Nonprofit groups tackling issues like climate change, food concerns

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Nonprofit groups tackling issues like climate change, food concerns

—Carol Savonen

Many non-profit organizations work statewide to sustain Oregon’s environmental, economic and social networks. A few examples:

The Climate Trust

Oregon was the first state in the nation to respond to global warming by passing a state bill (House Bill 3283) in 1997 to limit "greenhouse" emissions to control carbon dioxide, the most prevalent global warming gas. The law requires new power plants to counter their global warming impact.

Power plant developers must meet a carbon dioxide emission standard, 17 percent below the best available technology, or mitigate their emissions by making a payment to a qualified non-profit organization, which in turn uses the funds to stimulate projects that reduce or sequester carbon dioxide emissions.

In response to this landmark legislation, a nonprofit organization called The Climate Trust (formerly Oregon Climate Trust) formed in Portland to initiate, encourage and fund projects and educational activities to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The Climate Trust’s first $1.2 million came from the Klamath Cogeneration Project. The 500-megawatt, gas-fired, steam co-generation power plant near Klamath Falls, Ore., is a state-of-the-industry partnership between the City of Klamath Falls and PacifiCorp. With "carbon offset" funds from the Klamath project, the Climate Trust is funding the following projects:

Working with the Lummi Indian Tribe of Puget Sound to protect old growth forest in a 100-year conservation easement. Stored carbon in that forest and previously logged forests will offset the release of global greenhouse gases and protect ecosystems.
Developing a web-based carpool matching service, CarpoolMatchNW.org, with Portland’s Office of Transportation. The new service will link riders and drivers from Salem to Vancouver, Wash. The new service predicts that it will help reduce significant carbon dioxide emissions over 10 years. Patterned after a web matching program in Redmond, Wash., Portland’s CarpoolMatchNW.org web site will be tested this summer and will tentatively be up and running for free public use after Sept. 1, 2002. Users of the site will enter their point of origin, destination, and schedule and will see a map showing the location and e-mail addresses of potential riders in their neighborhood.

The Climate Trust recently received $5.5 million in mitigation funds from two proposed power plants in the Hermiston area: the Hermiston Power Project and Coyote Springs 2. Proposals for mitigation projects using these funds are under review.

The Food Alliance

American consumers really want to buy environmentally friendly food products and support sustainable agricultural practices, says a 1996 study commissioned by Oregon State Univerrsity, Washington State University and the Washington State Department of Agriculture. More than 50 percent of the consumers surveyed stated concern about the environmental impact of agriculture. And they stated a willingness to do something about it, as long as it was easy.

The Food Alliance was founded in 1994 by a diverse group of people who shared a common vision of "a region where vibrant farms produce healthy food for informed consumers." It has grown into a non-profit organization of farmers, consumers, scientists, grocers, processors, distributors, farm worker representatives and concerned citizens working together to supply consumers with food produced locally, in a sustainable and affordable manner.

Food Alliance certification standards that farmers have to meet include conserving soil and water, seeking alternatives to pesticides and caring for the well being of farm workers and rural communities. Farmers in the program earn the right to market their products with The Food Alliance seal of approval, now found on produce and other agricultural products sold in grocery stores.

The Nature Conservancy of Oregon

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) of Oregon, a private non-profit conservation organization, works with communities, businesses and citizen volunteers "to protect Oregon’s amazing diversity of native plants, wildlife and natural landscapes."

Since its start by volunteers in 1961, Oregon TNC has helped to protect more than 1.4 million acres of important natural habitats in every corner of Oregon. They own or cooperatively manage 47 nature preserves in the state. More than 27,000 Oregon households and 100 corporate members support their efforts.

"Oregonians are united by a common love for our natural surroundings," said Cathy Macdonald, director of conservation planning for TNC in Oregon. "But as Oregon’s population grows, it becomes increasingly critical to protect the most vulnerable habitats. Working together, we can ensure that Oregon’s wildlife and wild places remain for future generations to treasure and enjoy."

Oregon TNC’s most recent conservation effort involves Oregon’s largest private forest landowner, Willamette Industries. In May of 2001, Willamette donated six ecologically sensitive properties to TNC for permanent protection as nature sanctuaries. These parcels will safeguard imperiled habitats including Oregon’s largest remaining coastal wetland of its kind, an isolated mountain refuge for rare plants, large remnants of native valley prairie and other areas of rare botanical diversity.

"It has been said that in the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create but by what we refuse to destroy," said Russell Hoeflich, The Nature Conservancy’s Oregon director.

The Oregon Food Bank

Oregon Food Bank is a community-based non-profit organization dedicated to fighting hunger and its root causes. Food from a variety of sources moves through warehouses to a network of eighteen regional food banks across Oregon and 280 local agencies in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties and in Clark County, Washington. The Oregon Food Bank also makes more efficient use of foods, with volunteers gleaning unharvested food from farmers’ fields and distributing some of it through its distribution system.

Working actively with other hunger-relief agencies and anti-poverty organizations, the Oregon Food Bank attempts to identify and address the root causes of hunger through public education and advocacy.

Their mission is to "eliminate hunger and its root causes, because no one should be hungry." They envision a sustainable future where everyone will have the capacity for ready access to an ample, nutritious, affordable and appropriate food supply through traditional, non-emergency channels.

In 2000, the Oregon Food Bank and its network of agencies throughout Oregon collected more than 41 million pounds of food, enough to fill 1,000 semi-trailers. The food came from community-based fund drives, the U.S. Department of Agriculture surplus commodities, growers, processors, manufacturers, and 6.5 percent of it was purchased with money raised by the Food Bank.

The food is distributed through facilities such as: food pantries, shelters, day care centers, youth and senior programs, rehabilitation centers and soup kitchens.