Street Roots • June 10-16, 2016
Editorial
Page 3
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■ntad Israel Bayer R israelii streetroots.org
We all have a role in changing our environment
Itaff
Executive Director Israel Bayer
aybe, finally, 2016 might be the year
Portland creates real progress for the
environment.
The year has certainly presented a trifecta of
environmental alarms, in soil, air and water, for the
Portland metro area.
First came the discovery of high levels of
cadmium, chromium and lead coming from the glass
manufacturers, poisoning the soil and atmosphere.
Then came word of lead in our schools’ drinking
water.
And just last week a train
loaded with crude oil derailed
in the Columbia River Gorge,
spilling oil, igniting a fire and
reminding everyone of the high-stakes gambles we
take every day on our environment.
And all the while, the Portland Harbor Superfund
Site has been coming to a head, with the proposed
clean-up plan revealed this week. Our fair city has
one of the most polluted rivers in the country
running through it, and we dump more into it every
day.
Arsenic, PCBs, dioxins, crude oil, coal dust - the
list goes on.
All of this while our state Department of
Environmental Quality - underfunded and
understaffed - stepped out from behind the curtain
revealing an anemic version of the oversight we
thought we had.
And battles over industrial development and land
use continue to pit environmental preservation
against future pollution management.
There’s no question that Portlanders have a rich
history of environmentalism, one that we should be
proud of. But taken for granted, that environmental
reputation has calcified into a green veneer.
Individually, we may be exemplary in our
consideration for Mother Nature. As a city, we have
big problems and a lot of work ahead.
This is no time for hand-wringing, finger-pointing
and resignation over the horse that left the stable.
We have to get back in our saddle.
We are fortunate in our town to have so many
accomplished groups - local and nationally affiliated
- organizing around cleaning up our environment
M
EDITORIAL
and championing more responsible alternatives. Join
the action: The Audubon Society, Neighbors for
Clean Air, Groundwork Portland, Bark, Columbia and
Willamette Riverkeepers, Sierra Club and many
more organizations are here to help you get engaged.
The unveiling of the Environmental Protection
Agency’s Superfund Site proposed plan starts a
60-day period for public input. This is the time for all
of us to have a say in what is to become of our river.
We can’t take this work for granted any longer.
In addition to the impact on animals and our
environment, our polluting habits are costing us in
terms of our health.
In 2008, the Oregon Environmental Council
compiled a study to quantify the economic cost of
the environmentally-attributable components of
asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, lead
exposure, birth defects and neurobehavioral
disorders in Oregon. The conclusion was that the
total costs of environmentally attributable disease
and disability in the state of Oregon for adults and
children is at least $1.57 billion annually with a range
of $1.25 to $2 billion. The estimate of the total cost
of environmentally attributable disease in the state
of Oregon for children alone is $1 billion each year,
with a range of $984.40 million to $1.29 billion.
Some of the recommendations should sound
familiar: Create a lead-abatement program (including
testing in schools), reduce pesticide exposure,
properly fund the DEQ, and reduce exposure to
diesel and gasoline exhaust
And when it comes to devastating impacts of
pollution, everyone is not created equal. There are
places you can go to escape it There are places
where you cannot.
That report was eight years ago. In the time since,
we can’t claim ignorance, just apathy.
It’s important to have national, even global actions
to demand change. But it’s equally important to go
to work on our own backyard.
Whatever your concern, whether it focuses on
your livelihood, the health and wellbeing of your
children, or the future of our environment at large,
there is a local organization of like minds, working to
move the ball forward.
There is no time but the present.
israel@streetroots.org
Managing Editor Joanne luht
\oanne@streetroots.org
Vendor Program Director Cote Merket
..^-¿te^feetroots org
Operations Director Sarah Beecroft
Development Director Sarah Cloud
Program Assistant Scott Jackson, Jesuit
Volunteer
Development Assistant Ann-Derrick
Gaillot
Reporters Emily Green, Suzanne Zalokar,
Ann-Derrick Gaillot, Sarah Hansell, Leonora
Ko, Jared Paben, Amanda Waldroupe
Photographers Diego Diaz, Joe Glode,
Ben Brink
Editorial Assistant Monica Kwasnik
Canvasser Desmond Hardison
Board of Directors
Chairman Brad Taylor
Vice-Chairman Rachel Langford
Treasurer Heather Stadick
Secretary Ämter Bielman
Directors Bruce Anderson, Rich Rodgers,
Michael Anderson, Leo Rhodes, Nora Coon,
Marcus Swift
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Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Stephanie
Holum, Anjali Rathore, Zoe Klingmann, Haven
Herrin, Dan Jones, Rob Shyrock, Dennis Hogan,
Tom Wright, Eileen Deerdock, Vince Waldman,
Judy Taylor, Karen Allen, Monica McKune,
Susan Wolfe, Lucas Hawthorne, Thomas Buell
Jr., Jeanie Lunsford, Yasmin Amirsoleymani,
Jason Cohen, Tom Ray, Doug Spangle,
Susannah Kamala, Jon Raymond, Hilary Smith,
Diana Richardson, Cherie Manning
If you are interested in volunteering with Street
Roots, please submit a volunteer application at
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