A collective response to climate change can improve our political climate, too

Parents and grandparents from all walks of life, from all corners of Oregon, from all across the political spectrum can agree that climate change must simultaneously be halted and adapted to.

My wife and I moved to Oregon in 1972. We settled in Portland and began learning to love the rain, the forests, the short dry summers, and the long ski seasons. In 1982, we bought a small vacation home on the banks of the Deschutes River, about one-half mile upstream from Sunriver. Our road was gravel, we had no immediate neighbors. We began learning to love the sunny high desert climate, the glorious autumns, and the snow-filled winters. Along with our two young children, we became comfortable on both sides of the Cascades.

But the climate has changed. Both in reality and metaphorically.

The cause of the meteorological climate change is no concern of this essay. Whether the change is part of earth’s climate megacycle, or if the change is human caused, matters not a whit. The change is real. On the west side of the Cascades the rains start later in the fall and end earlier in the spring. The summers are hotter. The result is changes in behavior – some voluntary, others forced. Hotter weather, less fish in our rivers, less snow in the Cascades, smoke-filled air, and dry reservoirs leave Oregonians with no choice but to alter their habits.

We never bothered with installing air conditioning in our home, and now can barely deal with the heat that accumulates indoors. Air conditioning will be our next home purchase. I don’t recall any smoky days in Portland until a few years ago. Now, each summer the smoke seems to arrive sooner or later and, once it arrives, to stay for longer and longer. Air filters are suddenly a good idea. The Columbia River is warmer each year. This year’s steelhead count over Bonneville is abysmal.

The problems associated with a changing climate take place on the other side of the Cascades, too. In Central Oregon the ski season at Mt. Bachelor used to begin around Thanksgiving. The last few years it has been touch and go into mid-December or later. The smoke from fires that are so intense they create their own weather has become an expected difficulty that arrives every August. Wickiup Reservoir, which controls the flow of the Deschutes out of the mountains, is now effectively a stream, not a reservoir. It was the same last year. Prineville Reservoir is holding 31 percent of its capacity, Crescent Lake is at 17 percent, Ochoco Reservoir at 10 percent. The Little Deschutes, a free-flowing stream that enters the main Deschutes just upstream from our home, is flowing at less than half its historical average. I’ve fly-fished both the Little and main Deschutes near my home for 40 years. I can attest that the rivers are warmer, their flows are lower, their plant growth has changed, and there are fewer aquatic insects in the rivers this year than I have ever seen.

The climate has changed in every corner of the state. It impacts urban and rural Oregon. It affects farming and ranching communities, the tourist industry, loggers, fishermen, everyone who lives in the state. We are all affected. Whatever the cause, the results of climate change are far reaching, negatively impacting every Oregonian.

There used to be a time when Oregonians were known for their ability to respond to big issues. During my 50 years in Oregon there have been Republican and Democrat governors, congressmen and senators elected from both parties. There have been political demonstrations, contentious ballot measures, as well as scandals involving politicians from both parties. Until recently, however, Oregonians often found a way to work through differences, and lead the nation in innovative solutions to problems. Land use, recycling, death with dignity, and vote-by-mail are areas that jump to mind as emblematic of our state’s willingness to figure out how to do things and be an example of government that works. Until recently.

Now, along with so much of the country, we find that national political divisiveness hampers our ability to get things done—even when those things would benefit us all

It’s not only in government that the climate has changed. Political discourse is coarser. Political insularity has increased. Rs and Ds watch different news feeds and read different local newspapers. Gone are the days when a local “rag” could build consensus; Tam Moore recently outlined the declining reach of small papers in Oregon. As nationalized outlets draw more of our attention, it is harder and harder to discuss differences and hyper-local issues with neighbors.

There are no easy answers to big issues. And the biggest issue confronting the entire world, climate change, is well beyond Oregon’s ability to solve. But, unless we are willing to condemn our children and grandchildren to an apocalyptic world of starvation, plagues, and vast displacement of populations, the problem solving must start somewhere.

Why not here? I do not pretend to have the answers. But I sense the process. Parents and grandparents from all walks of life, from all corners of Oregon, from all across the political spectrum can agree that climate change must simultaneously be halted and adapted to. If Oregon can lay out a blueprint, if Oregonians can demonstrate how to work together despite our differences, then perhaps we can once again offer direction to others.

Do you have practical ideas to combat climate change that Oregon could adopt, ideas that if Oregon could adopt other states might emulate? What about mandatory divestiture by Oregon of all fossil fuel investments? What about cutting all government air travel by 25% each year? How about requiring all government new construction to rely on solar energy for a minimum of 25% of the building’s energy use?

If you have any ideas that you think could be adopted, please send them to me at eldenpdx@gmail.com. If enough ideas are generated, The Oregon Way will convene a gathering to consider the ideas and think about strategy.

Oregon trial lawyer, 1972-2017. Member, Board of Directors, Southern Poverty Law Center.

**photo credit: "Wickiup Reservoir, Oregon" by Bonnie Moreland (free images) is marked with CC PDM 1.0