Category: Events

Civic education forums, luncheons, social events

Reducing Portland’s Carbon Footprint – March 13

Reducing Portland’s Carbon Footprint

Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30),

Multnomah County Board Room, 501 SE Hawthorne, Portland, OR

Free and open to the public.

How can our city, county and residents reduce carbon emissions and limit our impact on climate change?

Did you know that the City of Portland and Multnomah County have a Climate Action Plan that provides a roadmap for cutting our carbon emissions? If successful, by 2050 we will cut our carbon emissions by 80 percent. There is a role for everyone: government, businesses, and individuals.

The League of Women Voters of Portland will present an educational panel discussion to explore how Portland is working to reduce its carbon footprint. The City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability will give us an overview of the plan, including the goals and our progress so far. The Northwest Earth Institute will explain what individuals can do to lower their personal carbon footprint, and will offer opportunities for involvement in Earth Day activities and beyond. Local businesses will discuss what they are doing to thrive and grow while lowering the carbon footprint of their businesses.

If you are interested in what our city is doing to reduce our carbon footprint and what this will mean to you, please come to our March Civic Education Panel Discussion or listen online. The program will be recorded by MetroEast Community Media for rebroadcast after the program and will be available on the League of Women Voters website, lwvpdx.org. Funding for the recording is provided by the Multnomah Bar Foundation.

Parking is available on the street. Multnomah County Building is easily accessed by public transportation. Trimet options include bus lines 4, 6, 10, 14, 15 and the Portland Streetcar.

See More LWV News

 

Day at the Legislature! February 23

The League of Women Voters of Oregon invites you to a program about what’s happening in the current Oregon Legislative Session and what outcomes will affect you.

Friday, Feb. 23, 9:30 am-2 pm
Oregon State Library, Rooms 102 and 103
250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301

Advance registration is required on or before Friday, February 16.

Highlights:

Angela Crowley-Koch of the Oregon Environmental Council will speak about the Clean Energy Jobs Bill, Allison McIntosh of Neighborhood Partnerships will speak about housing issues and Legislative Fiscal Officer Ken Rocco will speak about the state budget. State Treasurer Tobias Read, Rep. Barbara Smith Warner and Rep. Carl Wilson will also join us. Registration begins at 9:30, lunch at noon. Morning coffee and pastries included in ticket price.
Click the red “REGISTER NOW” below to register online or print and mail a registration form from the same link.

Advance registration required. Click below to register.
REGISTER TODAY!

More LWV News

Portland’s Pressing Problems

Israel Bayer, recent “Street Roots” executive director, and Anna Griffin, Oregon Public Broadcasting news director discussed “Portland’s Pressing Problems,” at the Portland League’s annual Media Luncheon on Jan. 16. League member James Ofsink moderated the discussion.

Problems Bayer and Griffin identified included losing our young “brain trust,” the lack of a long-term vision with one-term mayors, the opioid crisis, climate change, an overloaded foster care system, and major needs for adequate affordable housing, sustainable green infrastructure, better training for police, and innovative ideas for raising revenue.

For our affordable housing crisis, the speakers discussed increasing the Housing Trust Fund. They also said city planners must consider the needs of the future— rather than just today’s needs — and the values of young people. They agreed that more density is coming, representing the way younger people want to live and the values of the tech business community, “so let’s do it right.”

They suggested changing our current form of city government — the last of this structure among large American cities (and something LWVPDX is in the process of studying).

Finally, Bayer and Griffin expressed their hopes for addressing Portland’s problems with a new generation of potential leaders, coordinated non-governmental advocacy, and new sources of revenue. Portland, they said, is still a “young city” where we can learn, innovate, and find smart solutions.

More LWV News

February 14 Program: What’s Happening at Hanford?

Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2-4 pm

LWV of Clackamas Program

Oswego Heritage House, 398 10th Street, Lake Oswego

Free and open to the public

Ken Niles, Assistant Director for Nuclear Safety of the Oregon Department of Energy, will speak about the history and ongoing cleanup of stockpiled radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Site — currently the most contaminated nuclear site in the country.

Niles manages Oregon’s involvement in cleanup at Hanford, the safe transport of radioactive material through Oregon, and emergency preparedness in the event of a nuclear accident or petroleum shortage. He currently chairs the Western Interstate Energy Board’s High-Level Waste Committee, is the State Liaison Officer to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and represents Oregon on the Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-level Radioactive Waste Management, the National Governors’ Association Federal Facility Task Force, the State and Tribal Government Working Group, and the Hanford Advisory Board.

More LWV News

Learn More about Homelessness

Our February 13th Voices of the Homeless event is a panel discussion by people who have experienced houselessness at some point in their lives. They will share their perspectives on how they responded and what civic strategies have been helpful in getting people back on their feet. If you have time to do some reading in advance, you might want to read The Residue Years, A Novel, by Mitchell S. Jackson (which takes place in Portland) and Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond. Both books have been “Everybody Reads” selections in years past.

If you don’t have time to read a book, you might want to watch the 40 minute video produced by Transition Projects about Surviving Sexual Violence on the Street, which focuses on the extra challenges confronting women who are houseless. League of Women Voters of Portland Co-President Doreen Binder worked at Transition Projects during the time this video was produced, and she will moderate our panel on February 13. The link to the video is: https://archive.org/details/FINALPRINT

More LWV News