3 results for tag: jobs

What’s old is new: opposition edition

By Danny Schaffer More than 40 years after its passage, the bottle bill remains one of Oregon’s most celebrated laws – elevating the state’s image as a national leader for environmental policy. The bill is also an enduring source of pride for the Oregon Environmental Council, which played a key role in its passage. As a fledgling organization, launched just five years earlier, the bottle bill’s success solidified OEC’s reputation as an effective voice for principled yet pragmatic environmental policies. The bill, not surprisingly, was bitterly opposed by the beverage and container industries which dreaded that it would become a model ...

400 Oregon Businesses Call for Climate Action

350 is a significant number when it comes to climate. In the words of Dr. James Hansen, one of the most respected climatologists in the world,  "CO2 will need to be reduced from [current levels] to at most 350 ppm to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed." The current level at which we're pumping CO2 into the atmosphere is not feasible if we are to sustain a healthy and stable climate. And right now the ratio of carbon dioxide molecules to all other molecules in the atmosphere is 403 ppm, well above Dr. Hansen's benchmark of 350 ppm. What does this mean exactly? It signifies we're releasing too much carbon—m...

Renewable Energy Powers Oregon’s Job Growth

Guest blog by Sophia Aguilera, student, University of Portland “There are no jobs in this economy!” These are the dreaded words we all fear. But what if we were to tell you that you might simply be looking in the wrong place? While jobs in fossil fuels are plummeting, opportunities for good, family-wage jobs in the renewable energy sector are growing. Oregon is rich in the resources needed for the production of renewable energy, and thousands of Oregonians are already employed in the growing clean energy economy. Home to more than 130 wind and solar companies and suppliers, Oregon is an undeniable leader in green jobs. [1] Strategic statew...