350 Salem OR is a grassroots organization taking local action for a stable climate and sustainable planet.
We’re in the final push for Salem’s Climate Action Plan!
The climate crisis compels societal changes at every scale. That’s why 350 Salem OR began, five long years ago, to advocate for a city climate action plan. We advocated for these TOP TEN Climate Action Strategies, which include encouraging vehicle electrification; more biking, walking and transit use; and more use of clean energy to power residences and businesses.
Salem recently released Recommended Priority Strategies for Early Implementation of the draft Climate Action Plan. The City Council will review and vote on the city’s climate action plan early next year.
Tell the Forest Service: Stop logging in old forests!
Take action to protect the Willamette National Forest from reckless logging. The Quartzville-Middle Santiam Project proposes to log almost 8,000 acres. This area features spectacular forests, ancient trees, rushing streams and abundant wildlife habitat. It also acts as a significant carbon storage.
OSU Master Gardeners help people prepare for a hotter, dryer climate.
On our 350 Salem radio show, The Elephant in the Room, host Tom Ellis interviews Brooke Edmunds, from the Oregon State University Extension Service. Edmunds talks about the role Master Gardeners play in helping local gardeners prepare for hotter, dryer climates. He also explains how gardeners can sequester carbon by building up their topsoil.
Salem 350 to DEQ: Don’t greenwash trash.
350 Salem is urging the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to reject a new 10-year permit for the Covanta Marion Incinerator. Covanta is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Marion County. Each year, the incinerator sends as much CO2 into our airshed as 35,000 cars, not to mention tons of lead, mercury, cadmium and other toxic chemicals. There are less expensive, more environmentally friendly solutions for garbage disposal.
Take a walk with us!
Join 350 activists and friends with Just Walk Salem Keizer for friendship and exercise on Wednesday morning walks. Participants meet at 9 a.m. at the mobile sculpture on the west side of the Cherriots Bus Station, on High Street. Walks to Riverfront Park usually bring sightings of heron, osprey, ducks, geese and hawks, and sometimes deer.
Climate Science Basics: just the facts …
We stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, and believe silence is no longer an option. We encourage you to support local organizations doing social justice work, including Salem-Keizer NAACP, Causa, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN), Black Joy Oregon, and youth-group Latinos Unidos Siempre (LUS). Read our Land Acknowledgement Statement.
Fifty years from now people will likely look back on this era through the lens of having seen catastrophic climate changes that we cannot even imagine. Our legacy will depend on the level of moral courage we display in this difficult challenge.
350 Salem OR Co-Coordinator Phil Carver