Locus Focus

The construction and operation of fossil fuel infrastructure is causing

expensive physical and economic damages to land, air, water and frontline

communities on an almost daily basis. But if, for example, a major

earthquake destroys the tank farms comprising Portland’s Crit...

Boston-based Rye Development wants to build the largest pumped-storage

hydroelectric development in the Pacific Northwest and in the process destroy

irreplaceable Tribal Cultural and Religious Resources. Pumped storage is

touted as the most efficient way to store solar and ...

Transportation is the highest source of greenhouse gas emissions but

emissions caused by residential and commercial buildings, including from

electricity and natural gas use, are close behind. In 2021, while

transportation was responsible for 35% of Oregon's carbon emission...

The oil & gas industry is turning to unproven and unregulated  “gas

certifiers” like Project Canary that claim to “measure” emissions and

label their methane gas as “responsibly sourced”. The certified gas

industry allows companies to charge a premium for their products, an...

Portland prides itself on its green reputation, but it's becoming more and

more apparent that we are facing a number of environmental contradictions and

challenges that belie this reputation. According to Bob Sallinger, Urban

Conservation Director for Willamette Riverkeeper...

For thousands of years the north reach of the Willamette River, near its

confluence with the Columbia, was a braided river of shallow channels and

islands rich in biodiversity. That was until European settlers came to the

Pacific Northwest and displaced the Indigenous pe...

Our planet continues to be saturated with toxic byproducts of the fossil fuel

industry and corporate agriculture. And now these two industrial sectors are

combining forces to appeal to a growing public demand for meaningful climate

action. As the movements to decarbonize an...

This program aired originally on March 13, 2023

Last month marked the 12th anniversary of the 2011 Sendai earthquake and

tsunami. The tsunami caused the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. There

were meltdowns of three of the Fukushima reactors, discharge of radioact...

On February 7, the Eugene City Council voted to phase out fossil fuels like

gas in new homes and buildings, the first city in Oregon to take this step

that will cut climate pollution, improve air quality, and lower utility bills

for households. This vote is a major victory ...

In his 1989 book A Forest Journey, John Perlin shows how an abundance (or

scarcity) of wood has greatly shaped the culture, demographics, economy,

politics, and technology of societies over the millennia. Until our

dependence on fossil fuels, wood was the principal fuel and...