Locus Focus

This November Portland voters will have an opportunity to vote on a complex

measure that would amend the city charter in some drastic ways. The changes

include rank choice voting, expanding the city council to 12 members who

would each represent one of four districts, and s...

This summer the U.S. Supreme court decided a trifecta of scary rulings on

abortion, gun rights and environmental protection. So far, the repeal of Roe

v. Wade has drawn the most attention but the other two rulings are equally

concerning.

On this episode of Locus Focus we t...

This program originally aired on March 14, 2022

The Pacific Northwest has fought off two methanol refineries in Washington

and an LNG Export terminal and pipeline in Coos Bay, but the fracked gas

industry still has this region in its crosshairs. TC Energy is full steam

...

This November Portland voters will have an opportunity to vote on a complex

measure that would amend the city charter in some drastic ways. The changes

include rank voting, expanding the city council to 12 members who would each

represent one of four districts, and shifting...

As the climate warms and the need to reduce carbon emissions reaches a crisis

level, two issues converge: how do we keep ourselves safely cool

during extreme heat waves while also reducing our carbon emissions?

On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with Greer Ryan, Oregon ...

The Willamette River is the most industrialized and polluted river in Oregon.

Weaving through the state's largest city, it has been reshaped and abused for

150 years. In 2000 the last 10 miles of the Willamette, home to the Portland

Harbor and Critical Energy Infrastructure...

Portland and other Oregon municipalities are required to inventory their

employment land periodically as part of the comprehensive planning process. 

For decades the city has decided during each inventory process that it needs

more industrial land. In the past, Portland ann...

This program aired originally on May 23, 2022

As pressure increases for us to drastically reduce carbon emissions, one

attention-grabbing option being promoted is renewable hydrogen. But is

hydrogen really the answer to our energy needs or is its promotion largely

based...

Sixty-six million years ago an asteroid some seven miles across slammed into

the Earth, leaving a geologic wound over 50 miles in diameter. More than half

of known species, including the dinosaurs, vanished seemingly overnight. In

The Last Days of the Dinosaurs, science wri...

For decades tribal nations and salmon advocates have been working every

avenue to take down the four dams on the Lower Snake River. These dams

provide a modicum of electricity, negligible passage for shipping and some

irrigation water for farmers. But mostly they kill salmo...