Tag: Op-Ed

Opinion: SCOTUS is turning up the heat on climate change

by Bethany Cotton, Conservation Director for Cascadia Wildlands
Originally published in The Register-Guard, July 31, 2022.

Adequately describing just how destructive the last 10 days of the Supreme Court’s term was for our democracy, constitutional rights and the work to address and adapt to climate change is a murky task. The court’s disastrous spring term makes several things clear, not least of which is that we cannot rely on a group of nine people in robes to save our democracy or our climate. Indeed, the court has morphed into one of the greatest threats to civil rights and a livable future.  

Opinion: NW Natural’s campaign reeks of desperation

by Bethany Cotton, Conservation Director for Cascadia Wildlands
Originally published in The Register-Guard, May 27, 2022.

NW Natural is running full page ads in this paper co-opting the word “choice” while half of our country’s population is facing the impending loss of a fundamental constitutional right. The company, like others wedded to climate-destroying fossil fuels, knows that the future is bleak for its dangerous product, so it is behaving like the dying industry it is by employing increasingly desperate rhetoric. 

Opinion: Biden’s old-growth forest executive order has giant hole

by Bethany Cotton, Conservation Director for Cascadia Wildlands
Originally published in The Register-Guard, May 1, 2022.

Last month, in honor of Earth Day, President Biden signed an executive order on Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies. While the EO represents progress in its acknowledgement that old-growth and mature forests are essential bulwarks against the worst impacts of climate change, its stated commitment to science-based management, and its inclusion of indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge as key to sustainable forest management, it does not — yet — actually safeguard the last of these forests here at home.  

Opinion: Eugene must act now to address climate change

by Bethany Cotton, Conservation Director for Cascadia Wildlands
Originally published in The Register-Guard, March 26, 2022.

The city of Eugene is suffering from the same chronic inaction on climate change as the global community, referred to by the United Nations Environment Program as an adaptation gap: “the difference between actually implemented adaptation and a societally set goal.”  

Opinion: Finding hope and taking action in a time of crisis

by Rebecca White, CW Wildlands DirectorOriginally published in The Register-Guard, December 25, 2021. Just past the winter solstice, the days are starting to lengthen, and many feel inspired to make … Continue reading Opinion: Finding hope and taking action in a time of crisis

Opinion: To achieve Glasgow’s climate goals, end old-growth logging at home

by Rebecca White, CW Wildlands DirectorOriginally published in The Register-Guard, November 27, 2021. After two weeks of often tense negotiations, the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow have concluded. What remains … Continue reading Opinion: To achieve Glasgow’s climate goals, end old-growth logging at home

Opinion: The perils of cutting public out of post-fire forest decisions

by Rebecca White, CW Wildlands DirectorOriginally published in The Register-Guard, August 28, 2021. Ever since 2020’s wildfires cooled, we’ve been taking calls from community members alarmed at the amount of … Continue reading Opinion: The perils of cutting public out of post-fire forest decisions

Opinion: Will we learn from the 2020 wildfire season?

by Rebecca White, CW Wildlands DirectorOriginally published in The Register-Guard, July 24, 2021. Gazing at the Milky Way from my tent in the Three Sisters Wilderness last weekend, I reflected … Continue reading Opinion: Will we learn from the 2020 wildfire season?

WildCATs field checking the Windy Peak Unit in the N126 timber sale (photo by Anupam Katkar).

Opinion: Protecting Cascadia’s forests is our greatest climate solution

by Rebecca White, CW Wildlands DirectorOriginally published in The Register-Guard, June 26, 2021. Let’s talk “proforestation.” Coined by scientist William Moomaw, this term describes letting older forests do their natural … Continue reading Opinion: Protecting Cascadia’s forests is our greatest climate solution

Opinion: It’s DeFazio’s Time to Shine on Climate

by Dylan Plummer, CW Grassroots OrganizerOriginally published in The Register-Guard, April 24, 2021. Less than a month into spring, I received a red flag warning alert. A warm easterly wind … Continue reading Opinion: It’s DeFazio’s Time to Shine on Climate