Having lived in the Willamette Valley almost my entire life, I have witnessed the dreaded shifting of our beautiful climate to one that is radically less supportive to our collective thriving. The drought-ridden summers with intense heat waves killing off even the hardiest of Douglas-firs and the erratic temperature swings during cooler months are climate patterns I hardly ever saw growing up but now are an annual occurrence.
These extremes in climate land hardest on people who are doing the least amount of polluting but are often the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as extreme temperatures and unpredictable weather changes. We know that CO2- and methane-producing products like oil and natural gas are directly causing this harm to our communities.
Therefore, it is time to make radical changes in our own energy infrastructure to combat this harm and convert our systems towards a cleaner, more resilient future of renewable, electric energy. This is a task that starts now by the Eugene City Council to create strong ordinances restricting further oil and gas infrastructure construction and incentivizing the installation and conversion to electrical energy. We demand this for the wellbeing of our communities.
Annelie Haberman
Eugene
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
Comments are closed.