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Until recently very few Portlanders spoke about, let along fretted over the
Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub along the North Reach of the
Willamette River. But in the last couple years it has become more of a public
concern because of the inherent danger of stori...
For decades the six mile long tank farm along the north reach of the
Willamette River, known as the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub (CEI hub),
has lurked with its toxic stew of liquid fossil fuels and chemicals,
seemingly unnoticed by most Portlanders. Except for its ...
"Hope dies last" is a concept popularized by Jessie de la Cruz, a
farmworker activist with the United Farm Workers. It refers to the enduring
human spirit and capacity for resilience, envisioning creative solutions and
persisting even when facing dire circumstances like ...
This program first aired on March 31, 2025
Northwest Natural Gas's Smart Energy program advertises itself as a way for
customers to “offset” their natural gas emissions by funding projects
that the company says “reduce, or prevent the release of, greenhouse
gases.” But ...
Floodplains are our watershed's natural buffer from the impacts of flooding
as they absorb and filter water. But when floodplains are developed, we
permanently lose those ecosystem benefits. In Oregon, many of our floodplains
are developed for industrialized uses, which ...
This program aired originally on December 23, 2024
As we transition to a truly renewable world two of the things we need less of
are more and larger server farms and nuclear power reactors to feed them
electricity. Yet that is the plan being hatched by Microsoft, Amazo...
This program aired originally on May 12, 2025
While many of us are worrying about how the melting polar ice caps are a
warning of climate catastrophes ahead, for others melting ice is turning
historical dreams of a navigable Arctic into reality and reshaping rivalries ...
This program aired originally on January 27, 2025
As we confront the existential crisis of climate chaos there are two paths we
can take. We can make dramatic changes that meaningfully reduce carbon
emissions. Or we can accept the fossil fuel industry’s self-serving cl...
Portland now has a new form of government and a revamped city council that in
many respects represents the new vision that created this change in our city
government. But many tensions remain between some of the city council
visionaries and an established way of thinking...
This program aired originally on June 2, 2025
In these disturbing times as we watch democracy crumble and wonder whom the
oligarchs will go after next, how do we ground ourselves in the work we need
to keep doing? First they come for the immigrants, then international ...
For years the fossil fuel industry has set its sights on Port Westward, just
outside Clatskanie, Oregon, where there is a small industrial park along the
Columbia Estuary. Port Westward has very little industrial development on
what is primarily highly productive agricul...
In a growing number of communities across the United States, gas utilities,
supported by state legislatures, labor unions, environmental groups and other
stakeholders, are exploring Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) to decarbonize
buildings and create clean energy jobs. TEN...
This program aired originally on October 7, 2024
Unpredictable and destructive weather events dramatically illustrate how
climate chaos is impacting us right now. Yet while there are real solutions
that will enable us to stop emitting greenhouse gases, the fossil fuel ...
Nature has ingenious methods of managing and delivering water in all its
phases: precipitation, evaporation, absorption by plants, wetlands, rivers
and lakes, and infiltration that recharges groundwater and aquifers. Yet in
most urban environments, stormwater is seen as ...
This program aired originally on April 7, 2025
Concentrated Animal Feed Operations have been around for a few decades.
Basically concentration camps for cattle, pigs and chickens, these factory
farms not only torture animals but also are major polluters and a principal...
The first evidence of Climate Chaos was felt mainly at the poles, as polar
sea ice began to melt. Polar bears served as the first charismatic symbol of
climate change but since media attention shifted from melting sea ice to
wildfires, floods, heatwaves, and other impact...
The Willamette River is a confluence of social, ecological, economic and
historical significance and yet we continue to struggle to protect the very
place that sustains us. But we are beginning to see a crack in the iron wall
that has ruled the lower Willamette, created ...
This program originally aired on May 26, 2025
On May 12, The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality held a public
hearing, where over 300 people testified against DEQ approving Zenith
Energy’s draft Air Contaminant Discharge Permit. This is the last permit
Zen...
In these disturbing times as we watch democracy crumble and wonder whom the
oligarchs will go after next, how do we ground ourselves in the work we need
to keep doing? First they come for the immigrants, then international
students and now FBI agents are showing up at th...
On May 12, The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality held a public
hearing, where over 300 people testified against DEQ approving Zenith
Energy’s draft Air Contaminant Discharge Permit. This is the last permit
Zenith needs to expand its dangerous fuel facility in No...
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