About Us – 350 Salem OR

Members of 350 Salem OR join others at the Oregon Supreme Court to rally against fossil fuel and timber interests that are trying to overturn our Climate Protection Program.

Our Mission

350 Salem OR is a chapter of the international climate justice movement, 350.org. Founded by a loose network of local activists in 2014, our mission is to build an inclusive grassroots movement focused on keeping fossil fuels in the ground, advocating for a just transition to a renewable energy economy, and supporting community-based resilience in response to the climate emergency. Protecting the stability of our climate and adapting to climate change impacts are the most urgent tasks our world faces.

Our Accomplishments

350 Salem OR is committed to real action, not just talk, and we do a lot with few resources. We have provided a consistent presence during the planning process for the City of Salem. In response to several years of advocacy, a Climate Action Plan (CAP) was included in the city’s Comprehensive Plan.

We coordinate with statewide and regional networks to actively support clean energy legislation and resist fossil fuel exports, along with transport and infrastructure projects. We also collaborate with regional organizations to protect Oregon’s old growth forests.

350 Salem OR prioritizes environmental justice, actively supporting legislation to bring about more equity in our environmental decision-making and processes.

350 Salem OR members joined global protests calling on invested banks to defund the Line 3 tar sands pipeline across the tribal lands of Indigenous peoples.

350 Salem OR Volunteers

Phil Carver, Co-Coordinator
Laurie Dougherty, Co-Coordinator
Sarah Deumling, Secretary and Treasurer

Members include Nan Baker-Kroft, Roberta (Bobbie) Cade, Diane Chavez, Clair Clark, Tom Ellis, Lorie Fontaine, Lucy Hitchcock, Meg Hummon, Teresa Joslin, Nadene LeCheminant, Janet Lorenzen, Carol Mathews-Ayres, Caroline O’Brien, Ray Quisenberry, Meg Rowe, Kendra Schaber, Jim Scheppke, Hans West and Spencer Wooley.

Work Teams

Do you have a particular passion as far as climate action? Now you can join or even lead a 350 Salem OR Work Team to focus on what you most care about. Work teams will hold in-depth discussions, develop strategies, carry out activities, and report back to the larger group. Learn more.

Our Radio Show

Learn more about local climate issues on our monthly radio program, The Elephant in the Room. Join program host and 350 member Tom Ellis as he interviews guests about climate issues from a local, state and regional perspective. Catch the program the first Tuesday of every month at 8 a.m. on KMUZ Community Radio, located at 100.7 and 88.5 FM.

Our Land Acknowledgement

With a desire for collective healing, understanding and partnership, 350 Salem OR prefaces our meetings with a spoken Land Acknowledgement. We respectfully recognize the original inhabitants of these lands, the Santiam Kalapuya and their descendants.

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.

I know that each of us is only a small drop in the effort to make the world and our community healthier and more sustainable, but enough small drops will create an ocean.

—Ray Quisenberry, 350 Salem OR Member

The number 350 means climate safety. To preserve a livable planet, scientists tell us we must reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from its current level of over 400 parts per million to below 350 ppm.