The United States’ food system has become a corporate-dominated
marketplace, strangled by an elite few, that holds farmers and consumers
hostage to greed. Currently Congress is negotiating the 19th Farm Bill which
is an opportunity to pass a fair Farm Bill for all, after de...
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At a critical bend in the Columbia River Estuary, a company called NEXT
Renewable Fuels, Inc., is seeking to build a new, massive renewable diesel
refinery. The proposed refinery at Port Westward would be one of the largest
producers of renewable diesel on the West Coast. M...
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The Port of Columbia County, along the Columbia River northwest of Portland,
has been trying to expand industrial development by rezoning valuable
agricultural land for industrial use. But many farmers in the area have a
different vision for the future of their community.
...
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There is no question that we need to cut our carbon emissions substantially
and quickly in order to prevent our planet from becoming uninhabitable. While
the move to electrify transportation is an obvious step toward
decarbonization, the fossil fuel industry has other ideas...
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Last spring Zenith Energy, the Houston-based fossil fuel company who has been
operating a massive oil-by-rail operation in Portland Harbor, met secretly
with staff from city commissioner Dan Ryan's and Carmen Rubio's offices, to
hammer out a backroom deal that granted the c...
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In the early 1970s, a group of scientists researched how to make more food
for the growing population of the world and designed a new salmon that was
fatter and faster growing. Thus the beginning of a new industry: salmon
farming. The industry spread from coastal Norway to ...
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Just as we are realizing how important trees are for climate resilience,
carbon storage and mitigating heat islands, political leaders are proposing
to do away with tree codes and other forest protections. On this episode of
Locus Focus we talk with Brenna Bell, Forest Clim...
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Before the Hanford Nuclear Reservation was created, since time immemorial
this extraordinary bend in the Columbia River was a vital and sacred place to
the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes
of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Nez Pe...
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For years Portland has been renowned for its vast urban canopy but in recent
years that canopy is shrinking. As the climate crisis tightens its noose
around our communities, trees are one of the most important allies we have to
stave off the worst impacts from a heating pla...
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In late August 2021, after months of grassroots pressure, Portland City
Council rejected Zenith Energy's Land Use Compatibility Statement (LUCS) that
was required before the company could get a Clean Air permit from Oregon
Department of Environmental Quality. Despite Zenith...
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