We are excited to report that the first public hearing on the diesel pollution reduction bill (SB 1008) went very well! I testified (you can read my testimony here) along with some of our terrific partners who made a strong case for taking swift action to cut diesel engine pollution across Oregon.On the day of the hearing, two Multnomah County Commissioners – emergency room doctor Sharon Meiren and Jessica Vega Pederson – authored an outstanding guest opinion piece in The Oregonian that I hope you will read and share with your network – here’s a link to it. They really make the public health case for solving this problem now.
Also, we want to highlight two clean air activists who also testified in the hearing, one about her son’s asthma (which of course is exacerbated by air pollution), the other to hand deliver 3,000 signatures from Oregonians all over the state asking our state legislature to take action on diesel engine pollution now. Haven’t signed yet? You still can! Just click here.
And finally, we invite you to engage in a little grassroots activism yourself! It’s simple:
- Grab three postcards (maybe with images of Oregon)
- Identify your state representatives if you don’t already know them by entering your address here. Their mailing addresses in the state capitol will be included, but to make it easy, this one will work for all three: Name & Title, Oregon State Capitol, 900 Court Street NE, Salem, OR 97301.
- Write a note to your state representative, your state senator, and Governor Kate Brown, with a short message like this, but with your personal touch: “Please support SB 1008 to reduce diesel engine pollution in Oregon. We’ll never have clean, healthy air if you don’t. The vulnerable among us – children, the elderly, people with asthma, and people of color – have suffered long enough.”
While we believe we can push this bill into a law this legislative session, we know we can’t do it alone. As is increasingly obvious these days, democracy is a sport, not an armchair. We invite you to get off the sidelines!
PS – If you’re the bill reading type or want to follow its progress through the session, here’s a link to it: https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2017R1/Measures/Overview/SB1008