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About Oregon Just Transition Alliance

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Organizing, Organizing, Organizing Leads the Way!

We did it! A wave of frontline leadership made a strong statement yesterday that as Oregonians we do not accept hate towards our communities and that we have the right to build the new! It is the right thing to do, and we have very right to do it! We defeated Measure 105 and OJTA members in Portland passed the Portland Clean Energy Initiative. We showed that when frontline communities lead the way we have better results all across the board.  

 We showed that we are unstoppable and another world is possible- a world that doesn’t leave anyone behind. One that is welcoming to everyone regardless of the color of your skin. The defeat of Measure 105 showed that despite the anti-immigrant rhetoric we hear on the news, the voices of those who stood against hate and with our immigrant communities were louder, mobilized others, and won. This is a victory and we must celebrate, but we must also continue to work towards the decriminalization of our communities regardless of immigration status. One’s documentation should not dictate how one is able to move in our world. There will be more attacks coming. We must take this victory, learn from our success, and be prepared for whatever comes next, always keeping in mind the safety of our immigrant communities.   

 In this election we did not just fight against what we do not want. We held strong to our vision of a more regenerative economy, one that uplifts those most impacted by climate change, economic exploitation and white supremacy. We changed the rules to build wealth and power for our communities. A frontline-led coalition passed the Portland Clean Energy Initiative, which will generate $30 million annually for green jobs, clean energy, and lower utility bills for our communities in Portland. The initiative was won through grassroots community organizing, including in communities that are often ignored by political campaigns.

 Our communities organized and mobilized neighborhoods across Oregon and the country. We galvanized individuals who would have not voted otherwise if their native language was not spoken to them. Thank you! All the calls you made, all the doors you knocked, all the conversations you had, made this happen. Our state’s frontline communities should be more than proud!

We know the fight is not over, we must still stop the Liquefied Natural  Gas Pipeline and the Jordan Cove Terminal. Locally, regionally, nationally and globally we will continue to stand in solidarity and organize, organize, organize. We will keep building power for a just transition a  forward-looking, inclusive and equitable vision.

Join our movement!

Rogue Climate’s team ready to take action for #noon105

  
Members of APANO, OPAL and key ally organizations leading the way for #noon105 and #yeson201


From left to right: Pablo Alvarez, with NAACP Eugene/Springfield and Beyond Toxics; Reyna Lopez Ozuna with PCUN and; Ndia Gatimu with PAALF. 


Adelante Mujeres ready to get out the vote! 

Kelly and Finn with Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility. 

Maria Hernandez with OPAL, Khanh Pham with APANO

Unite Oregon Rogue Valley’s team ready to talk to folks about #noon105

 

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From Hate to Hope Webinar Recap

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From Hate to Hope Recap

The Oregon Just Transition Alliance would like to thank the Energy Democracy Tour Network and Reyna Lopez of Pineros Y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN) and Khanh Pham of Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) for taking the time to speak with María Hernández Segoviano of OPAL on the Just Transition strategies they are currently utilizing to end the bad and build the new in Oregon. Each of these organizations is working to Change the Rules here in Oregon. Each organization is involved organizing across the state against Measure 105, appearing on the November ballot, , and APANO and OPAL are on the steering committee guiding the Portland Clean Energy Initiative (PCEI) at the local level in Portland.

“We defend the right for people to migrate, but we also defend the right for people to stay in the places they’ve been in for generations,” said Reyna Lopez. Measure 105 is an attack on our immigrant communities, which is why PCUN and many other organizations across the state have been mobilizing voters to vote NO on Measure 105, as it threatens the livelihoods of our communities. The measure will make racial profiling legal in Oregon, and allow for the militarization of all of our communities, regardless of documentation status, across the state. Immigrants, like all people, just want to work and live in peace. Measure 105 criminalizes these people based on their documentation status. Migration is not a stand-alone phenomenon. Our migrant communities do not want to leave the place their grandparents and those before them have called home for generations, but economic instability and climate change are constantly forcing families to uproot their lives and migrate. We must stand in support of our immigrant communities and stop Measure 105.

“PCEI is more than just a policy on the ballot: it allows us to think beyond what is politically possible. It holds large corporations accountable to the communities they operate in,” says Khanh Pham. The Portland Clean Energy Initiative was put on the ballot by a coalition of people of color led organizations in Portland. It is a great example of how decision making rooted in community organizing allows us to directly participate in democratic process and put forth initiatives that allow us to move towards a just energy transition for low-income earning individuals and people of color. The Portland Clean Energy Initiative invests in renewable energy, energy efficiency projects, and weatherization updates so that the already rising cost of living in Portland can me mediated with lower utility bills through a move towards a more renewable economy, creating job opportunities and making energy efficiency affordable.

Measure 105 and the Portland Clean Energy Initiative show us the interconnection between climate justice and immigrant justice. Many of the people who immigrate to the US are leaving areas wracked by climate change, or because of militarism which is one of the principle causes of climate change. Human beings deserve to move freely to escape flooding, fire, violence, and lack of opportunity.

The campaigns to stop Measure 105 and to win the Portland Clean Energy Initiative (Portland Measure 26-201) will Change the Rules and lead to better outcomes in our community. PCUN and APANO have been at the forefront of these efforts. This is how Portland Clean Energy Initiative ended up on the ballot, how PCUN is organizing against Measure 105, and how both organizations are challenging the opposition’s narrative and mobilizing voters and building power. Check out the full video below.

Join in changing the rules with us! Every phone call you make, door you knock, post you make conversation you have- spread the word on #noon105 and #yeson201. BALLOTS ARE DUE BY 8PM ON NOVEMBER 6TH! This is a crucial time for Portland and Oregon, and it is a movement moment to build power and turn out our people to vote. Check out all of the upcoming campaign events here NO on 105 Campaign  and Portland Clean Energy Initiative. There are several opportunities to get involved between now and November 6th!

 

Upcoming Events:

OCTOBER 31ST

PCEI Trick or Vote Canvassing OCTOBER 31ST from 3 -7pm @ Oregon Sierra Club

1821 SE Ankeny St, Portland, OR 97214

Register here

Learn More

NOVEMBER 1ST

Vote Together, Portland! March to the Ballot Box.

NOVEMBER 2ND

NO on 105: Día de los Muertos Fundraiser at Portland Mercado

NOVEMBER 3RD

NO on 105: WashCo Canvass

Final Push Slate Card Door Drop for Honest Elections & PDX Clean Energy Initiative!

NOVEMBER 4TH

LET’S TACO ABOUT VOTING joint canvass for NO on Measure 105 and Yes on PCEI (26-201) this Sunday, Nov 4th, 10- 2pm and 1-5pm at APANO 2788 SE 82nd Ave #203, Portland, OR 97266.

Register here

For more information

Final Push for Honest Elections & PDX Clean Energy Initiative!

NOVEMBER 6TH

Come watch the elections with us!!

NO on 105 Campaign Watch

Portland Clean Energy Initiative Watch Party

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Janaira Ramirez: “Organizing to Change Narratives is Power”

After an exhaustive nationwide search, we are proud to introduce Janaira Ramirez, our new Oregon Just Transition Alliance Organizer!

Janaira was born and raised in New York City, the oldest of three daughters born to Dominican parents. She relocated to Portland this week, but began remotely onboarding with OPAL at the beginning of September. Growing up between New York City and the Dominican Republic exposed Janaira to the politics of transnational migration at an early age. “I witnessed unjust governmental as well as day-to-day interactions between migrant populations in the United States as well as in the Dominican Republic.,” Janaira says. “It really made me aware of how drastic the power dynamic shifts from setting to setting.” She was stuck at a very early age that an oppressed group in the one setting may perpetuate oppression onto another group in another setting. Having one foot in the US where she was born and raised, but the other foot in her parents’ home country made relationships of power a point of interest for Janaira, “even before I was able to critically think about the dynamics I was witnessing and experiencing,” she says.

Janaira began organizing around public education reforms and food justice/food security as a youth organizer of The Brotherhood-SisterSol in Harlem, NY. “As a youth organizer I was not only able to deepen my passion social justice, but I was overjoyed by the democratization processes we took as a team to ensure that our common needs and values and those of the different communities we were part of were represented in each of our campaigns,” she says. During her undergraduate studies at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, Janaira obtained a Bachelor of Arts in political science. “I focused a lot of political theory and the notions of power, public policy, and conducted data driven research on food security in the United States,” she says. During her time at Wheaton, Janaira had the opportunity to travel overseas and learn from and share with communities in Ahmedabad in India, São Paulo in Brazil, and Dakar in Senegal, as experience she describes as “amazing.”

“My studies and research in each of the three countries focused on how marginalized communities changed the narrative, from focusing on the ways in which they experience oppression to instead focus on how they organized, built resistance, and launched initiatives.,” Janaira says of communities who organized to combat displacement, food injustice, and environmental degradation. She focused on the specific initiatives local community groups organized and implemented to become self-determinant and to alleviate the varying needs of their communities.

“It was motivational and uplifting to learn from groups working to dignify labor and dignify the informal economy which was so prevalent and the main source of employment in many communities,” she says. Janaira worked alongside groups organizing against slum relocation programs that often isolated slum dwellers too far from accessible means of transportation and too far from their places of employment. She studied groups advocating for clean waterways and clean air, a major concern in many of the places she lived these studies overseas. She learned the stories of groups who started and cultivated urban gardens to combat food insecurity and provide their community with sources of employment. She saw groups re-imagine cities to become better connected to the nearby villages, as migrant workers do not want to leave their homes and families but more employment opportunities often exist in cities and therefore rural-urban daily migration was necessary. This wealth of experience give Janaira the unique qualifications to organize the statewide movement for a Just Transition, build power in communities living at the intersection of many oppressions, and build solidarity across communities with interests sometimes understood to compete.

“Having the amazing opportunity to learn from and share with these groups really pushed me further into social justice organizing work,” Janaira says. “I am stoked to continue doing this work with OPAL and continuing to learn.”

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We rose, we rise, we will continue rising!

On September 8, hundreds of people gathered in solidarity with individuals rising globally to continue to uplift the intersections of the climate justice movement.

The Oregon Just Transition Alliance (OJTA) supported by OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon, Unite Oregon, Rural Organizing Project, PCUN, Beyond Toxics, APANO, Rogue Climate, Adelante Mujeres and many more rose up for climate justice, immigrant justice, gender justice, housing justice, transportation justice, energy justice and all the intersections within our movement. Together we showed that real solutions must come from the ground up and that true leadership puts people over profit! 

With the support of more than 35 allied organizations, OJTA once again got to work with incredible community members who believe in the need for a bolder vision to address our three crisis: the ecological crisis, the economic crisis, and the crisis of empire. More than 300 people turned out at Glenhaven park to share stories, learn, and celebrate our communities resistance against climate injustice, exploitation and continued targeting and criminalization of our communities. More below:  

With Rise For Climate, Jobs and Justice we showed that we will not sit and wait for governments to act. We are going to lead by example and demand that all of our institutions and governments do the same. We showed that when frontline communities lead, real solutions rise up! This gathering was unique as it centered the voices and issues of people of color, low income people, rural communities, and tribal people. Self-identified women and gender non-conforming individuals led the day’s program, and highlighted the need for a transfeminist regenerative economy. Speakers explicitly called for a transition of all sectors, led by frontline communities seeking justice. The way to stop climate change is a Just Transition to an economy that works for those the current economy leaves behind.

Elder Ed Edmo. Photo by Joel Rubinstein

The day opened with a blessing from Native Elder Ed Edmo, Shoshone-Bannock. Telling stories of how tribal communities have been first advocates of climate justice and the need to centered our indigenous communities first in any decision.

Emcees for the day were Reyna Lopez, Executive Director of Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, and Adrian Cato, Youth Organizer for OPAL Environmental Justice Alliance.

Adrian Cato with OPAL Photo by Justin Katigbak | Survival Media Agency
Reyna Lopez with PCUN
Photo by Justin Katigbak | Survival Media Agency

 

 

Lanija Harris, Youth Leader at UMOJA KIJANA SHUJAA spoke about the need to center the direct organizing of Black, African, youth, women, and gender nonconforming individuals in the climate justice movement and in any decision relating to our communities. “Listen to women, femmes and transgender folks. We have been leading movements from the start and we need more women and gender variant folks in positions of power, not just in theory but in practice. We need more POC women, femme, and trans folks heading organizations”.

Lanija Harris, Umoja. Photo by Justin Katigbak | Survival Media Agency

Yanely Rivas, Leadership Development Director with Unite Oregon, spoke about how migration is natural but the extractive, exploitative economy is not. She mentioned that when migrants seek refuge from climate devastation, they are forced to migrate to nations who benefit and exasperate our climate crisis. Yanely welcomed the crowd by cheering “The people are rising!” “No more compromising!” Yanely spoke to encourage the crowd gathered to fight Measure 105, an initiative that opens the door to racial profiling and families being torn apart, simply because someone is perceived to be an undocumented immigrant. Join Oregonians United Against Profiling and rise with Yanely by pledging to vote NO!

 

Yanely Rivas, Unite Oregon.    Photo by Joel Rubinstein

 

 

 

Kathy Jetñil Kijiner, a Climate Warrior, poet, and powerful woman shared a poem with the assembled crowd about the environmental impacts threatening their home Marshall Island. An excerpt from the poem is below:

Kathy Jetñil Kijiner. Photo  by Joel Rubinstein

 

“hands reaching out 

fists raising up

banners unfurling

megaphones booming

and we are

canoes blocking coal ships

we are

the radiance of solar villages”

 

 

Up next was Melva Perez, a Pacific Climate Warrior, who highlighted that “our work intertwines with many aspects that we deal with in our lives locally.” Fighting climate change comes from the fight for justice in society. “The effects that we feel in the United States like job security, immigration laws, the housing crisis, and many other injustices push us to work on climate change.” Melva mentioned their home islands are a low lying atoll, that floods during high tides. Melva ended their speech with the affirmation that youth must lead our movement! “We believe that youth will lead the charge for these changes!”

Join by the audience Reyna Lopez led us in a moment of solidarity by singing “Voices of My Great Granddaughter,”

People gonna rise like the water

We’re gonna calm this crisis down

I hear the voice of my great granddaughter,

singing ‘Keep it in the Ground’

Barbara Brown, impacted community member of the proposed Jordan Cove LNG proposal. Photo by Joel Rubinstein

Barbara Brown followed up by asking the audience to imagine the Jordan Cove Liquified Natural Gas Pipeline being proposed in Southern Oregon. “A fossil fuel project with a ninety foot wide path ripping open Southern Oregon’s farm and forest lands to lay a high pressure three foot wide pipeline filled with fracked gas across the state, ending in Coos Bay where it would be loaded onto ships bound for China.” Chanting “Shut it Down!” Barbara welcomed the audience to ask elected officials to stand up in solidarity and shut down this horrifying 229 mile monster.

“Climate justice means that we’re fighting for people in low income communities and working together,” said Violeta Mata and Say Wah Paw, young leaders with the Youth Environmental Justice Alliance. They reminded us that youth are not the leaders of tomorrow, they are the leaders of today. “We believe that a sustainable future begins with investing in youth. Climate Justice begins when we listen to youth and incorporate their voices in decision making,” Say Wah said. Youth called for real solutions that address climate and transportation injustice like #YouthPass4All- a fight of more than 22 years for youth to have access to public transportation. Violeta called on the gathering to say “no” to false solutions that move at the expense of our communities, like the electrification of buses being prioritized over youth and seniors’ access to transit. YouthPass means eliminating barriers and discrimination that prevent young people from succeeding!

Say Wah Paw and Violeta Mata, Youth Environmental Justice Alliance. Photo by Joel Rubinstein
Portland Power Squad members for PCEF: Weatherization Wonder Woman, Captain Community and Sergeant Solar with María Hernández with OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon. Photo by Joel Rubinstein

The Portland Power Squad ended the day highlighting the importance of energy justice in connection to immigrant rights and the importance of taking action for initiatives like the Portland Clean Energy Initiative (26-201) which frontline communities lead.

Reyna Lopez and Adrian Cato concluded inviting everyone to join a movement of movements, a new regenerative system, one built on renewable resources! Cooperative work! Interconnectedness and sacredness! And deep democracy, in the workplace, the community, and the globe! The crowd cheered once more and joined in a moment of celebration by taking photos and listening to the music of Colectivo Son Jarocho and DJ Fannie! 

 

Colectivo Son Jarocho Photo by Joel Rubinstein
DJ Fannie Photo by Joel Rubinstein

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day was incredible. Oregon Just Transition Alliance couldn’t have done it without our endorsers, supporters, volunteers, donors and everyone present on this day. We thank you all for making this day special, memorable, and remarkable. This is only the beginning of Oregon’s movement for a regenerative economy. Check out the rest of photos taken by Joel Rubinstein HERE and photos taken by Justin Katigbak | Survival Media Agency HERE

So what’s next? Take Action!

  • Support the fight against Measure 105 and pledge to Vote No HERE  
  • Support and volunteer for the Portland Clean Energy Initiative. More info HERE 
  • Support Youth, Seniors and individuals with disabilities by asking TriMet to Invest $3.4M to seniors and individuals with disabilities and $1.6M for Youth Transportation. Read updates HERE.
  • Follow @NoLNGExports to learn more about how to contribute to the fight and tell our leaders to SHUT DOWN the Jordan Cove Liquified Natural Gas Pipeline.

Subscribe to the Oregon Just Transition Alliance email list to stay up to date on Oregon’s Just Transition and volunteer with us.

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Everything you need to know about the Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice.

Event Details:

What: Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice Community Gathering
Who: : A movement of thousands, led by Oregon Just Transition Alliance, a statewide network of Oregon’s frontline communities.
Where: Glenhaven Park
When: September 8th, 2018
Time: 12pm-4pm
12:00pm – 1:00pm: Gather and Enjoy Food and Music
1:00pm – 2:00pm Spoken Program and moment of solidary
2:00pm-4:00pm Music, Tabling, Disperse

Map Logistics:

Bus and Transit Info:
Bus line #72 will take you close to the park. Stop at NE 82nd and Madison HS.

Parking: There will be parking at the park available. If you drive we recommend parking at the parking lot but leaving space which will be assigned for seniors, folks with disabilities and event logistics. We recommend using public transportation or coordinating carpools if need be.

We’ll be beginning and ending the community gathering at Glenhaven Park.

Reserve the front of the stage for the following folks (don’t pass these folks!):
Indigenous folks
Seniors and folks with disabilities
People of color
Youth
Impacted communities

Safety

Look for the black and yellow t-shirt folks- this are volunteers and can help direct you to the right person. 

First Aid Kit- We will have first aid kits on the volunteer table. Please stay safe.

Accessibility & Facilities Info:
Self-identified disabled folks to the front of the stage. There will be an area on the side to the front of the stage with a few chairs for folks to sit down.

Gathering Accessibility
ADA accessible porta-potties
Designated area in front of the stage for self-identified disabled folks which will including seating and wheelchair space. We ask that folks who make use of this area take care to be scent-free – no strong smelling lotion or perfume, etc.
Free snacks and water will be provided at the food area which will be identified table and at community org tables at Glenhaven Park
Food:
Free snacks and water will be provided at the food area which will be identified table for the first to two hours of the event. We recommend eating lunch in advance if hot dogs and chips might not suffice.
We encourage you to bring your own reusable water bottles and clean after yourself.

What to Bring:

Most importantly, bring everyone you know! Help make this a powerful representation of our resistance in this critical moment!
Bring things that help communicate the message of frontline leadership leading the way and the intersections of climate, jobs and justice: Make your own signs and banners and t-shirts and flags – be creative! There will also be art there for you to hold. Sticks and poles are allowed — but please, no sticks with pointy ends or exposed nails/screws.
Carry signs or banners that let people know where you are from – what organization, what city or state, what country.
Music and instruments that do not need amplification are encouraged
Small backpacks and bags are allowed and should be filled with reusable water bottles and snacks! We do not recommend bringing hiking backpacks.
Reusable water bottle (we will have water filling stations at the park)
Bring some light food and drinks…it will be a long day

What NOT to Bring:

Any weapons or anything that can be construed as a weapon, including pocket knives, multi-tools, mace, scissors, etc.
Alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs are not welcome at this event. Many attendees may have substance sensitivities, and we will be in close quarters, please avoid smoking or wearing strong fragrances so that all can participate.

Day of Updates

Social Media:
Use and follow the hashtags: #RiseforClimate #OJTARises
For official social media toolkit : Find it here
On Facebook: https://bit.ly/2NY6cqg
On Twitter: https://bit.ly/2rHxbPQ
Tag @OregonJTA in your Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice facebook posts! Mention @Oregonjta on Twitter! At the end of the big day email us your photos, video, and social media posts to info@orjta.org so we can compile all the visuals from the day into one big post

 

Rise for Climate Jobs and Justice  Chants:

Time to change the plans!
We live on stolen lands!
——
Get up! Get down!
There’s a people’s movement in this town!
——
Call: Show them what unity looks like!
Response: THIS is what unity looks like!
—-
Call: Who’s got the power?
Response: We got the power
Call: What kinda power?
Response: People Power!
—-
Ain’t no power like the power of the tenants, Cause the power of the tenants don’t stop. Say what?
—–
Inquilinos unidos. Jamás serán vencidos.
(Renters united! We’ll never be defeated!)
—-
Fight, Fight, Fight! Housing is a human right!
—-
Renters’ rights are under attack!
What do we do? Rise up, fight back!
—–
Call: Pollution and exploitation
Response: Can’t be solved by corporations!
Call: It’s poison! Get off it!
Response: It’s people versus profit!
—-
There is no stopping us!
Diesel fuel is dangerous!
—–
Fossil fuels can kill!
Smoke is toxic, pipelines spill!
Transit cops, prison gates

Do not make our city safe
——
Wars for profit, wars for oil
No more bombs on foreign soil!
——
From Portland to the Middle East
We want justice, we want peace!
Rise up, resist! The people prevail!
The whole damn system is guilty as hell!
—–
Call: All of the people say no to war
We’re fired up can’t take it no more
Re: Rise up, rise up, rise up; rise up, my people rise up!
——-
Si Se Puede!
——-
Aquí estamos y no nos vamos!
(We are here and we will not leave)
—-
Call: The people united
Response: Will never be defeated
Call: El pueblo, unido
Response: Jamas sera vencido
——
We are people! We are not illegal, NO!
—-
ONE we are the people TWO a little bit louder
THREE we want justice FOR all people!
—-
One solution – Just Transition (repeat)
—
Say yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah, yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
In the belly of the beast
Join the struggle to be free
We want justice for us all
We want our people to be free
Say yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah, yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
We are voicing our demands
Rise up and take a stand
Need to fight for Mother Earth
Youth and workers hand in hand
Say yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
——

I! (repeat)
I believe! (repeat)
I believe that we! (repeat)
I believe that we will win! (repeat)
——

Voice of my Great Granddaughter:

People gonna rise like the water
Gonna calm this crisis down
I hear the voice of my great granddaughter,
singing‘ Keep it in the Ground’
—-

For a serious health emergency or fire, just call 911. Please avoid calling the police at all costs.

Help keep our event clean and safe! Recycle or reuse this sheet. This is a march for a healthy planet – please do not litter, and clean up after pets. This is a march for justice – don’t make other people clean up after you.

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Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice Update

WHEN: September 8, 2018

WHERE: Portland OR: Glenhaven Park, 7900 NE Siskiyou St, Portland, OR 97213, next to the Madison High School (map).

WHO: A movement of hundreds, led by Oregon Just Transition Alliance, a statewide network of Oregon’s frontline communities.

 

Oregon Just Transition Alliance Members:
Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO)
Beyond Toxics
OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon
Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN)
Rural Organizing Project
Unite Oregon

We call upon Portland’s environmental, racial, social, and economic justice communities and allies to stand with us and support the leadership of most-impacted people.

 

WHAT: In solidarity with the grassroots leaders across the globe and in the Bay Area.The rally will feature speakers from the frontline communities leading the event.

Speakers Representing:
Indigenous Peoples
Youth of Color
Oregon Just Transition Alliance
Transportation and Housing-vulnerable People
Immigrants and Workers
Rural communities fighting lng pipeline
The community gathering will include public education to explain the climate connection to a wide range of racial and social justice issues. 
WHY: This year’s the Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice will draw attention to the intersecting issues facing frontline communities in the struggle for climate justice. Housing, transportation, access to green spaces and food, and the struggles for workers’ rights, immigrant rights, and the rights of other marginalized communities must all be at the center of this struggle for climate action. For people to win over profits, we must demand liberation from an economy built on extraction, exploitation, militarism, and systems of social oppression.
AGENDA:
12:00pm – 1:00pm: Gather and Enjoy Food
1:00pm – 2:00pm Spoken Program
2:00pm-4:00pm Music, Tabling, Disperse

More info including links to get involved at info@orjta.org

 

Oregon Just Transition Alliance (OJTA) builds unity among frontline communities. It’s necessary to center the most-impacted people in discussions of climate justice. The Portland Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice platform states, “people of color, low income communities, and rural and tribal people are at the front line of environmental and climate injustice- our communities must lead the efforts to address climate change. Climate change is only a symptom of much deeper crises that are happening worldwide- the ecological crisis, economic crisis, and the crisis of empire. These crises come from the current dominant economy, created by a system that only works for a few which relies on exploitation and extraction of resources. We must create a system that works for everyone, based on cooperation, close communities, and regenerative processes.” We’re past the tipping point. The threats to frontline communities are present today.

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Workers’ Rights are Climate Justice, Rise with Us!

In less than a week, people across the globe will Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice at events in their communities. As today is Labor Day, we want to honor the countless contributions that working people make in our society and to recognize how critically important  they are to a strong and successful climate movement.

Working people are directly and disproportionately affected by the threats of air and water pollution, climate change, extreme weather events, economic exploitation and harmful policies against their humanity and they are more likely to be confronted with environmental and health hazards at work—and less likely to receive adequate protection from them.

Recently, we’ve seen workers’ rights come under attack, whether it be the recent blow to public sector unions by the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME, the current administration’s efforts to weaken protections for federal workers, or Trump’s rollback of essential regulations designed to protect LGBTQ workers.

That’s why it’s so important to take action next weekend and Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice. In no uncertain terms, we must stand united behind all of our working people, and demand a just transition that ensures that racial and economic justice are key to action on climate in every community. Join us on September 8th and rise with us. 

 

 

 

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OJTA Opposes the Pacific Connector Pipeline and Jordan Cove Terminal

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An extractive economic system is rooted in and perpetuated by the extraction of our most precious resources. It is a constant state of digging up our resources, burning them, and then dumping the results with little to no regard for pollution’s contamination, toxicity, and desecration of Earth, our sacred home. Human labor is exploited across many sectors, with a long history of workers’ health not being taken into consideration. The purpose of exploiting labor to desecrate resources has been the constant concentration of wealth and power into the hands of the few, with little challenge to that dominance. In other words, the manifestation of this economic system is placing profit over people.

We see how the fossil fuel industry advances this purpose. Coal, oil and gas barons, the wealthiest corporations and individuals on Earth, put profit over people and exhaust human capacity, and perpetuate the idea that their system is inevitable and necessary, when this is false and damaging.

For these reasons and many more, the Oregon Just Transition Alliance has voted to officially oppose the construction of the Pacific Connector Pipeline and Jordan Cove Terminal.

The Jordan Cove Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Export Terminal and Pacific Connector Pipeline is a significant threat to indigenous sovereignty and tribal treaty rights, human health, and planetary survival. Cultural resources, traditional tribal territories and burial grounds are threatened by both the pipeline route and the LNG export facility. Additionally, the project would impact waters and wildlife of current, historical, and spiritual importance to the Tribes.  The Karuk, Yurok, and Klamath Tribes have all come out in opposition to opposing the Jordan Cove LNG Export Terminal and the Pacific Connector Pipeline.

In solidarity with national and global fights we must seek solutions that build and grow the regenerative economy, which don’t continue to be dependent on the extraction of our resources and the erasure of sacred lands.

What can you do:

Follow the campaign to stop Jordan Cove on facebook and instagram and twitter at @noLNGexports.

Please join Oregon PSR for a fun presentation of “The Folly of Frack,” to be followed by a presentation on the proposed Jordan Cove Energy Project/Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline and on-site comment writing. August 13 from 6:30-8:30pm, RSVP HERE

Join community members on Thursday, August 16 from 11am-12pm at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) office in Medford for a rally and delivery of over 17,000 public comments demanding DEQ denies clean water act permits and puts to rest the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline.  RSVP HERE

 

105

OJTA Opposes Ballot Measure 105

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Oregon Just Transition Alliance is grounded in core principles that center community resilience and inter-community collaborative resistance. We are aiming not only for systems change but also a cultural shift from anti-immigrant and refugee policies that contribute to the exploitation of those hit first and worst by such harsh immigration enforcement tactics.

Therefore, the Steering Committee of OJTA has voted to oppose Ballot Measure 105, a measure that will throw out Oregon’s sanctuary state law. This law that has been working for more than 30 years to protect Oregonians from unfair racial profiling. If Ballot Measure 105 passes, it could open the door to racial profiling and families being torn apart, simply because someone is perceived to be an undocumented immigrant.

Immigrants are a vital part of our member communities; they are farmworkers, workers, volunteers, activists, organizers, and more importantly human beings. Our communities are stronger and more vibrant because of immigrants.

What can you do:

 

divest

Move the Money, Divest and Invest Webinar Recording

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Did you miss the the last Just Transition Webinar? See the recap and recording below.

Divesting from sources that continue to fuel the extractive economy and exploit our communities requires bold leadership, and commitment from those who support us to follow frontline leadership.

On our last webinar, we heard from Jamie Trinkle, a Senior Campaign and Research Coordinator at Enlace working against transnational corporations and building capacity at partner organizations to divest from prisons through their National Prison Divestment Campaign. Jamie shared how Enlace is utilizing divestment as a tactic to impact multiple targets that profit from locking our community members behind bars. We have the right to choose where our money is invested, and it should be invested to help our communities succeed. Jaime also spoke on the importance of having impacted communities in the decision making process of how money divested should be reinvested in our communities.

Ananda Lee Tan, Campaigns Director of the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) spoke towards the importance of moving money that has historically fueled how decisions or policies get made. Ananda spoke about the work of the Climate Justice Alliance in their campaign Invest in Our Power, in particular with a focus on philanthropy to address three critical conditions. First, the resource disparity between environmental justice groups and environmental groups. Second, the capacity difference between environmental justice groups and traditional environmentalists, and compensating the time of environmental justice groups in order to join the conversation. Third, the recognition of the diverse theories of change of environmental justice groups.

The whole conversation is worth listening to. Watch the webinar here.

 

Resources mentioned in the webinar:

The Million Shares Club & Prison Lenders

Building Equity & Alignment for Impact

Open letter to 1Sky from the grassroots 

Cultivating the Grassroots: A Winning Approach for Environment and Climate Funders Report 

For more info on how to get connected email: JustTransition@opalpdx.org and follow us on social media:

Oregon Just Transition Alliance (@OregonJTA)

OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon (@OPALEJOR)

Enlace (@enlace98 )

CJA (@CJOurPower)

Join Our Upcoming Webinar: Change the Rules

Tuesday, September 28th 2018

Time:6:00-7:30 pm

Register Here

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