The Clean Grid Explained: Key Terms for Understanding How Electricity Moves in Oregon

image of high voltage transmission lines in front of a pretty blue sky and fluffy clouds.
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 ...

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2024 Legislative Debrief Video – Right to Repair Becomes Law

text reads "2024 legislative debrief -- featured guest: Senator Sollman" thumbnail image is of thomas baker and senator sollman
On May 6, we hosted our 2024 Virtual Legislative Debrief. The conversation featured Oregon Senator Janeen Sollmon. With her insights, we covered a wide range of topics — from last session’s environmental victories (like Right to Repair and Healthy Homes), to big picture conversations about the trajectory of Oregon’s climate future. On the Right to Repair legislation, Senator Sollman spoke in detail on what it took to pass the historic consumer electronics policy – now the strongest in the nation. She also outlined what the new law does. (Full video below....

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Building Climate Resilience with Better Buildings

Gazing at the downtown skyline of Portland? Rushing through PDX to catch a flight? Lost in the Silicon Forest? You probably aren’t thinking about how to reduce climate emissions. But Oregon’s large office, high-tech and public buildings are one of Oregon’s best opportunities to meet our climate goals by addressing our second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. That’s because the overall “carbon footprint” of those buildings can be huge. Making the steel and concrete to build them is energy intensive. Construction equipment, the choice of materials ...

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Checklist: DIY Home Heat Pump Maintenance

Woman adjusting heat pump
Like all heating and cooling systems, proper maintenance helps heat pumps operate at optimal efficiency.

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New Initiatives for Safe, Affordable, Climate-Friendly Homes and Buildings

architect in hardhat working on wiring
The 2023 legislative session presents a vital opportunity to make progress in achieving our climate goals and protect families and communities from ever-worsening climate impacts. OEC is excited to support a “Building Resilience” policy package this session that will cut pollution and increase the climate resilience of our homes and buildings   Recognizing the vital need to transform and expand Oregon’s building stock in a way that maximizes climate, public health, affordability, and job creation benefits for Oregon, the 2022 legislature established the ...

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Eco-Healthy Homes: safer children’s spaces at Hacienda CDC

Many people these days are familiar with the fact that products for the home, from toys to cleaning products, can contain toxic chemicals. This fact alone is cause for concern. But, did you know that women, children, people of color and people living on lower incomes are at a greater risk of toxic chemical exposure?  Or that access to consumer safety information may not be available to non-english speakers? Or that, because of their small size, kids are much more vulnerable to the health impacts of exposure to toxic products?  In 2020, OEC partnered with Hacienda CDC, ...

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No time to burn: let’s keep the future of gas short in Oregon 

A sign about NW Natural at the Youth Climate March in 2022 for a Fossil Free Future
By: Nora Apter, the Climate Program Director for Oregon Environmental Council. Greer Ryan, Oregon Clean Buildings Policy Manager with Climate Solutions. When it comes to global warming pollution, we’ve heard a lot about the dangers of too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But did you know that methane, the primary ingredient in so-called “natural” gas, is approximately 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere over a 20 year timeframe? Fossil “natural” gas is far from being the safe, clean product that gas utilities ...

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Heat Pumps: They Heat. They Cool. They burn no fossil fuel.

Heat Pumps are a relatively new way to heat and cool indoor spaces. There’s a variety of different models that can work for apartments, offices, and for single-family homes. Three of our staff sat down for a conversation about the options for single-family homes.* OEC’s Deputy Director of Philanthropy, Teke Dillender is considering a heat pump for her home. Joel Schoening, OEC Director of Communications is about to have a heat pump installed and Sara Wright, OEC’s Transportation Program Director, already has a heat pump. Here’s our chat.    Teke Dillender ...

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Hold the wrapping paper! Most of that gift-wrap is not eco-friendly nor recyclable

It is that time of year again—no matter what holiday you celebrate, or what religion you subscribe to, it is difficult to be unaffected by the enthusiasm of the season of giving and reflection. It is predicted that the average American will spend $942 on holiday gifts this year. It is no secret that as consumerism spreads, landfills also fill up, and the Earth suffers.   According to Stanford University, Americans throw away 25% more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year's holiday period than any other time of year. And most of that holiday wrap is not eco-friendly ...

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Top Ten Achievements of 2020-2021

Oregon Environmental Council works year-round to protect Oregon's water, air, land, and communities. This year was a special one. We made Oregon a better place through our participation in state-wide coalitions, tireless bird-dogging of rulemaking processes, deft strategy in the legislative session, and hosting welcoming educational programs. This work is is a reflection of our donors. Take a moment to revel with us in these outstanding accomplishments. Then consider supporting this work, so we can add to our accomplishments in the days, weeks, and months ahead. 1. Passed ...

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