Climate Action Being Taken in Oregon

Over the course of my life I have had the immense privilege of living all across the world and the most recent stop I have landed in is Portland, Oregon. Out in the middle of the Pacific Northwest, people often think of Oregon as a state in the middle of the forest. This stereotype is mostly true. Living in Oregon has given me a greater appreciation for nature and the beauty of our world. With this increased appreciation has also come increased concern in regards to the path we are leading our environment down. Given this, I felt it fitting to take a deeper look into the current actions Oregon is taking to better our environment.

The biggest, and most recent, action Oregon is taking is the Climate Protection Program. This program led by the Oregon State Government began this year. The program's major goal is to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state over the next thirty years. This will be done through putting quotas on the amount of emissions from fossil fuels, propane, natural gas, etc… Regulations will be put on emotions from transportation to commercial to residential sources. Also put into place will be site specific ordinances which will regulate particular locations more specifically. Through this program Oregon air-quality and general welfare will improve significantly helping not only our environment, but our urban communities as well. Still, how will this all be done?

The beginning of all the change that is to happen are the regular meetings the program heads hold. In these sessions progressions from already passed ordinances are discussed to better educate decision making in the future. After that new proposals are put in place to be decided on. Each aspect of the possible ordinances are discussed from how they will be implemented to how the progress of these changes will be measured. Once all of the semantics are discussed and decided on, the action can finally be taken. When a measure is passed it finally is able to go into circulation. However, the program does not just work to manage large scale corporations and regions, the program also works with local communities to help create guidelines and goals on a local level. Any action taken to better our environment is significant and for the world to become a cleaner place we all have to play our role. This is how Oregon is taking the step forward.