GoGreenNation news

Mexico's Sheinbaum Takes Office, Making History as First Woman President

News Feed

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - When Claudia Sheinbaum takes her oath of office on Tuesday, formally becoming Mexico's first woman president, she will adopt a new government logo that nods to the aspirations of young girls."A young Mexican woman will be the emblem of Mexico's government," Sheinbaum wrote a day earlier in a post on social media, unveiling the logo showing a young woman in profile hoisting a Mexican flag, her hair pulled back into a ponytail not unlike the incoming president's signature look.Sheinbaum has embraced her historic feat in one of Latin America's more socially conservative countries, which until now has been ruled by a series of 65 men since winning its independence from Spain two centuries ago.The former mayor of the sprawling Mexican capital, Sheinbaum has been bolstered by the popularity of outgoing leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, her political benefactor going back nearly a quarter century.But as the former climate scientist steps out of her predecessor's shadow to lead the world's largest Spanish-speaking nation, Sheinbaum will also face doubts and opposition from critics alarmed by the outgoing president's 11th-hour reform drive.Enacted last month, the reforms included a judicial overhaul that will over the next three years replace all of the country's judges with new jurists elected by popular vote."Our hard-won democracy will be transformed, for all practical purposes, into a one-party autocracy," wrote former President Ernesto Zedillo in a Sunday guest essay for Britain's Economist Magazine.Critics of Lopez Obrador and Sheinbaum fear their ruling Morena party has too much power, and that democratic checks on executive power will be undermined.The judicial overhaul's implementation will fall to Sheinbaum, who will also face a widening government budget deficit that could crimp popular welfare spending and costly crime-fighting initiatives at a time when the economy is only expected to grow modestly.The 62-year-old Sheinbaum promised continuity on the campaign trail, and now faces the balancing act of advancing Lopez Obrador's state-centric economic polices, especially over natural resources such as oil and minerals, while also making progress on issues seen as his weak points like the environment and security.She also makes history as the first president of Jewish heritage in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country.Sheinbaum's inauguration caps an unlikely four-decade climb that has taken the daughter of activist academics to the presidential palace.Six years ago, she made history as Mexico City's first elected woman mayor. Until she stepped down last year to run for president, Sheinbaum was known as a data-driven manager, winning plaudits for reducing the megacity's homicide rate by half, by boosting security spending on an expanded police force with higher salaries.She has pledged to replicate the strategy across Mexico, where drug cartels exert widespread influence.Sheinbaum has also promised to continue generous social spending on old-age pensions and youth scholarships, even though the government's 2024 fiscal deficit is estimated at nearly 6% of gross domestic product.While she has expressed interest growing renewable energy projects, she has also said she will ensure the dominance of Mexico's state-owned oil and power companies while opposing any privatizations.In 1995, Sheinbaum earned her doctorate in energy engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and then pursued an academic career, including a stint on the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which later shared a Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.She launched her political career in 2000, when Lopez Obrador, then-Mexico City's newly elected mayor, tapped her to be his environmental chief, tasked with improving the smoggy capital's air quality, highways and public transport.Sheinbaum served as the chief spokesperson for Lopez Obrador's first campaign for president in 2006, which he narrowly lost.In 2015, she was elected to run Mexico City's largest borough, Tlalpan, and became the capital's mayor three years later. That was the same year that Lopez Obrador's third bid for the presidency ended in his own triumph, winning by a margin of more than 17 million votes.Last June, Sheinbaum bested her mentor's margin of victory, polling more than 19 million votes ahead of her closest competitor, who was also a woman.(Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Christopher Cushing)Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters.

By David Alire GarciaMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - When Claudia Sheinbaum takes her oath of office on Tuesday, formally becoming Mexico's first woman...

"A young Mexican woman will be the emblem of Mexico's government," Sheinbaum wrote a day earlier in a post on social media, unveiling the logo showing a young woman in profile hoisting a Mexican flag, her hair pulled back into a ponytail not unlike the incoming president's signature look.

Sheinbaum has embraced her historic feat in one of Latin America's more socially conservative countries, which until now has been ruled by a series of 65 men since winning its independence from Spain two centuries ago.

The former mayor of the sprawling Mexican capital, Sheinbaum has been bolstered by the popularity of outgoing leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, her political benefactor going back nearly a quarter century.

But as the former climate scientist steps out of her predecessor's shadow to lead the world's largest Spanish-speaking nation, Sheinbaum will also face doubts and opposition from critics alarmed by the outgoing president's 11th-hour reform drive.

Enacted last month, the reforms included a judicial overhaul that will over the next three years replace all of the country's judges with new jurists elected by popular vote.

"Our hard-won democracy will be transformed, for all practical purposes, into a one-party autocracy," wrote former President Ernesto Zedillo in a Sunday guest essay for Britain's Economist Magazine.

Critics of Lopez Obrador and Sheinbaum fear their ruling Morena party has too much power, and that democratic checks on executive power will be undermined.

The judicial overhaul's implementation will fall to Sheinbaum, who will also face a widening government budget deficit that could crimp popular welfare spending and costly crime-fighting initiatives at a time when the economy is only expected to grow modestly.

The 62-year-old Sheinbaum promised continuity on the campaign trail, and now faces the balancing act of advancing Lopez Obrador's state-centric economic polices, especially over natural resources such as oil and minerals, while also making progress on issues seen as his weak points like the environment and security.

She also makes history as the first president of Jewish heritage in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country.

Sheinbaum's inauguration caps an unlikely four-decade climb that has taken the daughter of activist academics to the presidential palace.

Six years ago, she made history as Mexico City's first elected woman mayor. Until she stepped down last year to run for president, Sheinbaum was known as a data-driven manager, winning plaudits for reducing the megacity's homicide rate by half, by boosting security spending on an expanded police force with higher salaries.

She has pledged to replicate the strategy across Mexico, where drug cartels exert widespread influence.

Sheinbaum has also promised to continue generous social spending on old-age pensions and youth scholarships, even though the government's 2024 fiscal deficit is estimated at nearly 6% of gross domestic product.

While she has expressed interest growing renewable energy projects, she has also said she will ensure the dominance of Mexico's state-owned oil and power companies while opposing any privatizations.

In 1995, Sheinbaum earned her doctorate in energy engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and then pursued an academic career, including a stint on the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which later shared a Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

She launched her political career in 2000, when Lopez Obrador, then-Mexico City's newly elected mayor, tapped her to be his environmental chief, tasked with improving the smoggy capital's air quality, highways and public transport.

Sheinbaum served as the chief spokesperson for Lopez Obrador's first campaign for president in 2006, which he narrowly lost.

In 2015, she was elected to run Mexico City's largest borough, Tlalpan, and became the capital's mayor three years later. That was the same year that Lopez Obrador's third bid for the presidency ended in his own triumph, winning by a margin of more than 17 million votes.

Last June, Sheinbaum bested her mentor's margin of victory, polling more than 19 million votes ahead of her closest competitor, who was also a woman.

(Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

Read the full story here.

Photos courtesy of

Related News

Pension funds aren’t for playing politics

New York City’s outgoing comptroller is rebuffed in a ploy to drop BlackRock over climate concerns.

The job of pension fund managers is to maximize returns for retirees who depend on them. Yet activists have been surprisingly adept in years past at pushing funds to prioritize environmental activism over generating shareholder value. Brad Lander, soon to be New York City’s former comptroller, has used his final days in office to push that radical agenda at the expense of the people he is meant to serve.

Activism

Climate

Brigitte Bardot: French screen legend and controversial activist dead at 91

The actress who rose to fame in 1956 with "And God Created Woman" later abandoned her film career to become a passionate and often polarizing animal rights advocate.

By THOMAS ADAMSON and ELAINE GANLEY, The Associated PressPARIS (AP) — Brigitte Bardot, the French 1960s sex symbol who became one of the greatest screen sirens of the 20th century and later a militant animal rights activist and far-right supporter, has died. She was 91.Bardot died Sunday at her home in southern France, according to Bruno Jacquelin, of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals. Speaking to The Associated Press, he gave no cause of death and said that no arrangements had been made for funeral or memorial services. She had been hospitalized last month.Bardot became an international celebrity as a sexualized teen bride in the 1956 movie, “And God Created Woman.” Directed by then husband, Roger Vadim, it triggered a scandal with scenes of the long-legged beauty dancing on tables naked.At the height of a cinema career that spanned more than two dozen films and three marriages, Bardot came to symbolize a nation bursting out of bourgeois respectability. Her tousled, blond hair, voluptuous figure and pouty irreverence made her one of France’s best-known stars, even as she struggled with depression.Such was her widespread appeal that in 1969 her features were chosen to be the model for “Marianne,” the national emblem of France and the official Gallic seal. Bardot’s face appeared on statues, postage stamps and coins.‘’We are mourning a legend,’’ French President Emmanuel Macron said in an X post.Bardot’s second career as an animal rights activist was equally sensational. She traveled to the Arctic to blow the whistle on the slaughter of baby seals. She also condemned the use of animals in laboratory experiments, and she opposed Muslim slaughter rituals.“Man is an insatiable predator,” Bardot told The Associated Press on her 73rd birthday in 2007. “I don’t care about my past glory. That means nothing in the face of an animal that suffers, since it has no power, no words to defend itself.”Her activism earned her compatriots’ respect and, in 1985, she was awarded the Legion of Honor, the nation’s highest recognition.Turn to the far rightLater, however, she fell from public grace as her animal protection diatribes took on a decidedly extremist tone. She frequently decried the influx of immigrants into France, especially Muslims.She was convicted and fined five times in French courts of inciting racial hatred, in incidents inspired by her opposition to the Muslim practice of slaughtering sheep during annual religious holidays.Bardot’s 1992 marriage to fourth husband Bernard d’Ormale, a onetime adviser to far-right National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, contributed to her political shift. She described Le Pen, an outspoken nationalist with multiple racism convictions of his own, as a “lovely, intelligent man.”FILE - French actress Brigitte Bardot poses with a huge sombrero she brought back from Mexico, as she arrives at Orly Airport in Paris, France, on May 27, 1965. (AP Photo/File)APIn 2012, she supported the presidential bid of Marine Le Pen, who now leads her father’s renamed National Rally party. Le Pen paid homage Sunday to an “exceptional woman” who was “incredibly French.”In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, Bardot said in an interview that most actors protesting sexual harassment in the film industry were “hypocritical,” because many played “the teases” with producers to land parts.She said she had never had been a victim of sexual harassment and found it “charming to be told that I was beautiful or that I had a nice little ass.”Privileged but ‘difficult’ upbringingBrigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born Sept. 28, 1934, to a wealthy industrialist. A shy child, she studied classical ballet and was discovered by a family friend who put her on the cover of Elle magazine at age 14.Bardot once described her childhood as “difficult” and said that her father was a strict disciplinarian who would sometimes punish her with a horse whip.Vadim, a French movie produce who she married in 1952, saw her potential and wrote “And God Created Woman” to showcase her provocative sensuality, an explosive cocktail of childlike innocence and raw sexuality.The film, which portrayed Bardot as a teen who marries to escape an orphanage and then beds her brother-in-law, had a decisive influence on New Wave directors Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, and came to embody the hedonism and sexual freedom of the 1960s.The film was a box-office hit, and it made Bardot a superstar. Her girlish pout, tiny waist and generous bust were often more appreciated than her talent.“It’s an embarrassment to have acted so badly,” Bardot said of her early films. “I suffered a lot in the beginning. I was really treated like someone less than nothing.”Bardot’s unabashed, off-screen love affair with co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant eradicated the boundaries between her public and private life and turned her into a hot prize for paparazzi.Bardot never adjusted to the limelight. She blamed the constant media attention for the suicide attempt that followed 10 months after the birth of her only child, Nicolas. Photographers had broken into her house two weeks before she gave birth to snap a picture of her pregnant.Nicolas’ father was Jacques Charrier, a French actor who she married in 1959 but who never felt comfortable in his role as Monsieur Bardot. Bardot soon gave up her son to his father, and later said she had been chronically depressed and unready for the duties of being a mother.“I was looking for roots then,” she said in an interview. “I had none to offer.”FILE - French Actress Brigitte Bardot with a dog in the Gennevilliers, Paris, while supporting the French animal protection society operation, Feb. 10, 1982. (AP Photo/Duclos, File)APIn her 1996 autobiography “Initiales B.B.,” she likened her pregnancy to “a tumor growing inside me,” and described Charrier as “temperamental and abusive.”Bardot married her third husband, West German millionaire playboy Gunther Sachs, in 1966, and they divorced three years later.Among her films were “A Parisian” (1957); “In Case of Misfortune,” in which she starred in 1958 with screen legend Jean Gabin; “The Truth” (1960); “Private Life” (1962); “A Ravishing Idiot” (1964); “Shalako” (1968); “Women” (1969); “The Bear And The Doll” (1970); “Rum Boulevard” (1971); and “Don Juan” (1973).With the exception of 1963’s critically acclaimed “Contempt,” directed by Godard, Bardot’s films were rarely complicated by plots. Often they were vehicles to display Bardot in scanty dresses or frolicking nude in the sun.“It was never a great passion of mine,” she said of filmmaking. “And it can be deadly sometimes. Marilyn (Monroe) perished because of it.”Bardot retired to her Riviera villa in St. Tropez at the age of 39 in 1973 after “The Woman Grabber.” As fans brought flowers to her home Sunday, the local St. Tropez administration called for “respect for the privacy of her family and the serenity of the places where she lived.”Middle-aged reinventionShe emerged a decade later with a new persona: An animal rights lobbyist, her face was wrinkled and her voice was deep following years of heavy smoking. She abandoned her jet-set life and sold off movie memorabilia and jewelry to create a foundation devoted exclusively to the prevention of animal cruelty.Depression sometimes dogged her, and she said that she attempted suicide again on her 49th birthday.Her activism knew no borders. She urged South Korea to ban the sale of dog meat and once wrote to U.S. President Bill Clinton asking why the U.S. Navy recaptured two dolphins it had released into the wild.She attacked centuries-old French and Italian sporting traditions including the Palio, a free-for-all horse race, and campaigned on behalf of wolves, rabbits, kittens and turtle doves.“It’s true that sometimes I get carried away, but when I see how slowly things move forward ... my distress takes over,” Bardot told the AP when asked about her racial hatred convictions and opposition to Muslim ritual slaughter,In 1997, several towns removed Bardot-inspired statues of Marianne after the actress voiced anti-immigrant sentiment. Also that year, she received death threats after calling for a ban on the sale of horse meat.Environmental campaigner Paul Watson, who was beaten on a seal hunt protest in Canada alongside Bardot in 1977 and campaigned with her for five decades, acknowledged that “many disagreed with Brigitte’s politics or some of her views.”FILE - French actress Brigitte Bardot poses in character from the motion picture "Voulez-Vous Danser Avec Moi" (Do you Want to Dance With Me), on Sept. 10, 1959. (AP Photo/File)AP“Her allegiance was not to the world of humans,” he said. “The animals of this world lost a wonderful friend today.”Bardot once said that she identified with the animals that she was trying to save.“I can understand hunted animals, because of the way I was treated,” Bardot said. “What happened to me was inhuman. I was constantly surrounded by the world press.”Elaine Ganley provided reporting for this story before her retirement. Angela Charlton contributed to this report.

Activism

Animals

12 Environmental Commentaries That Defined Our Year in 2025

These expert opinions address opportunities to make a difference — and point out a few of our failures. The post 12 Environmental Commentaries That Defined Our Year in 2025 appeared first on The Revelator.

Some of my favorite emails contain variations on an exciting phrase: “I’ve enclosed an op-ed for your consideration.” These messages — and their accompanying commentaries — come to us from environmental experts all over the world who have something important to say about saving life on this big blue marble we call home. Some of them offer roadmaps for improving our efforts to address problems like conservation, environmental injustice, or climate change. Others point out lesser-known threats we should do more to address. Many authors share personal insights and experiences that most readers would otherwise rarely encounter. Here are 12 of our favorite environmental commentaries of the past year, addressing Indigenous rights, coral reefs, activism, some iconic or lesser-known endangered species, and more: ‘Active Management’ Harms Forests — And It’s About to Get a Whole Lot Worse Birding’s Tragic Blind Spot Ghost Reefs of 2083: The Paleontology of Color (A Speculative ‘Fiction’) The Last Breath of the Himalayas: Can We Stop the Collapse? Nature Is ‘Not for Sale’ Palm Oil Continues to Plague Borneo’s Orangutans, Elephants, and Other Icons Rare Earth Metals Must Not Come at the Cost of Indigenous Rights Saving America’s National Parks and Forests Means Shaking Off the Rust of Inaction Saving the Ryukyu Rabbit Tick: The Posterchild of Parasite Conservation Trump’s Approach to Public Lands? Expanding the Extractive Economy and Declaring a War on Nature What Catastrophes Get Our Attention and Why It Matters Who Heals the Earth’s Healers? Ways to Avert Burnout for Environmental Advocates Truthfully, this list could have been twice as long — and it still wouldn’t have included every inspirational or intriguing expert opinion we published in 2025. I encourage you to scroll through our entire Ideas category, where you’ll find a few dozen more essays worth reading. (While you’re at it, keep going back into 2024 or earlier — most of our commentaries have a long shelf life and remain of interest for quite a while after they’re published.) Meanwhile, don’t forget that a different kind of commentary appears a couple of times a month in our newsletter: exclusive cartoons by Tom Toro. Here’s one of my favorites from the past year: Do you have a story to tell in the year ahead? We’re always open to op-eds and commentaries from activists, scientists, conservationists, legislators, government employees, and others — especially anyone with insight about the regressive and repressive second Trump administration. You can find out how to submit here, or drop me a line at any time. The post 12 Environmental Commentaries That Defined Our Year in 2025 appeared first on The Revelator.

Activism

Climate

Conservation

Sarah Burton obituary

My partner, Sarah Burton, who has died of cancer of the appendix aged 73, was a formidable legal and environmental activist. She held senior roles at Greenpeace UK, Greenpeace International and Amnesty International.She joined the law firm of Seifert Sedley in the late 1970s, after impressing them with her negotiating skills for the Seymour Place Co-operative, in London. During the 1980 Blair Peach inquest, Sarah secured a high court order stopping proceedings and requiring the coroner to sit with a jury.In the mid-80s, with her law partner Mike Seifert, she coordinated representation for thousands of striking miners and fought off countless injunctions. During the strike, she gave birth to her daughter, Hannah, receiving a large bouquet from Arthur Scargill.Born in New York to Henrietta (nee Berman), an accountant, and Irving Novak, a garment worker who owned his own business, Sarah went to Long Beach high school, Long Island. She moved to Britain in the early 70s, worked as a legal secretary, and took evening classes to become a solicitor; she qualified in 1980. She married Rick Burton in 1973 and they divorced amicably three years later, remaining friends.In 1990, Sarah joined Greenpeace UK as their first in-house lawyer. When British Nuclear Fuels obtained an injunction preventing Greenpeace UK from stopping BNFL dumping nuclear waste into the Irish Sea, Sarah advised that foreign activists – not bound by UK courts – could lawfully block BNFL’s wastepipe. She was right. She left in 2002 and became an independent consultant for a number of NGOs and charities; in 2006 she joined Amnesty International as campaign programme director.From 2009 to 2018 she managed senior programme staff at Greenpeace International, in Amsterdam. In 2009 she travelled to Sumatra, where illegal logging threatened a local community. When told to bring whatever she would take on a camping trip, she replied: “A hotel reservation?” Surrounded by armed soldiers, she asked the community whether they wanted to move or stay. They chose to stay, and she insisted Greenpeace stay with them. In time, the soldiers withdrew.Sarah retired in 2018 and we moved to Bridport, Dorset, in 2020, where she embraced painting and steel drumming. A founder of Lawyers for Nuclear Disarmament, she also served on the boards of Natural England, English Nature and the Public Law Project.Though known for her courage, Sarah was proudest of mentoring young women activists who went on to lead within Greenpeace and other NGOs. After 20 years together we celebrated our civil partnership in April.She is survived by me, her daughter, Hannah, and her brother, Milton.

Activism

Business

Waste

Portland faces pressure to reduce storage capacity at fuel hub amid quake risks

Community activists want the 20% drawdown to start immediately while the city proposes to complete it by 2036.

The city’s proposal to reduce storage capacity at the fuels hub in Northwest Portland has drawn sharp criticism from community advocates and others who argue the proposed timeline is dangerously slow given seismic risks and climate threats. The clash came to a head at a Planning Commission hearing Tuesday night as city staff outlined a plan for a 20% reduction to be completed by 2036. Environmental activists, tribal representatives and neighborhood groups pressed for the drawdown to start immediately and called for raising the targets as fuel use falls statewide. The dueling proposals are part of an effort to chart a future path for the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub, a 6-mile stretch on the Willamette River along U.S. 30 between the Fremont Bridge and the southern tip of Sauvie Island. Eleven companies own fuel terminals there that store crude oil, diesel, renewable diesel and other fuels in more than 400 aging tanks. Over 90% of Oregon’s fuel supply comes through the hub. Numerous studies, including a seismic risk assessment by Multnomah County, have shown the fuels could spill and explode if the soil under the tanks liquifies during a massive earthquake generated by the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The hub also faces numerous climate threats, including wildfires, flooding and landslides. Earlier this year, the city outlined four alternatives for the hub’s future, including a 17% drawdown of existing unused tank storage capacity. The three other alternatives did not call for reducing fuel storage – two called for the expansion or limited expansion of renewable and aviation fuels at the hub and a third prohibited all fuel expansion but without a drawdown. Ultimately, after considering community input, city staff settled on the most stringent option and their proposed draft for the hub’s future recommends a 20% drawdown on existing unused fuel storage capacity by 2036 as well as amendments to prohibit fuel expansion at existing terminals and to support risk reduction at the hub. Under the city proposal, companies at the hub would have to submit a baseline inventory of in-service tank capacity by October 2026. Whether companies abide by the drawdown requirement would be measured in 10 years – there are no interim requirements, something many advocates criticized.Aster Bloem, a spokesperson with the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, said the 2036 timeline aligns with how long companies at the hub have to complete seismic tank upgrades as required under a new Oregon law and monitored by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The 10-year timeline also gives the companies time to figure out which tanks will come out of service and to reconfigure the remaining storage tank capacity, she said. Interim drawdown requirements could potentially interfere with the seismic upgrades, Bloem said.But activists with several community groups said Portland should speed up the drawdown timeline and make fuel storage reduction targets even more stringent. Multiple speakers urged the city to impose the drawdown requirement immediately, or as soon as the City Council adopts the policy code. “The city cannot wait 10 years to act, yet BPS (the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability) proposals do nothing to meaningfully reduce the risk over the next decade. We cannot afford that delay,” Heather King, the co-executive director of the nonprofit Willamette Riverkeeper, told the commission. The city reached its calculation of a 20% drawdown by 2036 based on a percentage of empty space in tanks now. Federal data shows that currently, on average, tanks are filled only to 70% of their capacity, leaving 30% empty. About a third of that empty space is reserved to prevent spills, said city planner Tom Armstrong. The drawdown target would mean companies at the hub could no longer use the empty excess space to store more fuel. City officials said Oregon’s need for fuel will decrease slightly by 2036, making it somewhat easier to restrict the use of tank space by that time without affecting fuel supply reliability in the state. If that’s the case, said opponents, then why not make the companies reduce their capacity now. A 20% drawdown is already possible and should be implemented right away, community groups said. Advocates proposed measuring drawdown needs based on actual tank daily fill levels reported to the Oregon fire marshal’s office, rather than estimated tank capacity based on federal Energy Information Administration data. The state data showed that only 40% of the tanks’ overall capacity is being used on average instead of 70% according to the federal data. “Drawdown must be based on data, not projections based on best ‘guesses,’” said Nancy Hiser, a Linnton resident and community advocate who for years has warned about the dangers of an earthquake-caused spill at the hub. Advocates also said adjustments to the drawdown restrictions should be done every three to five years to align with the decrease in Oregon’s demand for liquid fuels and as the state transitions to electrification of cars and trucks. Bloem, the bureau spokesperson, said city staff matched the federal data with a storage tank capacity inventory that they compiled from Multnomah County and DEQ data. The resulting modeling estimated how much of their available storage companies use each year.The state data, on the other hand, is less useful, Bloem said, because it includes only average daily volumes and peak daily volumes, not total volumes. Also, due to confidentiality rules, the city cannot report data for individual terminals, she said. Bloem said the city will continue to monitor the hub and may adjust the drawdown requirements, beyond the 10 years. “As the fuel needs in Oregon change, there could be future opportunities to change the city’s requirements,” she said. The public can continue to submit written testimony until Friday.The Planning Commission will discuss the proposals during two work sessions in January and February. The commission will vote Feb. 10 on its recommendation to the City Council. Another opportunity to provide testimony will be open from Jan. 13 to Jan. 23.

Activism

Climate

Energy

Suggested Viewing

Among Giants

Among Giants begins three years into the McKay tree-sit- a response to Green Diamond Resource Company’s clearcutting of redwood forests. Atop his tiny platform a hundred feet up in the ancient redwood canopy, Farmer must battle the elements and avoid isolation as he fights for a sustainable future. The film uses a restrained verite style that reflects the pace of life in the tree village. As Farmer outlasts a vicious storm, counts the rings on a felled tree, and trumps through a recent clear cut, the film asks questions about what it means to follow one’s beliefs and make a difference in the world.

Forests

Activism

Nature

The Z-Nail Gang

When a corporate mining giant moves into a small coastal town looking for gold and talking about trickle down wealth some folks just aren't convinced.

Activism

Resources

Fiction

Dry Wells of the Paso Basin: A Tragedy of the Commons

In the early 1990s, agricultural corporations and other investors began buying thousands of acres of cultivated and uncultivated land with water rights in the scenic wine country of San Luis Obispo County, California. They planted more vineyards and sank dozens of deep, powerful wells for irrigation that have over-drafted the already depleted Paso Robles Basin aquifer. Around 2010, the shallower wells of hundreds of country homes and small farms and ranches began failing. This documentary tells that story through the voices of three small landowners who lost their livelihoods and hopes for their futures when their wells went dry. The film then follows how they and their supporters organize social force to participate in local political processes to assert their water rights and their concerns for the environmental health of the Paso Basin.

Water

Agriculture

Activism

The Whale Guitar: Instrument of Change

Inspired by Herman Melville's epic tale, "Moby-Dick or The Whale", a late-blooming singer/songwriter and former toy designer, Jen Long, acts on a startling vision and commissions the design and build of a remarkable custom electric guitar. It's body is "The Whale" itself as it snags the mad Captain Ahab in the tangled ropes of his own obsession, and prepares to launch a boat of his whalers to their doom. The entire guitar reinterprets Melville's tale as an Anthropocene climate change warning, with the whale representing the seas and storms of climate change arising on this "third day" of late stage capitalism. Hundreds of guitarists, including J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., and Marissa Paternoster of Screaming Females, have played and signed this "Instrument of Change" to amplify the alarm to turn our ship of over-production and over-consumption around while there is still time. As the embroidered strap featuring Starbuck's last words implores: "oh! Ahab, not too late is it, even now, the third day, to desist."

Music

Activism

Climate

Wake Up People!

Environmental activists have been camping in Sodros for more than four months with the purpose of stopping the trees from being cut down. In the past few days Chinese company CRBC workers have been showing up at the site accompanied by the police and gendarmerie forces. The activists have been requesting to see the permits and the documentation for the work they are planning to conduct from the CRBC workers. The CRBC workers haven’t shown any of the permits. Also, the work has begun without a construction board being clearly visible, which is mandatory by law.

Sustainable

Social Justice

Nature

Cookies help us run our site more efficiently.

GoGreenNation news

Mexico's Sheinbaum Takes Office, Making History as First Woman President

Related News

Pension funds aren’t for playing politics

Brigitte Bardot: French screen legend and controversial activist dead at 91

12 Environmental Commentaries That Defined Our Year in 2025

Sarah Burton obituary

Portland faces pressure to reduce storage capacity at fuel hub amid quake risks

Suggested Viewing

Among Giants

The Z-Nail Gang

Dry Wells of the Paso Basin: A Tragedy of the Commons

The Whale Guitar: Instrument of Change

Wake Up People!

Join us to forge
a sustainable future

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Cookies help us run our site more efficiently.

Mexico's Sheinbaum Takes Office, Making History as First Woman President

Related News

Pension funds aren’t for playing politics

Brigitte Bardot: French screen legend and controversial activist dead at 91

12 Environmental Commentaries That Defined Our Year in 2025

Sarah Burton obituary

Portland faces pressure to reduce storage capacity at fuel hub amid quake risks

Suggested Viewing

Among Giants

The Z-Nail Gang

Dry Wells of the Paso Basin: A Tragedy of the Commons

The Whale Guitar: Instrument of Change

Wake Up People!

Join us to forgea sustainable future

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Join us to forge
a sustainable future