Page 3 - Locus Focus News Today

There is no question that we need to cut our carbon emissions substantially and quickly in order to prevent our planet from becoming uninhabitable. While the move to electrify transportation is an obvious step toward decarbonization, the fossil fuel industry has other ideas. In particular the promotion of renewable diesel and biofuels. On this episode of Locus Focus talk with

Last spring Zenith Energy, the Houston-based fossil fuel company who has been operating a massive oil-by-rail operation in Portland Harbor, met secretly with staff from city commissioner Dan Ryan's and Carmen Rubio's offices, to hammer out a backroom deal that granted the company a necessary permit to continue its operation. Now the ball is in the court of the Oregon

Before the Hanford Nuclear Reservation was created, since time immemorial this extraordinary bend in the Columbia River was a vital and sacred place to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the Wanapum. During World War II, these lands were snatched from the tribes to produce

For years Portland has been renowned for its vast urban canopy but in recent years that canopy is shrinking. As the climate crisis tightens its noose around our communities, trees are one of the most important allies we have to stave off the worst impacts from a heating planet. On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with Micah Meskel, Interim Conservation Director with

In late August 2021, after months of grassroots pressure, Portland City Council rejected Zenith Energy's Land Use Compatibility Statement (LUCS) that was required before the company could get a Clean Air permit from Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Despite Zenith's numerous appeals it looked very likely that its days as an oil-by-rail facility were numbered.

Once Oregon and Portland were environmental leaders but recently many of the city and state's noteworthy projects and policies find themselves on a potential chopping block. On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with Bob Sallinger, Urban Conservation director with Willamette Riverkeeper, about proposals at the state and city level to gut wetland, flood plain and tree code

At the end of this month the World Forestry Center is sponsoring a conference called “Who Will Own the Forests.” For forest conservationists that’s a good question. On this episode of Locus Focus, we talk with Alex Budd, Alliance organizer for the Pacific NW Forest Climate Alliance, about how to shift the emphasis back to putting forests over profits and maximizing the urgency

Just as we are realizing how important trees are for climate resilience, carbon storage and mitigating heat islands, political leaders are proposing to do away with tree codes and other forest protections. On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with Brenna Bell, Forest Climate Manager with 350PDX, about how to shift the emphasis back to putting forests over profits and

Without the Salmon there would be no Pacific Northwest as we know it. Yet since 1991, most of the salmon runs in the Northwest have been listed as threatened or endangered. In 2005, I produced a documentary called Salmonlands, that takes us on a journey into the land of salmon. Now 18 years later much has changed yet much stays the same.

  This program originally aired on July 10. 2023