Environment Oregon

Environment Oregon is a political nonprofit environmental advocacy organization based in Portland, Oregon. Its work centers on building public support for environmental legislation and policy at the local, state, and national levels. The organization is affiliated with Environment America, a federation of state environmental groups, and is partnered with the Environment Oregon Research & Policy Center, a related 501(c)(3) organization focused on research and public-policy education. The organization was established in 2007 to house the environmental programs of the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, commonly known as OSPIRG. OSPIRG itself emerged from student activism at the University of Oregon. Its origins are connected to the broader Public Interest Research Group movement that developed after Ralph Nader’s early-1970s speaking tour of American college campuses. Environment Oregon therefore represents a continuation of an organizing tradition that combines research, grassroots membership development, public communication, and legislative advocacy. Environment Oregon does not sell consumer products. Its principal activities include environmental reports, public-information campaigns, petition and comment drives, coalition work, and lobbying or public advocacy directed at government decision-makers. The group has worked on renewable energy, solar deployment, forest and wildlife protection, plastic pollution, land-use planning, and other environmental-policy issues. Its public campaigns have often sought to connect statewide environmental concerns with specific legislative or administrative decisions. One prominent conservation effort involved opposition to the proposed Bybee timber sale near Crater Lake National Park. Environment Oregon argued that logging in the area threatened important wildlife habitat and the headwaters of the Rogue and Umpqua rivers, which support runs of steelhead, Coho salmon, and Chinook salmon. The organization called for Congress to establish a large, fully protected wilderness area and a wildlife corridor. In 2013, after discussing the issue with more than 60,000 Oregonians, it delivered more than 10,000 public comments to the United States Forest Service opposing the timber sale. The organization also promoted renewable energy. In 2012, it launched a campaign advocating the development of 250,000 solar roofs in Oregon by 2025. Its associated report, Solar Works for Oregon, argued that rooftop solar could provide substantial electricity, reduce carbon pollution, and create jobs. Environment Oregon also raised awareness of Oregon’s relationship to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and supported measures to reduce plastic-bag use. In 2012, it helped promote legislation leading to plastic-bag bans in Portland, Corvallis, and Eugene. Earlier, in 2007, it campaigned for renewable energy and supported Oregon Measure 49, a land-use planning ballot measure. Membership and fundraising have been conducted in cooperation with the Fund for the Public Interest. Those activities have included door-to-door outreach, street-corner canvassing, and telephone contact with Oregon residents. The organization’s documented public profile is therefore that of a state-focused environmental advocacy brand rather than a conventional commercial enterprise. Its influence is expressed through policy campaigns, public comments, research-based messaging, grassroots recruitment, and legislative engagement.

Environment Oregon was created in 2007 as the organization responsible for the environmental programs formerly housed within the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group. OSPIRG had been established by students at the University of Oregon and was influenced by the Public Interest Research Group movement associated with Ralph Nader’s campus organizing in the early 1970s. The creation of Environment Oregon gave the state’s environmental advocacy work a dedicated organizational identity while preserving its connection to the broader public-interest research tradition. The organization operates as a political nonprofit whose principal purpose is advocacy for environmental policy. It is affiliated with Environment America, a federation of environmental groups operating in numerous states, and works alongside the Environment Oregon Research & Policy Center, a sister 501(c)(3) organization. This structure separates or complements advocacy, research, and educational functions while giving Environment Oregon access to a wider state and national environmental network. Its campaigns have covered energy, forests, wildlife habitat, plastics, land use, and pollution. In 2007, the organization advocated renewable energy and supported Measure 49, an Oregon ballot measure concerning land-use planning. In 2012, it promoted rooftop solar through a campaign seeking 250,000 solar roofs in Oregon by 2025. The same campaign was supported by the Solar Works for Oregon report, which presented rooftop solar as a means of generating electricity, reducing carbon emissions, and supporting employment. Plastic pollution became another area of activity. Environment Oregon worked to highlight Oregon’s relationship to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and supported measures limiting single-use plastic bags. In 2012, it helped promote plastic-bag bans in Portland, Corvallis, and Eugene, linking local regulation with wider concerns about marine and coastal pollution. Forest protection was a major focus of the organization’s work around 2013 and 2014. Environment Oregon opposed the Bybee timber sale outside Crater Lake National Park, arguing that logging threatened critical habitat and the headwaters of the Rogue and Umpqua rivers. The organization called for a protected wilderness area covering more than 500,000 acres and a wildlife corridor extending approximately 75 miles. It reported reaching more than 60,000 Oregonians directly and delivering more than 10,000 public comments to the Forest Service in support of stopping the sale. Membership development and fundraising have been conducted with the Fund for the Public Interest. The associated outreach model has included telephone calls, door-to-door canvassing, and public recruitment. In 2009, the Fund for the Public Interest faced a lawsuit brought by current and former canvassers related to recruitment and employment practices. The available reference material does not establish that Environment Oregon itself was a defendant or determine the outcome of that litigation. Environment Oregon’s identity is consequently defined less by commercial products than by issue campaigns and public-policy communications. Its activities combine reports, grassroots organizing, legislative advocacy, public comments, and coalition work. The organization’s documented campaigns show a recurring emphasis on renewable energy, protection of Oregon’s forests and waterways, reduction of plastic pollution, and the use of state and federal policy to address environmental risks.

• 2014

  Crater Lake wilderness campaign

  [1]Environment Oregonen.wikipedia.org

  The organization continues advocating protection of forest habitat near Crater Lake and a large wilderness area with a wildlife corridor.

• 2013

  Public comments opposing the Bybee timber sale

  [1]Environment Oregonen.wikipedia.org

  Environment Oregon delivers more than 10,000 comments to the United States Forest Service in support of stopping the Bybee timber sale.

• 2012

  250,000 solar roofs campaign

  [1]Environment Oregonen.wikipedia.org

  Environment Oregon launches a campaign calling for 250,000 solar roofs in Oregon by 2025 and publishes Solar Works for Oregon.

• 2012

  Plastic-bag reduction advocacy

  [1]Environment Oregonen.wikipedia.org

  The organization helps promote plastic-bag bans in Portland, Corvallis, and Eugene.

• 2007

  Environment Oregon is established

  [1]Environment Oregonen.wikipedia.org

  Environment Oregon is created to house the environmental programs of the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group.

• 2007

  Renewable-energy and Measure 49 advocacy

  [1]Environment Oregonen.wikipedia.org

  The organization campaigns for renewable energy and supports Oregon Measure 49, a ballot measure concerning land-use planning.

Grassroots environmental advocacy focused on Oregon conservation, renewable energy, pollution reduction, and environmental legislation.

• Environmental policy report · 2012

  Solar Works for Oregon

  A 2012 report prepared to support Environment Oregon’s rooftop-solar campaign. It described Oregon’s potential for expanding solar electricity and connected solar deployment with pollution reduction, household energy supply, and job creation.

• 2014Stop the Bybee Timber Sale

  Oregon · United States federal policy

  Environment Oregon opposed a proposed timber sale outside Crater Lake National Park, citing threats to wildlife habitat and the headwaters of the Rogue and Umpqua rivers. It sought congressional creation of a protected wilderness area and wildlife corridor.

  Source
• 2012250,000 Solar Roofs

  Oregon

  A campaign encouraging development of 250,000 rooftop-solar installations in Oregon by 2025, supported by the Solar Works for Oregon report.

  Source
• 2012Plastic-bag reduction advocacy

  Portland, Oregon · Corvallis, Oregon · Eugene, Oregon

  The organization promoted awareness of plastic pollution and supported local legislative measures banning plastic bags in three Oregon cities.

  Outcome. Plastic-bag bans were enacted in Portland, Corvallis, and Eugene.

  Source
• 2007Renewable energy and Measure 49 advocacy

  Oregon

  Environment Oregon campaigned for renewable energy and supported Measure 49, an Oregon land-use planning ballot measure.

  Source

1. 1Environment Oregonen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Environment Oregon official websiteenvironmentoregon.org