At the start of 2023, Breach worked with Portland’s youth climate organizers to identify a list of the city’s “climate villains” (including Zenith Energy and NW Natural), drawing attention to the various local private corporations and governmental bodies with anti-climate track records. This messaging not only provides an important backbone to the local climate movement, but also bolsters energy and clarity in the fights for accountability.
In late January, as part of Breach’s broader campaign against “natural” methane gas, we discovered gas utilities company NW Natural had scheduled a training for teachers in Portland on renewable “natural” gas and hydrogen – two well-known false and greenwashed solutions. We worked with partner organizations and local young climate activists to plan and publicize a protest to call out the training as propaganda, which led to the cancellation of the training.
After the passage of Eugene’s electrification ordinance in February, NW Natural spent more than $1Million via a front group (“Eugene Residents for Energy Choice”) to derail the policy. Youth in Eugene were instrumental in the outcry that followed, which culminated in a March youth climate strike that, with our organizing and communications support, drew media attention to NW Natural’s efforts to undermine local climate policy and the general financial and misinformation war being waged by the “natural” gas industry to thwart a just transition.
Portland’s youth organizers have been some of the most vocal opponents to Zenith Energy and some of our most crucial partners in the campaign to #StopZenithOil. Last month, we joined with young climate activists to organize a rally at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to demand that it and Governor Kotek use their legal authority to stop Zenith’s oil-by-rail operations in Portland. You may have seen that this campaign escalated even further last week, when Multnomah County sent a letter to Governor Kotek and DEQ advising that they deny Zenith a key permit.
