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Oregon

Will Oregon Become Most Marijuana Friendly US State

November 2, 2014 Chris McGreal, www.theguardian.com ,
Measure 91 would legalise marijuana use for anyone over 21, permit individuals to grow their own and possess up to eight ounces of cannabis, and bring in tax revenues to be distributed to schools, law enforcement and drug treatment programmes. Anthony Johnson, the chief sponsor of Measure 91, said that the drafters of the proposed law learned from the mistakes of the past. “This time, it’s the rules and regulations put in place that have satisfied people looking to donate to the campaign as well as mainstream endorsers. Previous marijuana measures would have legalised an unlimited amount of marijuana for people to grow and possess at home, for instance, whereas Measure 91 very much regulates marijuana like beer and wine. Those rules and regulations make moderate voters and mainstream endorsers more comfortable with this measure than other measures in the past,” he said. The “Yes on 91” campaign is drawing heavily on the experience in Washington and Colorado to back its case. “People have seen that the sky hasn’t fallen in either state,” said Johnson.

Revolt Against Pesticides In Oregon

October 27, 2014 Evaggelos Vallianatos, www.truth-out.org , ,
n Oregon, the capture of local government by the timber industry results in the destruction of the natural world and the poisoning of the populace, but a Josephine County ballot initiative would ban tree spraying by corporations and government entities. Several grassroots environmental organizations from Oregon invited me to visit their communities and talk about my recent book, Poison Spring. This is a book about the failure of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remain the EPA, as originally conceived. My 25 years of experience at the EPA taught me that the EPA lost its independence soon after President Richard Nixon brought it into being in December 1970. The country's polluters have been bribing Congress and the White House so that, among other political prizes, they could capture the EPA.

Activist Arrested In Blockade Of Oil Terminal To Halt Crude-by-Rail

July 1, 2014 Rising Tide North America, www.risingtidenorthamerica.org , , ,
This morning climate justice activists with Portland Rising Tide shut down the ArcLogistics crude oil terminal in Northwest Portland resulting in one arrest. Portland resident Irene Majorie, 22, locked herself to a 55-gallon barrel filled with concrete that was placed on the railroad track leading into the facility. Train cars enter from a nearby yard to offload oil into 84 storage tanks, before it is piped onto oceangoing ships bound for West Coast refineries. Over a dozen supporters joined her at the site. Majorie's arm was locked to a piece of metal rebar embedded in the concrete. She was cut out of the barrel by the Portland Police and arrested after successfully blockading the tracks for four hours. Immediately after her removal a train engine approached oil cars nearby on the tracks demonstrating the effective blockage of the oil transport during that time. “This is about stopping the oil trains,” said Majorie. “But beyond that, it is about an industry and an economic system that places the pursuit of profit before the lives and relationships of human beings seeking survival and nourishment, and before the communities, ecosystems, and planet of which we are a part.”

Thousands Protest Oil In Naked Bike Ride

June 13, 2014 ShelSebens, www.reuters.com , ,
Thousands of bicyclists, many of them stark naked, poured into the streets of Portland, Oregon on Saturday night for the 11th annual World Naked Bike Ride, a protest that promotes bike riding as an alternative to driving cars. Nude cyclists with lights flashing in their tire spokes rang bells as they barreled down avenues lined with cheering spectators, while a naked, apparently pregnant woman rode in a bike trailer. "This is a party, but it's also a protest," said Carl Larson, a ride spokesman. "It is about oil dependence, cycling vulnerability and body" image. Cyclists showed up in Normandale Park an hour before the ride, shedding garments according to the ride theme "as bare as you dare". The rides are held in more than 75 U.S. cities and in more than 20 other countries, but Portland's is believed to be the largest, with more than 8,000 participants last year. But unlike events in other cities, the Portland ride works with local police, being considered as a protest. Officers direct traffic during what is generally a trouble-free event.
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