Dear Friend,

As part of our community, we wanted to let you know what steps OLCV is taking in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of last Friday, we have closed our offices in Portland and Bend and are continuing our work protecting Oregon’s people and places remotely from our homes. Our offices will be closed until at least March 27 and we will reassess as the situation develops. We are holding all meetings via phone or virtually during this time and considering alternative plans for upcoming events.

We want to acknowledge that we are privileged to have the flexibility to be able to do our work from the safety of our homes. We’re thinking of the many Oregonians and people around the world who will be more affected by this virus, whether it is the elderly or those with health conditions that put them more at-risk, including those exposed to pollution; those who work jobs that require them to continue going to work and serving the public; those who will lose income; the uninsured; and people who live in areas where grocery stores are few and far between and can’t get the supplies they need. We are working with our partners in the Oregon progressive community to try to reduce the impact on those who are most at-risk and will keep you posted on our shared efforts.

This is a surreal time, as we grapple with uncertainty and a dramatic shift in our daily lives. We don’t know when things will be back to normal again, or what that even means. Things are also developing very quickly. We had already written and planned to send the email below--a post-session update from our Executive Director Doug Moore. We hope that you will still find it informative and interesting. Our work to elect environmental champions, hold elected officials accountable, and protect Oregon’s natural legacy never ends.

We’re in this together.

Sincerely,
Team OLCV
April, Britney, Christy, Doug, Francesca, Lindsey, Morgan, Nichole, Nikki, and Tanya

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Dear John,

The 2020 Oregon Legislature will surely go down in history, and for all of the wrong reasons. But, thanks to you and Governor Kate Brown, 2020 will be the year of climate action anyway. This is the story of how leadership can come from crisis and where we go from here.

In 2018, OLCV made historic investments in the re-election of Governor Brown. When I say OLCV, I mean you and other grassroots supporters. Our partners, including the national League of Conservation Voters, knew that Oregon was a crucial battleground in the war against climate change. Not only did Governor Brown win, but so did 8 other new environmental champs around the state.

Together, we made a difference in the last election. This year, we’ll need your help again. Our work to protect Oregon’s people, places, and planet will never end - and we know that your gift of $35, $50, or $100 will make a difference in the statewide, legislative, and local races that matter most. DONATE: [link removed]

In 2019, despite an unprecedented showing of public support from across the state, Republican legislators chose to walk out of the Capitol over the Clean Energy Jobs bill. On a heartbreaking sunny June day, the Senate President agreed to trade our bill away to get the Republicans back to work. In the aftermath, the Governor made a promise: she’d work to address opposition concerns and bring Clean Energy Jobs back for the short legislative session in 2020. If the Republicans walked again, she’d take executive action.

And in 2020, after the Republicans once again fled the state to avoid a vote on climate action, the Governor did what she said she was going to do. On March 10th, she signed the strongest set of executive actions in the nation to reduce emissions, protect future generations, and hold polluters accountable.

It’s investments like the ones we made in Governor Kate Brown’s race in 2018 that make it possible for us to win despite powerful industry lobbyists and their campaign war chests. And we simply cannot make those investments without your investment in OLCV.

The 2020 legislative session was the strangest I have seen in my 9 years at OLCV. Three bills passed. 32 of 90 legislators walked out on their jobs and responsibilities as public servants and fled the state to avoid a vote on climate action. It all came to an early and sudden end when the legislators who fled wanted to come back and call the shots. In the age of Donald Trump, the challenge to our democracy has once again taken center stage here in Oregon. Courtesy of the radical right, a quirk in our state constitution requiring a 2/3rds majority to do business on the floors of the House and Senate, and contributions from polluters to the campaign coffers for those who walk out, we have seen the total meltdown of our legislative process.

For all of us at OLCV, it wasn’t our first time at this rodeo. But, this time felt different. Last time, we watched our bill traded away to get the minority legislators back to the Capitol. This time, from the presiding officers to brand new legislators, everyone seemed to agree that this walkout would not lead to negotiations or concessions. This time, legislators would not trade away climate action. Instead, the ones who remained in the Capitol continued to meet and get work done on behalf of Oregonians. They were united in standing up for Oregon’s democracy and against paid vacations taken by their colleagues as they refused to show up at the Capitol.

It almost felt like a win, just to not have our bill traded away again.

But then, Governor Kate Brown stepped up and we got the cap on greenhouse gas emissions we’ve worked on for over a decade. “I’ve heard it loud and clear from our young people in Oregon: climate action is crucial and urgent. If we adults don’t take action right away, it is the next generation that will pay the price,” she said as she signed executive orders that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon starting immediately.

So, what now? We will elect and re-elect environmental champions at the local and state level in both the primary and general elections. We will support a local effort to recall Senator Chuck Thomsen, who walked out on a district that we know stands with us on climate change. We will continue to explore a ballot measure requiring 100% Clean Energy. We will work with the Renew Oregon coalition to help develop the rules called for by the Governor’s executive orders.

And, perhaps most urgently, we will work to fix our broken legislative process by supporting ballot measures around campaign finance reform and accountability for legislators who choose to subvert democracy by “taking the ball and going home,” in the words of House Speaker Tina Kotek.

We can’t do any of this without your support. Your gift of $35, $50, or $100 - or whatever you can afford - will add up with the gifts of our thousands of members to make a real difference in 2020. DONATE: [link removed]

Here’s to leadership in a time of crisis, and making changes here and elsewhere in the year ahead.

Sincerely,
Doug Moore, Executive Director OLCV


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| Paid For By The Oregon League of Conservation Voters |
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Oregon League of Conservation Voters
321 SW 4th Avenue Suite 600
Portland OR 97204 United States

Staying in touch via the Oregon League of Conservation Voters’ email list is the best way we have of keeping in regular contact with supporters like you and letting you know about the ways you can take action to protect the environment. You can [link removed] from our supporter list, but if you leave, it will be harder for you to stay involved with OLCV and continue the work that you’ve been such a critical part of. OLCV wins environmental policy fights and elections because of dedicated activists like you, and we’d hate to see you go.