It seems that Portland’s environment is an enviable one. I recently heard that there was a Japanese crew in the city, finding it to be one of the world’s “most sustainable cities.” Along with three other cities, Portland has been chosen to be part of “The Future of Spaceship Earth” series published by Japan’s NHK. According to director of the documentary Hiroki Inoue, the “documentary will look at the negative impacts to the environment due to people’s comfortable lives today and how it endangers the future of the earth.”
This isn’t really all that surprising to me. As it is, Portland has a whole slew of non-profit organizations working hard to sustain and promote the health of its environment. One of these is the Oregon Sierra Club which seeks to conserve the Oregon natural environment by influencing public policy decisions—legislative, administrative, legal, and electoral. A member of EarthShare Oregon this organization has been working to protect Oregon’s environment and natural resources since 1978. Today, the Sierra Club has eight staff members in Oregon, working alongside volunteers to “advance the chapter’s conservation priorities.”
Then there is the Protect South Portland group which, a few months ago obtained over 4,000 signatures to force a city-wide vote to block the export of oil sands. Its aim is to protect the region “from toxic tar sands oil, which would lead to more air pollution and additional oil infrastructure on our waterfront, like smokestacks next to Bug Light park.”
These are just a few of the organizations making efforts in the name of Portland environment. I for one, am glad to be living in a place surrounded by so many concerned individuals who believe that our environment is important to us.