17 results for author: Sam Pape
Agrivoltaics: Farming For the Future
In 2014, Chad Higgins – Associate Professor at Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences – would perform the same daily lunchtime ritual on campus: He would take his sack lunch and stroll down to Oak Creek to eat, taking in the natural beauty, before heading back to his office to dive back into his research on wind turbines.
On his route, he would walk past six acres of former pasture land where the college had set up about a megawatt-and-a-half of solar. Over time, he began to notice ecological changes to the landscape.
“The grass under the solar panels stayed greener later into the season,” says Higgins, “and the ...
Smoke and Heat: A Deadly Climate Combo Unfolding in Oregon
Oregon’s wildfire situation has gone from bad to worse.
Just a few days into August, this year has officially set the record for most acres burned in a single Oregon wildfire season. We’re currently sitting at over 2 million acres burned, surpassing the previous record set in 2024. Sadly, the fires are still far from contained, and Oregon’s available resources to fight them are spread thin – and there are still months left to go of wildfire season. Our hearts are with each and every Oregonian impacted by the wildfires, and all the firefighters putting their lives on the line to contain them.
Now, two additional factors have entered the ...
Good Wine, Healthy Planet: How Soter Vineyards is Moving Sustainable Viticulture Forward
In 1965 – just three years before the founding of Oregon Environmental Council – the first Pinot Noir variety was planted in the Willamette Valley by David Lett. At the time, Oregon wine was commercially non-existent; the climate in the region, skeptics thought, was far too cold and wet to produce the quality grapes necessary for quality wine. Lett didn’t know just how wrong his viticultural experiment would prove them to be.
A lot has changed in the 60 years that followed Lett’s first harvest. For one, the industry has unquestionably boomed – going from zero vineyards in the early 60s to over a thousand today, producing some of the ...
An Interview With Roost 2020 PDX Director, Irene Tejaratchi Hess
Just as nature inspires us to create, the things we create inspire us to get closer to nature.
This is at the heart of why OEC is a proud sponsor of this year’s Portland EcoFilm Festival. Hosted at the Hollywood Theatre, this annual event is an opportunity for filmmakers around the world to showcase their work – all centered on the environments we live in, the people who live in them, and the deep relationship between the two.
For this year’s festival, OEC is sponsoring a special screening of More Than Human, a collection of short films “celebrating kinship with our more than human relatives.” We sat down with Portland-based director, ...
Remembering Stonewall in 2025
56 years ago this month, history was written outside a small bar in Lower Manhattan known as the Stonewall Inn. At the time, discriminatory raids at Stonewall and other LGBTQ-friendly establishments were routine. But on June 28, 1969, patrons had enough. Over 500 demonstrators gathered in the streets that night to stand up to the systematic oppression of marginalized communities—and the following night, that number nearly doubled.
The Stonewall uprising marked a turning point in the gay rights movement in the United States, and around the world. It brought the LGBTQ community’s longtime oppression into the spotlight, and opened the door for a ...
New Staff Q&A: Ben Brint
OEC is excited to announce our new Senior Climate Program Director, Ben Brint!
Ben brings a deep knowledge of climate policy and a wealth of experience in a variety of sectors to the role. After working at various tech companies in the private sector—including at Lyft, where he supported a first-of-its-kind electric vehicle ride sharing program—he found his calling for climate advocacy, and returned to school to get his Masters of Public Policy from UC Berkeley. He is dedicated to propelling OEC's climate initiatives forward, and protecting our state from environmental threats for generations to come.
Look out for Ben's work on climate ...
Celebrate Earth Month with BottleDrop Give!
Happy Earth Month! Obviously, this is our favorite time of year at OEC. It’s an opportunity to go on a favorite hike, connect with your community, and reflect on the beauty and bounty of our one and only planet.
However, this season isn’t just about celebration: it’s also about looking ahead, and standing up for the future of our home. With ever-mounting threats from the federal administration, and the impacts of climate change continuing to escalate, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. But that doesn’t mean we're ready to throw up our hands and give up: it means now is the time to act. With all of us working together, our collective actions ...
The Clean Grid Explained: Key Terms for Understanding How Electricity Moves in Oregon
Clean energy is the backbone for reaching our climate goals and helping to cut climate pollution in buildings, transportation, and industry. In the upcoming 2025 legislative session, OEC will collaborate with partners to keep moving forward on our clean energy goals. As climate-fueled disasters like wildfires, scorching heat, and drought in our own backyard become increasingly hard to ignore, it’s more important than ever that we accelerate our progress.
Enter: The electricity grid. You’ve probably heard the term – though you’re not alone if you don’t know what it really means. Broadly speaking, the grid is the entire ...
Are Electric UTVs the Future of Agriculture?
What comes to mind when you hear the word “EV”? Sleek, shiny sedans plugged into charging stations across the urban landscape? Monochromatic motor vehicles whirring down the highway in near silence? The clean future of commuter culture?
If “rugged terrain,” “agriculture”, and “farm work” aren’t words that spring to mind, you aren’t alone. But OEC – and plenty of others – envision a future for electric vehicles that spans far beyond that city-centric view of them that so many of us hold.
Meet: the Polaris Ranger XP Kinetic. From a distance, these enclosed four-wheelers might look like the average UTV you’d find on any ...
New Staff Q&A: Crystal Weston
OEC is excited to introduce our new Environmental Health Program Director, Crystal Weston!
Crystal hails from California originally, but has been a proud Oregonian since 2003. Throughout her time here, she has worked in all corners of the public health sphere – from the Oregon Health Authority, where she addressed nitrate contamination, to the University of Oregon, where she focused on substance abuse prevention and harm reduction. Her wide-ranging experience in identifying solutions to environmental health concerns in our state make her the perfect person for the role at OEC.
Look out for Crystal’s work to address PFAS (aka “forever ...