Think Out Loud

This summer, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek recently signed into law an ambitious, $90 million climate package to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and leverage as much as $1 billion dollars in federal funds to tackle climate change. Among its provisions are rebates on medium and heavy-duty electric trucks and help for homeowners to offset the cost of installing heat pumps. It also makes Oregon the fourth state in the nation, along with Washington, Colorado and Maryland, to require building performance standards for large commercial buildings which, along with residential buildings, accounted for more than a third of greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon in 2021. 

The Oregon Department of Energy will oversee the state’s program which will begin in phases starting in 2028, and develop energy targets for buildings 20,000 square feet and greater. The standards do not, however, apply to schools, dormitories, hospitals, parking garages and multifamily residential buildings. Joining us is freelance journalist Erika Bolstad to talk about her reporting on building performance standards and the impact they could have in Oregon.   

Maternal mortality rates in Oregon more than doubled in the twenty years from 1999 - 2019. They rose at an even higher rate in the U.S. as a whole. That’s according to a recent study - and the very first to look at rates across ethnic groups state-by-state. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association earlier this summer, a collaboration between researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics at the University of Washington and Mass General Brigham.

The highest death rates are among Black mothers, and the highest rates of increase are among Native Americans. We talk with co-author Dr. Allison Bryant, an obstetrician and senior medical director for health equity at Mass General Brigham, about the results of the study and what she sees in her own practice.  

 In 2020, former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed an executive order to achieve the state’s carbon reduction goals. The order directs state agencies to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Three years later, we check in with Nora Apter, a senior program director for climate at the Oregon Environmental Council, about where the plan stands now and the progress Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality is making on climate goals.

For the last two months, Laborers’ Local 485 member employees with Metro Park and Nature and the Oregon Zoo have been working under an expired contract with Metro. Negotiations are ongoing, and employees are asking for hazard pay when working in extreme weather, extra days off when dealing with extremely traumatic situations in the workplace and higher pay across the board. Marina Garcia is the guest services lead at the Oregon Zoo. Kendra Carillo is the maintenance lead for Metro Parks and Nature. They both join us to share conditions they and their teams are facing and what they want out of negotiations.

Earlier this year the federal government announced changes aimed at making it easier for schools to get reimbursed for services that they are already providing to children on Medicaid. The program has the potential to serve students where they already are, get schools more needed funding and shift the paradigm on how to approach childhood disability and neurodiversity. But many challenges remain. Portland based freelance journalist Shasta Kearns Moore is the mother of school-aged twins with severe disabilities and runs Medicalmotherhood.com. She joins us to explain the potential impact of the additional funding and share more about the barriers schools still face.

German scientist Peter Wohlleben captured global attention when he wrote “The Secret Life of Trees.” Now, he’s followed up with a new book, "The Power of Trees: How Ancient Forests Can Save Us if We Let Them," that essentially argues that we should leave forests alone, because trees are very good at adapting to whatever comes their way. We spoke to Wohlleben in front of an audience at Powell’s Books.

A conflict over fishing access has some of Oregon’s federally recognized tribes at odds with both each other and the state’s Fish & Wildlife Commission. The commission voted last month to allow the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde to issue hunting and fishing licenses to its own members. It’s approved similar agreements with four other tribes, but the wording of Grand Ronde’s agreement has members of the Yakama, Warm Springs, Nez Perce and Umatilla tribes worried that they could lose access to fishing at Willamette Falls. 

Joining us to explain what’s at stake and what comes next are Karina Brown, managing editor of Underscore News, and Nika Bartoo-Smith, a joint reporter for Underscore and ICT. 

Earlier this month, about 40 organizations, including the Sierra Club, outlined actions that the Eugene Water & Electric Board could take to continue the utility’s transition to clean and renewable energy. The letter follows an analysis by the utility that suggests the need for different sources of low-carbon energy, including the use of small modular nuclear reactors. The analysis is part of the utility’s Integrated Resource Planning process which forecasts future electricity needs. We check in on the plan with Aaron Orlowski, a spokesperson for the Eugene Water & Electric Board.

Artificial intelligence is becoming more sophisticated, and the U.S. is a leader in the technology. Policymakers will need an innovative approach to managing the tech, and safety should be top of mind for government officials, according to Charles Jennings. He’s a Portland-based former AI executive and the author of the book, “Artificial Intelligence: Rise of the Lightspeed Learners.” He joins us with details of what U.S. leaders can learn from history and why Oregonians should be urgently learning more about AI. 

In 2020, smoke from wildfires led Jenifer Cruickshank, an assistant professor and dairy extension specialist at Oregon State University,  to explore how the issue affects livestock. Cruickshank along with several other academics in Oregon and Idaho have banded together to create an online resource hub where researchers are investigating the effects of wildfire on cattle. We learn more about the effort from Cruickshank.