Barbara Bernstein

Until a few weeks ago it looked likely that Portland would be able to shut down Zenith Energy's oil train operations in NW Portland. But then, without any public notice, Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan abruptly changed course and approved the land use compatibility stat... Read more

For thousands of years the north reach of the Willamette River, near its confluence with the Columbia, was a braided river of shallow channels and islands rich in biodiversity. That was until European settlers came to the Pacific Northwest and displaced the Indigenous peopl... Read more

  This program originally aired on January 24, 2022 For 18 years communities across Southern Oregon fought an existential struggle to stop the massive Jordan Cove LNG export terminal that was proposed for Coos Bay and its accompanying 36" fracked gas pipeline that would h... Read more

In late 2017 Zenith Energy stole into Portland in the dead of night and took over an abandoned petroleum facility, proceeding to turn it into the largest oil-by-rail facility in the Northwest. The community rose up in fury that a fossil fuel facility of this size could oper... Read more

Even though there are no large fires burning close to Portland this summer, you can still smell the smoke from all the megafires burning from British Columbia to Northern California. This is the new reality we are facing, a confluence of climate chaos, exacerbated by loggin... Read more

In recent years scientists have discovered that methane gas is 85 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Yet the so-called natural gas industry (a euphemistic term for methane) has doubled down on promoting its product as a bridge fuel to ... Read more

The Cully neighborhood in outer NE Portland is one of the most culturally diverse communities in Portland. And for many decades it has been the most overlooked and underserved community as well, with more than its share of poverty, and less than its share of environmental a... Read more

Now that election season is really upon us, it's a good time to take another look at the proposed changes to Portland's city charter, which will be on this November's ballot. These changes will be quite dramatic, not only changing our  city government from a commission to a... Read more

  This program aired originally on August 1, 2022 This November Portland voters will have an opportunity to vote on a complex measure that would amend the city charter in some drastic ways. The changes include rank voting, expanding the city council to 12 members who would... Read more

    THIS PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON JUNE 27, 2022 Sixty-six million years ago an asteroid some seven miles across slammed into the Earth, leaving a geologic wound over 50 miles in diameter. More than half of known species, including the dinosaurs, vanished seemingly over... Read more