLIES: Standing with OPAL to Prevent TriMet Fare Increases
- REPORT BACK: PlanetCon Outreach
- UPDATE: Art Affinity Group News
- IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Oil Train Codes
- NEW ON THE BLOG: Bad Bill, Reflections on Trash, and More
- XR MOVEMENT BUILDING: XR UK's "Big One"
- CONTACTS: WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
- NEW TO XRPDX? Sign Up for an Intro Presentation
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XRPDX Meetings
Tuesday, April 18, 6 pm: Action & Media working groups
Wednesday, April 19, 7:30 pm: Coordinating Team meeting
(Note new date & time - this month only!)
Tuesday, April 25, 6 pm: Full Chapter 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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Spring Rebellion is coming, and the new Art Affinity group is ready!
(Photo credit: Andra Vltavin)
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Upcoming Events
Thursday, April 13, 9 am: Online webinar on supporting climate action through your investments, including IRAs, retirement accounts, 401(k) accounts and more. Speakers: Green America’s Fran Teplitz; Green Century Funds’ President Leslie Samuelrich; Matt Casale, PIRG’s Environment Campaigns Director. Register here: http://bit.ly/3o3IDD2. Note: Registering for this webinar will also sign you up for Green Century's and Green America's email lists. You can unsubscribe any time.
Thursday, April 13, 10 am: Deliver Petition to Treasurer Read! Over 40,000 people have signed a petition to Treasurers around the U.S., urging them to vote YES on climate and Indigenous rights resolutions at the Annual General Meetings of banks and insurance companies. Meet 10 am at the Denny’s, 3155 Ryan Drive, Salem. This is part of our continuing support for Divest Oregon.
April 14 – 16, various times: Portland Eco Film Festival, Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd. Documentaries on the themes of rebellion, water, and beauty. For info and tickets: http://www.portlandecofilmfest.org/2023season
Monday, April 17, 4:30 pm: "No Fare Increase!" Transit Theatre Launch at Hollywood Transit Center, south of the intersection of NE 42nd Avenue and Halsey Street. We will have a practice demo and quick practice time, then head out on transit to perform. We'll return after an hour for a debrief and feedback. Info: meissun@hotmail.com
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.
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 runnionk@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!
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Editor's Note: The Power of Connection
By Janet Weil
First, a couple of "housekeeping" details. Since a lot of XRPDX's work is connecting with our allies, it makes sense to put "Networking with Allies" closer to the "top" of each newsletter. "Contacts: Who You Gonna Call" is moved down; please email info@xrpdx.org with your suggestion of local elected officials or agencies whose numbers should be added to the list. And since so much is happening this month, the next newsletter will hit your inboxes next Wednesday morning, April 19.
As I put together this week's newsletter, making connections was much on my mind. Here's some of what's been coming into my inbox from XRPDX friends and colleagues:
From Margaret Butler of the Coordinating Team:
"The Spring Rebellion was born at XR West meetings, talking with representatives of 8 XR chapters on the West Coast of the US. We are learning to work together, each with our own targets and activities, but coordinating timing and messaging. If we are to build a national movement that can impact the dire situation we face, this is a step towards that coordination and cooperation."
Our Spring Rebellion includes 3 powerful events in the final week of April. Please spread the word and show up in person for one or more of these actions (above in "Upcoming Events.")
From Michaela of the Regen Team:
"Both of our Spring Rebellion electronic billboards are now up and running. One on SE McLoughlin at Hwy 224 facing south, and the 2nd on SW Canyon at 89th Avenue facing west. Go have a look."
Let us know if you've seen our electronic message by dropping a line to info@xrpdx.org.
From Tri Sanger, Liaison to Youth Climate Activists and an outdoor education teacher:
"I’m happy to report that it seems to be a much healthier spring out here [in the forest] than fall, everything is looking lovely."
Check out the 2 nature photos by Tri in this newsletter, and their excellent blog posts linked in "New on the Blog."
The new Art Affinity group is an exciting development. I'm deeply moved by the "movement of movements" that XR UK is building in their Spring Rebellion called "The Big One"; more on that under "XR Movement Building" below.
One of my favorite novelists, E. M. Forster, ended "Howard's End" with this passage, which could stand as a message from the entire Extinction Rebellion movement:
“Only connect! ... Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height.
Live in fragments no longer.”
See you on the streets in our Spring Rebellion!
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Peaceful protectors/protesters have the right
to take action at sites of climate and environmental devastation!
(Photo credit: unknown)
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Take Action: Oppose So-Called "Domestic Terrorism" Bill!
By Diana Meisenhelter
As if we didn’t have enough to do, we climate/environmental activists and concerned citizens must now STOP Oregon House Bill HB 2772 (currently in Ways and Means Committee).
So-called “Domestic Terrorism” legislation is being proposed across the country under the guise of stopping violent, extremist attacks, but in reality these bills are being used to discredit non-violent actions. If passed into law, these bills act as obstacles to our work. They are used to vilify and incarcerate activists working for climate justice, social justice, Indigenous rights, racial justice, and environmental justice.
Please email the Co-Chairs and Co-Vice Chairs of the Oregon Joint Ways and Means committee (contact info below) and tell them this controversial bill (HB 2772) should not be brought to the full committee or legislative floors until broader public input is scheduled before the committee. Include arguments about how the bill is both unnecessary and likely to be used to try to discredit both movements and individuals working to protect the Earth.
(For more in-depth analysis, please see Diana's blog post:
https://xrpdx.org/stop-oregon-domestic-terrorism-legislation/)
Email addresses of members of the Ways and Means Committee:
Another quick action: Click here to sign a petition to state legislators, set up by our allies at Breach Collective: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/take-action-tell-legislators-to-say-no-to-bill-that-will-impede-on-right-to-protest
(But your personalized emails to the leadership of the Ways and Means Committee will be more impactful, so please do both.)
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Networking With Allies
By Diana Meisenhelter
Trimet should be Fareless! We stand with our allies OPAL and Bus Riders Unite, who view TriMet's proposed fare increase as a direct attack on our community. Decreasing the amount of cars on the road, and expanding and incentivizing mass transit, are essential to decreasing our emissions and slowing climate change. TriMet should be investing in our future, not increasing fares! Show up in person at the meeting on Wednesday, April 26, 8:45 am, Room 206 at 1120 SW 5th Avenue, or submit written testimony to runnionk@trimet.org by 5 pm on April 25. For persuasive talking points (use one, some, or all 7), please see: https://xrpdx.org/stop-trimet-from-raising-fares/
There are other, more reliable ways to obtain the revenue TriMet needs; this should not be on the backs of public transit users. Going fareless will increase ridership, reduce traffic congestion, clean up our air and slow climate change. Over 100 other cities have gone fareless.
Help stop this fare increase. Email:
Trimet at https://trimet.org/emailupdates/
and
Portland Clean Energy Fund at CleanEnergyFund@portlandoregon.gov
that now is the time to go fareless. Fares aren’t Fair! Not only because they burden low-income people, but all transit riders are helping reduce emissions to combat climate chaos as well as reducing traffic congestion and air pollution.
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Mark explaining our work to an interested participant at PlanetCon.
(Photo credit: Janet Weil)
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PlanetCon Outreach
By Janet Weil
In XRPDX's first foray into Washington County, Mark Darienzo and I tabled at PlanetCon at the PCC campus at Rock Creek, an event which combines recycling for items not accepted in the bin (#5 plastic pill bottles, electronics, metals, etc.), with info tabling by enviro/climate groups. We engaged with members of the public and volunteers for the well-organized bi-annual event put on by the Westside Planet Alliance. Mark's clever tri-fold presentation, including a comic, info on Zenith and much more, caught lots of eyeballs. (I was concerned how many people had never heard of Zenith before!)
People came by to ask us about our campaigns, pick up flyers for Spring Rebellion actions, compliment the entire Extinction Rebellion movement, tell us about upcoming events in Forest Grove and Cornelius, and sign our sign-up sheet. One elderly woman who lives on a farm expressed her despair about the climate crisis. Others talked with pleasure about their projects, and how young climate activists, such as the students tabling for the Sunset HS Environmental Club, gave them hope.
Mark and I made the rounds of the various tables, connecting with people working on right-to-repair, re-use, and recreation. All this, plus we both came away with free items from the "Really Free Table," which was generously stocked with great stuff from community members.
We're planning lots of community outreach actions in the coming months. For more info and to volunteer, please email info@xrpdx.org.
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Posters for the upcoming POP GOES THE FOSSIL FUEL BUBBLE action!
(Photo credit: Andra Vltavín)
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Art Affinity Group News
By Andra Vltavin
XArt (name pending approval) is an art affinity group of XRPDX. We are a team of artists and thespians interested in putting our skills to work for climate activism. While we do accept requests from other groups within and those affiliated with Extinction Rebellion, we also like to plan and coordinate our own artistic rebellions. We do our best work with a six-week lead time. We love to be part of the brainstorming process to give you a unified artistic message.
If you would like some artistic input, you can come to one of our planning meetings (the next one is on Zoom on April 18 at 5:30 pm.) Email Andra at avltavin@gmail.com with requests or for more information.
We recently put some posters together for the upcoming POP! GOES THE FOSSIL FUEL BUBBLE action on April 24. Several members of our team will also be participating in a street theater skit for this action.
 Emily and I are also hard at work making fabric banners for the April 26th OPAL action to stop Trimet from raising their fares. Fearless climate leaders go fareless! (see in-progress photo).
Coming in May: video about XR affinity groups and more!
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In Case You Missed It
Zenith Oil Train Codebreaker:
Thanks to Breach Collective’s research and images below, we can tell what’s in the oil trains, often with 100 cars or more rolling through the Columbia River Gorge, Portland neighborhoods, and the CEI Hub on the Willamette River, to the Zenith Energy transshipment facility. Thanks to Commissioner Dan Ryan for making a secret deal with Houston-based Zenith a mere two days before the Oregon Supreme Court would have denied (by refusing to hear it) Zenith’s third and final appeal, those trains are still a danger to public health and safety — for how much longer? To see codes for different types of fuels running through our region, city and Willamette River waterfront, please click here:
https://xrpdx.org/zenith-oil-train-codebreaker/
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Fruiting bodies of the forest's communications network: fungi!
(Photo credit: Tri Sanger)
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New On The XR Blog!
BOOK REVIEW: Fighting in a World on Fire
https://xrpdx.org/book-review-fighting-in-a-world-on-fire/
Excerpt:
Fighting in a World on Fire is an adaptation, for a younger audience, of Andreas Malm’s How to Blow up a Pipeline by Jimmy and Llewyn Whipps.
Stop TriMet from Raising Fares!
https://xrpdx.org/stop-trimet-from-raising-fares/
Excerpt:
While much of the country is making efforts to expand transit and remove barriers for access, the TriMet Board is opting for a regressive measure.
Oppose Oregon "Domestic Terrorism" Legislation
https://xrpdx.org/stop-oregon-domestic-terrorism-legislation/
Excerpt:
“There has to be a way to protect infrastructure while also supporting citizens to express their voices. I urge you to include voices traditionally most vulnerable to all manner of injustices in the process of crafting such protection.” – from letter opposing HB 2772 by XRPDX member Jennifer Krauel
We Have Always Had a Trash Problem
https://xrpdx.org/we-have-always-had-a-trash-problem/
Excerpt:
Plastic bags and water bottles may be the detritus we see the most today, but we’ve been breaking things, leaving things behind, or simply throwing things away for thousands of years. In Greco-Roman times it became tradition to break your picnic wear and leave it behind at these places, the original disposable plates. And so we’re left with two thousand-year-old trash still with us today.
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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Without XR in the UK, there would be no XRPDX.
The Extinction Rebellion hourglass/timepiece symbol has gone around the world!
(Photo credit: pexels.com)
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XR Movement-Building: XR UK's "Big One"
By Janet Weil
Extinction Rebellion in its birthplace - Britain - is planning "The Big One," a mobilization in London of up to 100,000 XR rebels and allies, April 21 - 24! As they say on their website:
"The invitation is for everybody to Unite to Survive at ‘The Big One’ – a four day action from the 21st to the 24th April 2023, where people from all groups and movements, not just XR, will gather throughout Westminster and at the Houses of Parliament."
This audacious coming together of the "movement of movements" has been planned for months, and currently has a list of over 70 supporting organizations. The "Unite to Survive" manifesto makes the rationale clear: "The age-old struggle for the inclusion of all in our collective decision making is taking on a new urgency as we experience the first weather related disasters and food shortages here in the UK, as well as mass impoverishment and the breakdown of our health and social services."
XR UK uploads inspiring content to their youtube channel all the time: https://www.youtube.com/@ExtinctionRebellionUK
There will be livestreams of the actions during the "Big One."
Solidarity to our UK rebel siblings and allies!
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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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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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The trillium is also known as the wood lily.
Let's protect what we love.
(Photo credit: Tri Sanger)
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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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