Locus Focus

The landscape of Washington County has been transformed from one of the most

productive agricultural regions in the world into a maze of gargantuan data

centers. On this episode of Locus Focus we continue the tale of how this high

tech noxious weed is spreading across th...

A high tech type of noxious weed is spreading across Oregon. For several

years data centers have been popping up across the state, destroying

farmland and habitat. Enticed by abundant water and energy and tax breaks

from cash strapped local communities, high tech compani...

A glaring unspoken dynamic orbits around the myth of carbon pricing as an

economically effective means to address climate change. The assumption that

carbon pricing works to avoid catastrophic climate chaos takes on a mythical

quality, even as the data and science show t...

The fossil gas industry knows that it's being driven out of business because

there are so many actual clean alternatives now to what the industry has

deceptively dubbed "natural" gas. But instead of gracefully going away or

transitioning to fill another niche in our ener...

"Hope dies last" is a concept popularized by Jessie de la Cruz, a

farmworker activist with the United Farm Workers. It refers to the enduring

human spirit and capacity for resilience, envisioning creative solutions and

persisting even when facing dire circumstances like ...

Until recently very few Portlanders spoke about, let along fretted over the

Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub along the North Reach of the

Willamette River. But in the last couple years it has become more of a public

concern because of the inherent danger of stori...

For decades the six mile long tank farm along the north reach of the

Willamette River, known as the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub (CEI hub),

has lurked with its toxic stew of liquid fossil fuels and chemicals,

seemingly unnoticed by most Portlanders. Except for its ...

This program first aired on March 31, 2025

Northwest Natural Gas's Smart Energy program advertises itself as a way for

customers to “offset” their natural gas emissions by funding projects

that the company says “reduce, or prevent the release of, greenhouse

gases.” But ...

Floodplains are our watershed's natural buffer from the impacts of flooding

as they absorb and filter water. But when floodplains are developed, we

permanently lose those ecosystem benefits. In Oregon, many of our floodplains

are developed for industrialized uses, which ...

This program aired originally on June 2, 2025

In these disturbing times as we watch democracy crumble and wonder whom the

oligarchs will go after next, how do we ground ourselves in the work we need

to keep doing? First they come for the immigrants, then international ...