Locus Focus

The Willamette River is a confluence of social, ecological, economic and

historical significance and yet we continue to struggle to protect the very

place that sustains us. But we are beginning to see a crack in the iron wall

that has ruled the lower Willamette, created ...

This program originally aired on May 26, 2025

 

On May 12, The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality held a public

hearing, where over 300 people testified against DEQ approving Zenith

Energy’s draft Air Contaminant Discharge Permit. This is the last permit

Zen...

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

students and now FBI agents are showing up at th...

On May 12, The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality held a public

hearing, where over 300 people testified against DEQ approving Zenith

Energy’s draft Air Contaminant Discharge Permit. This is the last permit

Zenith needs to expand its dangerous fuel facility in No...

News reports claim that emerging technologies that will solve the climate

crisis, such as hydrogen, are just around the corner. But in reality these

technologies are risky, costly and don’t really work all that well.

Hydrogen in particular would actually speed up climate...

While many of us are worrying about how the melting polar ice caps are a

warning of climate catastrophes ahead, for others melting ice is turning

historical dreams of a navigable Arctic into reality and reshaping rivalries

at the top of the world. 

On this episode of Lo...

In 1980 Oregon voters overwhelmingly passed an initiative that bans any new

nuclear reactors until the there is a permanent national nuclear waste

repository. Since 1992 when the Trojan Nuclear power plant in Rainier,

OR closed, the state has been nuclear-free. But over ...

For seven years Portlanders have been trying to stop Zenith Energy's oil

trains from threatening the health and safety of our community. After nearly

three years of community protests and public meetings, the City of

Portland denied Zenith’s application for a Land Use Co...

Where once cows roamed on pastures and fields grew a variety of crops, now

the principal crop is data centers. These massive industrial eyesores are

becoming a fixture across Oregon’s rural and suburban landscapes.

On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with Fred Huette, ...

Portland Urban Naturalist Mike Houck proclaimed the last time he was on Locus

Focus: "We are living in a climate emergencty. It's time for Portland to act

like it!"

On this episode of Locus Focus Mike is joined by Dawn Uchiyama, former

director of Portland's Bureau of E...