Locus Focus

The climate crisis as it worsens every year, triggers in us an urge to act

quickly, if not frantically. But how do we ensure that our timing and actions

actually come from a place of internal coolness that informs what we do? 

On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with V...

Rapid data center growth is leading to unprecedented demands for electricity

in Washington and Oregon. Because both states have passed landmark climate

legislation, committing to an electricity supply free of greenhouse gas

emissions, utilities have been developing plans...

Six miles of toxic tanks have lined the North Reach of the Willamette River

for nearly a century. But it’s only been in the past few years that elected

officials in Portland have started to take seriously the existential crisis

these tanks pose. And the reason that every...

This summer, as Eugene swelters under a heat advisory and mourns the fifth

year anniversary of the 2021 Pacific Northwest Heat Dome which killed over

500 people across the region, the Eugene Clean Energy Fund Campaign is

working to pass an initiative which could dramatic...

As you drive through the eastern end of the Columbia Gorge into the

plateaus of Eastern Oregon suddenly the scenery shifts from spectacular wild

land formations on either side of the river to a swirling web of industrial

infrastructure – massive high voltage towers conn...

Until 1991 Portland dumped its garbage in a wetland in the St. Johns

neighborhood. After the dump closed the land was restored to become Smith

and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area. So where did the garbage go after that? Now

it goes to a Metro transfer station from where it i...

The Human Access Project (HAP) was founded in 2010 on the simple belief that

Portlanders should be able to swim in their river. Since then the

organization has worked on a variety of fronts to transform the Willamette

River’s image from a polluted waterway best avoided, ...

The POWER Act, a new law to insulate Oregonians' energy bills from data

centers, will be rolled out soon.

On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with Sarah Wochele, the Citizen

Utility Board's Equity Analyst & Advocate, about some of the remaining

challenges that we nee...

There is a hole in the Ross Island Lagoon the size of Portland’s Moda

Center, the result of decades of gravel mining. That hole is responsible for

dangerous algae blooms in the lagoon that often spread out into the

Willamette River, making the river hazardous for people ...

Semiconductors are critical to Oregon’s economy. But their production

creates a lot of problems. The companies are not good employers, The industry

has a massive environmental impact and it fuels the AI boom.

On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with Carmelita Perrien ...