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Statements from the League of Women Voters of Oregon From Lisa Bentson, LWVOR Co-President All of us here at the State League share in the grief felt nationwide by the recent and surprise passing of LWVUS President Dr. Turner earlier this week. We just attended a special meeting of League Leaders where over 50 people paid tribute to Dr. Turner. Included in the tributes were League Leaders, LWVUS Staff, and their new Leadership. I was touched by the number of red hearts displayed on many Zoom attendee boxes. I did not have the pleasure to meet Dr. Turner, but nonetheless was inspired and impressed with the words, stories, and experiences that were shared. She leaves behind two children and a new husband whom she only recently married. LWVUS is communicating closely with the family on personal as well as professional aspects of her passing. Please see the important links below. A few are time sensitive such as the virtual funeral information scheduled for this Sunday. Also, please note the email at communications@lwv.org where you can send/share your own photos and stories of Dr. Turner. As we collect comments we will update our blog and forward to LWVUS so they can know we are grieving together with them but also carrying on her legacy. Respectfully submitted by Lisa Bentson, Co-President From Rebecca Gladstone, LWVOR Co-President With deep affection, profound sadness, and devotion to our shared mission, here's to you, Dr. Turner. We'll Keep on Keeping On, for you. A few times in our lives we are graced to meet rare beacons- brilliant, poised, pushing to do more, yet circumspect and listening, warm and fun-loving, inspiring and motivating. You have touched us, knowing that across League expanses, your love for what we share will … Make Democracy Work. Let’s treasure memories; we all have our own. We faced COVID-19 and stayed together virtually. Dr. T & Virginia waved for all of us, from the LWV Rose Parade float. We adjourned the LWV Convention to march, together, over to the Denver state house the day the Dobbs decision broke. This is a heartbreaking loss for the League, across the country. From Oregon, condolences all around, especially to those working most closely with Dr. T, the national board and staff, the front lines folks in the marches, elections, and courthouses. To Dr. T’s family- please know that President Turner has influenced history. On behalf of the Board, our Advocates and Voter Service volunteers, our Youth Council, and Oregon members: Thank you. Becky Gladstone, LWVOR Co-President From Celine Ioffe, LWVOR Youth Council President Meeting Dr. Turner during the National Council in 2023 was incredibly inspiring and I was devastated to hear of her passing. Her kindness and genuine care for humanity shone through in every interaction she had, and my experience with her was no different. Speaking with Dr. Turner about the future of the League as well as our shared passion for reproductive justice was not only meaningful but cemented me in the work I was doing. I am sending my condolences to her family and am grateful to have been inspired by Dr. Turner. Thank you, Celine Important Links and Resources Regarding Services All League members are invited to view the LWVUS Livestream of Dr. Turner's funeral services this Sunday beginning at 11 am CT. LWVUS Contact Information Send photos and comments: communications@lwv.org Send donations: https://www.lwv.org/givetribute See inspiring quotes collected by LWVUS: https://www.lwv.org/blog/inspiration-late-lwv-president-dr-deborah-ann-turner Read Dr. Turner's obituary: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/obituaries/piow0707800 In closing, we share this moving video of Dr. Turner singing a song she and others sang on the Selma March. She was there as a little girl.

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By Aram Peterson, Solution Architect / Advisor Aram presented an OLIS tutorial at Legislative Process Day on Nov. 7, 2023 and offered an extensive Q&A afterward. He followed up after the event with the extended explanation below. Dive into OLIS with an expert! Access OLIS (Oregon Legislative Information Solutions) here. The question was, “Where can I see what bills the governor has signed?” My first answer was the Senate Journals, and House Journals listed on the Secretary of the Senate’s site, or the Chief Clerk’s site, (links located under the Senate or House menu on the main public website).  That answer was correct, but as I mentioned these may not be published until sometime after session.  They have a section in those documents for “House Measures Signed by Governor” or “Senate Measures Signed by Governor”. However, there is a daily “Joint Status Report” publication that is automatically re-generated daily during session that also lists all Measures signed by the governor. To get to this publication, click on the More menu, then expand the Reports/Documents section, and look for the “Daily and Cumulative Session Publications”. In the page that loads, the top should be a section for Cumulative Session publications, and the one you’ll want is the “Joint Status Report”.  In some cases, if this publication gets too big, there may be a separate one for the House & Senate, but in any case, you’re looking for the Status Report.  (This publication is only available in a “Regular” session, during an interim it’s not generated.)  Click to open the PDF. Inside the PDF, the page number is going to be different each time, but just search in the PDF for the key phrase “SENATE MEASURES SIGNED BY GOVERNOR”, or “HOUSE MEASURES SIGNED BY GOVERNOR”.  There will be a table with all the measures signed up until that point. I believe it will also list in another nearby section any bills vetoed or line item vetoed (if there are any). You can find this same publication for prior sessions.  It’s generally refreshed daily until a couple months after session and all signings are input.  So, to get it for a prior session use the Session Menu to choose the session you want, and then follow the instructions above, More Menu, expand reports, etc. There are a variety of other sources of information on the More menu, and I would encourage anyone to just browse around. An additional page to highlight is the “New and Updated Measure List”.  This page will list all measures that have had any new versions published during the day.  In other words, all newly Introduced bills, and any bills amended, or engrossed will appear on this list.  Because the push of the new bill text content is generally done around 6 PM, during normal business hours you’ll want to generally click the arrow to go back to the prior day. This page won’t show much except during session, but during session it’s a great page to check daily for anything new.  You can click the link to open the PDF of whatever is “new” right from the list. Another item under the More menu that you may find interesting is “Floor Letters”.  These are the letters that members have requested their Desks office to leave on the floor desk for their fellow members.  The submitted date should be the day it was left on the desk. This page lists all floor letters submitted by any members for that session.  Floor letters are also shown on the Bill Overview page (if they are related to a specific bill), but this page on the More menu will list all of them, regardless of if they are bill related or not. I wanted to mention one additional thing regarding the e-subscribe.  There is a link on the Bill Overview page for each bill to subscribe, BUT as I indicated that is only active during session.  There is also an e-subscribe link in the lower left corner in OLIS, that should be listed no matter which page you’re on.  This will take you to the page on the public website, where you can sign up at any time. We didn’t manage to get to the Committees menu, but it works similar to the other things we covered.  You can expand the Type sections (Senate/House/Joint, etc.) and click on the committee you want to view.  And then browse through all the info related to that committee.  On the right side is a list of all meetings scheduled for that committee, you can click the meeting date, and then will see all the details about that meeting.  For session committees (only session committees can hear actual measures) you can expand the date, (little blue arrow to the left of the date) and it will show all the measures scheduled for that meeting, click on the measure for more detailed info.  The little play icon will play the recorded video for that meeting.  If you don’t see the blue arrow, that means there were no actual measures on the agenda.

See the January All-Members newsletter here.

League observers at the COP24 conference in 2018. The annual UN Climate Conference, COP28, was held from 30 November until 12 December 2023 at Expo City, Dubai. League representatives attended again this year (in-person and virtually) as observers for the League of Women Voters of the U.S. See daily reports below. 12/13: COP28 Day 14 Observations from Robin Tokmakian, Virtually Many of you have awakened to the news that - yes - COP28 finally did adopt, by consensus, a text on what is known as the Global Stocktake and how to be more ambitious on the way forward into the future. As is the case with multilateral negotiations, no one was completely happy with the text but as in the LWV, they could live with it. Samoa, speaking for the small islands, suggested they might not have agreed with the text if they had been in the room - this is a little disconcerting. Antigua and Barbados, while agreeing to the text, emphasized that financing is easy to obtain for fossil fuel projects, including LNG-type systems, but financing for renewables is quite difficult. We need to do better. The African Group emphasized the need to approve the Global Goal for Adaptation in the coming COP in 2024. They emphasized the need for adaptation funding, rather than mitigation funding which is long overdue. The text of the final GST agreement can be found here  Look for Agenda item 4, right side has a download link - you need to check the box for English for it to download. Below are extracts relating to more ambitious actions to address emissions. 28. Further recognizes the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5 °C pathways and calls on Parties to contribute to the following global efforts, in a nationally determined manner, taking into account the Paris Agreement and their different national circumstances, pathways and approaches: (a) Tripling renewable energy capacity globally and doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030; (b) Accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power; (c) Accelerating efforts globally towards net zero emission energy systems, utilizing zero- and low-carbon fuels well before or by around mid-century; (d) Transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science; (e) Accelerating zero- and low-emission technologies, including, inter alia, renewables, nuclear, abatement and removal technologies such as carbon capture and utilization and storage, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors, and low-carbon hydrogen production; (f) Accelerating and substantially reducing non-carbon-dioxide emissions globally, including in particular methane emissions by 2030; (g) Accelerating the reduction of emissions from road transport on a range of pathways, including through the development of infrastructure and rapid deployment of zero-and low-emission vehicles; (h) Phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that do not address energy poverty or just transitions, as soon as possible; 29. Recognizes that transitional fuels can play a role in facilitating the energy transition while ensuring energy security; The COP under the Paris Agreement, also did not approve the text to fully operationalize the carbon market (Article 6). Several groups worried that the market did not have strong enough constraints and references to human rights — including the EU, Mexico, and the Independent Alliance of Latin America and the Caribbean (IALAC). 12/11 and 12/12: COP28 Day 12 & 13 Observations from Robin Tokmakian, Virtually Things have not gone to plan and COP28 is still going on, although not in public and only in backrooms. Most of my on-the-ground sources have left and only a few observers are left to encourage Parties to do the right thing. Saudi Arabia does not want the words “Fossil Fuels” to be anywhere in the outcome text. The African Countries seem to think that phasing out fossil fuels will leave their countries in a developing state and will never be up to the Sustainable Development Goals the UN has set for the world. The EU thinks that the Carbon Market Rules will allow too much wiggle room. The US is somewhere in the middle, with John Kerry desperately not wanting the negotiations on the closing language to collapse. And the small island states just want to have their countries not get drowned. It is heartbreaking to hear the representatives speak about these small vulnerable countries. Another petrol state will host COP29 in 2024 - Azerbaijan. And in 2025, Belem, Brazil at the mouth of the Amazon will be the host. I want to be optimistic, but it is extremely hard.  If and when something else comes out of COP28, I will update you all. 12/9 and 12/10: COP28 Day 10 & 11 Observations from Robin Tokmakian, Virtually Negotiations on the global stocktake, Article 6 (markets), and adaptation funding have crawled to a stop (almost). The UAE COP presidency held a “Majlis” on Day 11 to try to find a compromise on various topics. The heads of delegations (John Kerry for the US) sat in a circle (on chairs) and shared their views. While many countries said they were looking for compromises and willing to work with others - several countries took hard positions … such as “no language on phasing out fossil fuels”, vs. “must phase out fossil fuels”. Oil-rich countries on one side, and Pacific Island countries on the other. The word “balance” is a favorite for many countries. And financing is always at the center of all the negotiations. I listened to a talk about the global ocean observation system. Collecting these measurements taken from buoys floating around the ocean, satellite systems, and ships cost 100s of millions of dollars and needs new funding every 5 to 10 years. As an oceanographer who has used and collected such data, I know the value of these data. But even the presenters in these talks mentioned that they needed more money to keep taking the measurements to produce a long time series. As I listened, I pondered whether the dollars spent on collecting data could be spent to fund mitigation efforts in developing countries.  Is there an end point where we’ve collected enough data to understand the earth’s warming signal? Also, listening to various voices around COP, there is a definite cry for funding adaptation efforts even at the risk of having less funds to address mitigation. This is worrisome, but it is a developed world concern, rather than from the developing world. 12/7: COP28 Day 8 Observations from Robin Tokmakian, Virtually Baku looks like the place for COP29 in 2024. Troubling again, both on a personal level and an environmental level. Bolivia is quite upset about negotiations on what is referred to as Article 6 - the market mechanisms/non-market mechanisms for reducing global emissions. Bolivia and its “Like Minded Developing Countries or LMDCs” favors non-market mechanisms, rather than market mechanisms to reduce emissions. Such things include putting a price on carbon, and deforestation efforts. The LMDCs insisted that if they didn’t get the text they favored into one of the sections of Article 6, they would not support any of Article 6. Most of the language in article 6 was agreed to in previous COPs and it is almost operational. But there are lots of hangups of specific language related to a standard way to submit, electronically, the information about a credit. Until the parties agree to this, the mechanism at the heart of COP, can’t be activated. Elsewhere, negotiations on the Global Stocktake decision language were taken up at the ministerial level (or political level). The divergent views still exist and the process forward seems unclear to me. Why is this important? The decision, if agreed to, would make a statement on how well the world is doing in addressing climate and how we can be more ambitious, including with funding, to address adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage.  This includes how to leverage financing to do the job. 12/5: COP28 Day 6 Observations from Kim Cameron, In Dubai Energy, Industry, and Just Transition are the theme of the day. In honor of the day, I went to a talk entitled: Accelerating the elimination of methane emissions and the decarbonization of oil and gas. What did I learn? Well - number 1. Methane is hard to detect, but the collective “we” are getting better at detecting the sources. And, now, thanks to Climate TRACE, we should have no problem detecting the sources (yes!!!!). However, developing countries need technological support to eliminate methane emissions. Goal: Zero methane emissions by 2030. 50 national oil companies (NOCs) and independent oil companies (IOCs), representing more than 40% of global oil production have signed the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC): ambitious and actionable targets that support the aims of the Paris Agreement. The Near Zero Methane Action Agenda aims to support the O&G industry in achieving near-zero methane emissions by 2030 by unlocking financing mechanisms and technical solutions. Just to put this in perspective: 28,000 wells in the US need to be addressed (honestly, this does not seem like an astronomical number to deal with, but I’m sure I am underestimating the amount of work required to fix these wells). We need to eliminate valves that allow methane to leak, capture methane from the stack and redirect it into storage in the ground, and electrify compressors (there is a supply chain issue here) which requires strengthening the grid. Money is flowing into this sector, so maybe we can get this done. Can we get this done - yes. Will companies decide this is where they should invest their money? That is a different question. The answer to that question lies in the next question - will it save them money (or better yet, make them money)? Because that seems to be the true driver of change. After that fairly depressing (but supposed to be uplifting talk) I went to one of the Global Climate Action talks: Taking Stock of Climate Action: Energy and Industry: Accelerating Systems Transformations. Here we heard from Nicola Davidson, VP of Sustainability for ArcelorMittal (a global steel and mining company with 160K employees, all of whom are working hard to decarbonize steel), Concepcion Boo Arias, director of global partnerships and ESG, public and regulatory affairs at Maersk (Maersk moves cargo around the world by air, land, and sea). Some major points of interest: Maersk needs to make sure that the ships they use are made of the highest quality of steel (which is conveniently also better for the environment). They have a program to take ships out of commission after some time (25 years I believe) and recycle them. Many vessels are coming up for recycling over the next few years and their goal is to recycle those sustainably and replace them with more efficient systems. A great message, but no real change to their system (one would not know that the world is on the edge of a catastrophe). Steel standards are an issue. There are different ways to make steel and standards have been lacking. Steel standards were announced at COP a couple of days ago: https://www.responsiblesteel.org/news/steel-standard-principles-launch-at-cop28/ This is a major step forward to defining what is low carbon steel, near zero carbon steel, etc. Why do we care? Well, 5% of carbon emissions come from steel! Standards allow a life cycle analysis to be accurate and promote a circular economy. Before I end today’s blog, I do want to touch on a couple of other talks I went to. Electrifying Cooking: a just journey towards net-zero. 2.3 billion people across Africa and Asia use biomass for cooking. This is a problem: it takes time (an average of 4 hours) to find wood and cook the meals, women’s health is affected by the air pollution associated with cooking over an open fire in an enclosed space and finally, lost productivity for women. The lack of progress is estimated to cost $2.4 trillion each year according to the World Bank. So, the Global Electric Cooking Coalition was launched today to convert Africa and Asia’s kitchen to a new type of fuel. A few things to unpack here. One is the fuel transition: pellet biomass, liquid natural gas, and coal primarily. What happened to solar and wind? Good question, and I don’t know the answer, but I do know that this initiative is supported by the UAE who are financing $4.5 billion to unlock Africa’s clean energy initiative (which they plan to do with LNG). Second, the reason: this transition is not taking place because it is the right way to empower women - it is taking place because the private sector has finally been convinced that this is an economic problem. Four hours of cooking could become four hours of low-paying work for women outside the home. Will this empower women? The jury is out. Third, I’ve talked to several people who are involved in the initiatives to convert cooking and it’s not working - women don’t want to stop cooking over a flame. The food tastes different, the recipes are different, and using a pressure cooker is just not the same as letting a stew cook over an open fire for hours. No surprise here - we have the same issues in the US. No one wants to give up their gas stoves even if they are told that gas in the house is a serious hazard to their health. A final sad note: almost no one was in the large auditorium where this session was taking place. Lots more happened today, but this is all I have time for. 12/4: COP28 Day 5 Observations from Susana Hancock, In Dubai OK, wow! Day 5 and still alive (I think? not sure when I last slept!!). I didn't update yesterday because I didn't finish until 3:30 am, BUT I did manage a social media deluge. I've been posting a fair bit on Instagram throughout the day each day anyway in addition to my little daily minute wrap-ups I've been sharing here. One post, my boss told me to put on LinkedIn and it blew up--several thousand notifications by the time I had breakfast. Yooowwwwww. My Instagram is instagram.com/susanahancock_ if you want the inside look throughout! Here's a little ditty I made yesterday wrapping up the first four days with what's ahead of us.... https://www.instagram.com/p/C0buKjtrYF8/ Let's just say A LOT!!! I've been arriving early to the venue--not just because it avoids the epic queue to get through security in the morning but also because that's when we are starting science coordination for the negotiations. I'm currently working on a cryosphere-wide project (poles, glaciated regions, and now also including mountainous parts of Earth), which successfully got the cryosphere into the final text at COP27 in Sharm last year, and we're getting more countries to sign on this year. Initial indication from UN Secretary General António Guterres is that we have permission to cause "good trouble" on Friday during negotiations. Still finalizing permissions, but stay tuned!! Yesterday after my morning dose of science and before the afternoon/evening fill, I spent briefly with Candice in a session on global health. And then I ran to Al Gore's presentation on Climate TRACE. This was awesome, though as an avid consumer of TRACE, I'm biased. TRACE uses remote sensing, satellite data, etc. to secure real-time emissions, thereby preventing companies from underreporting or selling emissions to get away with not cutting. I started working with TRACE nearly two years ago, around the time it launched, just ahead of COP26 and have since launched the first two public-facing apps in the world using the data. I'm happy to talk about this data set if anyone is keen, it really is an incredible resource! Today's highlights included more science and negotiations and then an incredible catch up with Dr Svitlana Krakovska, who seems to hold the Ukrainian science and climate world together. She is also a polar scientist, but moreover, she's an incredible human being, and I love my chances to visit with her at every and any opportunity. We had very emotional discussions on the impacts of science on war and vice versa. This was both at the structural level and also at the very personal. The Ukrainian pavilion is back this year for the second year running and the exhibits are powerful. My other big highlight for the day was speaking with the Climate Vulnerable Forum and the Lancet. The CVF is one of my partners for my big public health grant starting in January. We had some terrific talks about using the European tribunal system as well as the Universal Periodic Review--a process through which all UN member states can interrogate the others regarding human rights. Additionally, coalitions of nation states have already expressed interest in joining my project, even though it doesn't kick off until later in the winter. Luckily, the climate crisis is a human rights issue so the door is open! 12/3: COP28 Day 4 Observations from Robin Tokmakian, Virtually Here’s the link to many of the webcasts of the side events. Many events have been recorded and available for the general public outside of registered participants to view. Click away! I virtually attended an update session on the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.4. This is the carbon trading mechanism article. Operationalizing the market is still some ways off, maybe by 2025. From what was said, it should be much better/fairer than the Kyoto Carbon market, which by almost everyone’s views, was a failure. One side event today was called “Human Rights at 75." Given that LWVUS Advocacy chair at the time, Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the drafting committee, it is good to know that the declaration has stood the test of time. The Global StockTake Negotiations on a decision text has a long way to go. As they say in diplomatic speak “there are many rich views” discussed (controversial/differing views? ). The differences today were in the area of international cooperation, guidance into the future, and loss and damage. Many countries want to include language related to human rights, but some countries, such as Iran, push back on including such language. The US suggested some language related to sea level rise and how a country’s status and maritime economic zone should not change, even if part of it disappears - interesting. Some countries made the point that the language would need to be consistent with the UN’s Law of the Sea language. There are so many overlaps with many other international agreements that it must be hard for the diplomats to keep things consistent. Although I’m only a virtual participant this year, I did receive a note from the UNFCCC saying that they had to prohibit observer actions between 1:30pm and 3pm because it was too hot and they were worried about people’s safety. Don’t know if something happened to make this new rule or not. Observations from Candice Owley, In Dubai Today was the first-ever Health Day at COP. The effort was led in large part by WHO to let the world know that the climate crisis is the greatest health threat in the world. The healthcare workers on the front line were the first to sound the alarm about the deadly effect of climate change. Throughout the day there were many health-connected events and the day ended with the first-ever convening of over 100 global health ministers. To bring attention to the health crisis, the COP issued a Declaration on climate and health. The declaration signed by 123 countries expressed grave concern about the negative impacts of climate change on health and stressed the urgent need to strengthen health systems given lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic which strained all health systems and widened inequities. The declaration concluded with the commitment to convene regularly and to review progress at future COP meetings and other WHO and global meetings. Today was the first-ever Health Day at COP. The effort was led in large part by WHO to let the world know that the climate crisis is the greatest health threat in the world. The messages of yesterday were reiterated: climate change is killing us, urgent action is needed, health is the human face of the climate crisis, and healthcare leaders and providers have an ethical responsibility and public trust to be the ones that make this crisis real to policymakers and the general public. This urgent call to action included the role of civil society to also take the lead in educating the public about the clear and present danger of climate change. One speaker suggested we measure progress on the climate crisis not only by emissions reduced but by how many lives were saved or lost by our actions each year. It would be a powerful way to put people at the center of the discussions. I can’t help but reflect that while today we celebrate the fact that finally COP put health front and center at this year's meeting the reason is that we failed to understand how fast climate change would become life-threatening. In many ways today is a sign of our failure to act. We’ve allowed the situation to get so bad that we can no longer turn away or bury our heads in the sand as we could for the last 27 COPs. My other reflection is that I believe the League can play a role in this crisis by educating our members and our communities about the life-threatening effects of climate change. Lives are being lost every day and we all have a part to play in this fight for the future of mankind and of the planet. 12/2: COP28 Day 3 Observations from Robin Tokmakian, Virtually Another day of negotiations and side events. It started with various High-Level panels on health initiatives. Finally, COP28 is centering day 4 as “Health Day”. And —money, money, money … There were negotiators asking for text to be added to various documents requesting money be set aside for technology and capacity training, and ministers gave statements committing money to various things, such as health issues. While dollar commitments were made, money flowing into various funds is not guaranteed. This especially is the case with the US’s commitments and the fact that Congress has to approve the funds (not likely this year or in 2024). The reality is how far the US, as one of the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, can go to reach its NDC if we don’t have a Congress and Executive branch to make it happen. Observations from Candice Owley, In Dubai Today began again with a lot of confusion and delays as a result of restrictions related to so many heads of state attending but the good news is they will all be gone by tomorrow and then negotiators will get down to business. Still, I think it is important to say that the presence of so many county leaders sends a message to the world that the climate crisis is real and we must take action now. Once again I spent most of my time on health. I was fortunate to receive one of the very few tickets to a high-level leader’s session on Putting Health at the Center of the Climate agenda. The session began with the COP 28 President, Sultan al-Jaber, stating that we do not need any more evidence, that climate change is real and it is deadly. He said we know that at least 7 million people a year die from air pollution alone. He announced that tomorrow at least 123 national Health Ministers will be at COP to announce the endorsement of a declaration on health. He again stressed that this is the first COP to put Health at the center of the program. He also said that we need to develop tangible results and not just words on a paper. That the health agenda is the most powerful way to make climate change real and that Climate change is the single biggest health threat to humanity. The President was followed by Dr. Tedras the head of the World Health Organization. Dr. Tedras said that health care can be a game changer in the fight for action on the climate crisis. He also called out fossil fuel production as environmental vandalism. Speaking truth to power. He reminded us that Health is the human face of climate change. Their remarks were followed by a panel which included the head of Doctors Without Borders. Members of the panel shared many disturbing facts such as the major increase in malaria and other mosquito-born diseases and the emergence of new pathogens. It was enough to scare the pants off of anyone. Tomorrow will be the meeting of the Health Ministers and the pledge of support for the new health declaration plus an announcement about significant funds debated the health issues. I was fortunate to also meet a group of nurses from the Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment who asked after Connie and were sorry to hear she wasn’t present in person this year. In closing, I also learned where to get bandaids and replacements for lost metro cards and was glad I brought COVID test kits with me as there was an outbreak in the human rights work group. Observations from Susana Hancock, In Dubai Hello all from Day 3! I gotta say: the air quality here is getting to me. It was 156 this morning when I woke up, and quickly I lost decent sight of the world's largest gas power generator out my window--just one short metro hop down the line but it poked through the smog. I've had migraines that develop when I'm outside for too long. I've taken to wearing a mask and am doing what I can with saline washes, which I do think helps a bit. This morning I started off on sessions about carbon absorption with the Prince of Monaco Foundation. This was great for me, because I saw Prince Albert II of Monaco over coffee and the head of his foundation. I've been working with Prince Albert and his team to develop his Polar Initiative, which he is now planning to steer toward geopolitics and science diplomacy. I followed this with a quick hello to John Kerry, who seems significantly better than earlier this month when he and I were amongst four Americans President Emmanuel Macron brought to France for pre-COP negotiations with the One Paris Summit. I was able to then catch the second half of Mini's session on the intersection of the climate crisis and public health where I met up with Kim. Unspoken in her session, this panel highlighted a gross frustration of mine--the dominance of the male patriarchy in climate discussions. Why is it that women are left to deal with "women's problems" when really, the education of girls, eg, is a societal problem? Why is it girls' job to fight for their own education? Where are the men speaking up? I tried to accompany Kim to the French Pavilion but after taking my seat, I got called to the UNFCCC's Global Innovation Hub for a talk with Future Earth and the Club of Rome. This session was both phenomenal and terrifying. We looked at the stats of the conference, and as an expert for the IPCC's last assessment report, the results were scary. Did you know that only half of one percent of attendees here are scientists?? Did you know that the leaders of this conference are not even using the most recent (2021--some of which is already outdated) IPCC research??? After a brief moment of recovery (in the form of coffee--given to me from a single use Keurig--I made my way to the Cryosphere Pavilion for a talk relating to some of my NGO's work on modeling sea level rise from Greenland and Antarctica and the implications for small island states (physics isn't their friend...). Here's a little mental math for you - that global loss and damages fund? The amount pledged thus far totals 0.006% of what some of the same donors spent on fossil fuel subsidies last year! Here's a little mental math for you - that global loss and damages fund? The amount pledged thus far totals 0.006% of what some of the same donors spent on fossil fuel subsidies last year! I'm not sure why no one else has done that math, but that spurred me to write an article that should be appearing in the US news in the next day or so. In better news, Colombia became the tenth country to sign onto the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative today!! What's exciting is that Colombia is the first non-small island state. I testified last August to get Portland, Maine to sign on, after giving a talk at COP27 with the founder of the Fossil Fuel Treaty, so this is a baby I follow. Tomorrow, I head very early to take part in a small science negotiation for the draft text of the COP outcomes, and then it's likely a relatively relaxed day to explore and learn new things! Here's a little tour through Michael Pinsky's Pollution Pod art installation. Pretty powerful and reinforces my privilege to live in a safe-air area!! 12/1: COP28 Day 2 Observations from Candice Owley, In Dubai It has been an interesting, exhausting, and often confusing experience for me as a first-timer at COP. As an observer, I am not able to participate in any negotiations so I decided to find ways I could have influence and also increase my knowledge of the issues. I decided to focus on labor and human rights and on the critical issue of the impact of climate change on heath. Each day I attend a briefing by the Trade Union group and also one by there Human rights Working Group. Both of these daily briefings have been extremely helpful. At the meeting I learned of the importance of urging our US representatives to push for inclusion of both labor and human rights during all stages of the negotiations. We were told that that many countries do not want to even acknowledge the impact on workers and the human rights issues that are linked to climate change. There was much reporting about the adoption on Day 1 of an agreement to fund the damages from climate change. The activists groups (labor, women, youth, etc) while supportive of the action they all reported there were disappointed because there were many flaws with the language but efforts now need to turn to influencing who has power to make decisions about the funds including how it is distributed and who is at the table for the next stage - implementation. So more work to be done. Also much criticism of the promise of a very low financial contribution from the US compared to other big counties. The other major focus of my time has been on health. For the first time in COP history there will be a Health Day. On that day the largest number of Ministries of Health from around the world will be here to call attention to the critical link between climate change and health problems. I will report more on this issue after Health Day which is December 3rd. Speaking of health, there was a great presentation centered on the recently adopted UN declaration affirming the human right to a health which links this right to climate change. What is clear is that the right to a healthy environment is a basic and fundamental human right. All over the world activists are using this concept and bring and winning law suits to stop policies that would be damaging or have been damaging to peoples health. I’m looking forward to the even greater focus on health in the next few days. Observations from Susana Hancock, In Dubai Yesterday's historic passing of Loss and Damage continues to ruminate in my head. YES, it was incredible to get passed--but it honestly weighs on me heavily and uneasily. I'm really worried that L&D is being framed as the success of this COP. Why is that concerning? First, the current pledges are woefully insufficient, and I'm honestly sick of pledges--they are never paid!! As of last year, the US had paid 5% of its pledges to climate funding and yet was still signing for more. Second, though, is that the focus on L&D has been on adaptation rather than mitigation. Now, we need adaptation, but we also need mitigation. This ties into my bigger concern that the closing documents are going to leave out the phaseout of fossil fuels, stating rather that we need to bring in interventions (carbon capture, eg), enabling us de facto to continue to develop the fossil fuel industry. By passing L&D, the conference can argue that we've already had a major win--even though it's a scratch at the surface for what needs to happen for L&D--especially as fossil fuels continue to flourish. By passing Loss and Damage, the conference can argue that we've already had a major win--even though it's a scratch at the surface for what needs to happen for L&D--especially as fossil fuels continue to flourish. Today was the first day of the Global Leaders' Summit, so we got to hear from everyone from PM Narendra Modi to King Charles. This continues tomorrow after which pressure will escalate for some walking behind the talking. In the morning, I attended a session on the intersection of the climate crisis and public health, especially concerning vector-borne diseases, and then had several conversations on this topic. I've just received a multimillion dollar grant to link polar-driven planetary tipping points to global health, so this has been an area developing for me quite a bit. I also spent a fair amount of time at the Ocean Pavilion, where I networked, discussed collaborations and attended sessions on Arctic pollution and plastics. I'm working on trying to develop a democracy project for COP29, so I began some inroads today, which will continue over the coming days. The air pollution is getting to me a bit. I'm not the only one-- people have been getting nose bleeds and walking around with towels in their nostrils! 11/30: COP28 Day 1 Observations from Robin Tokmakian, Virtually After a slow start — starting at midday rather than at 9 AM, COP28 Day 1 ended on a somewhat positive note. The parties agreed to initiate a Loss and Damage fund, temporarily hosted by the World Bank but run by an independent board (membership to be determined). This is the first year the parties have agreed to something on day 1 of a COP. From what I understand, the US negotiator who was part of the Loss and Damage transition committee was instrumental in formulating a compromise. But before all of this happened, a small sideshow. Let me explain. At the start of each COP, the agenda contains some items which I would call business items, such as voting on the next COP chair, setting up rules, etc. One of the items is to approve the list of NGOs that have applied to be observers in the past year. This year the list included 600 or so organizations from around the world, bringing the total to somewhere in the 1000s. Among the organizations were George Soros’ OpenSociety and a US-based organization, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI). After the item was approved, Russia asked for the floor and complained that these 2 organizations were fronts for US state-funded political activity (not true) and admitted such organizations only politicized the process - and such organizations shouldn’t be allowed to participate in the future. A few minutes later, the US Delegate, John Kerry, asked for the floor and, sounding somewhat annoyed, stated that civil society organizations should not be prohibited from participating. Somewhere, both these statements will be a part of the official COP28 record. Also admitted as an approved NGO was the American Petroleum Institute — a surprise, because I would have assumed they'd have asked to participate years ago!

See the December All-Members Newsletter here.

CLIMATE LEGISLATION IS OUR TOP ISSUE Date: February 21, 2020 To: All League Members and Oregonians From: Rebecca Gladstone, LWVOR President Julie Chapman and Claudia Keith, Climate Portfolio WE NEED SUPPORTERS IN THE CAPITOL DAILY THESE NEXT TWO WEEKS We want to be in the halls, in the House and Senate chambers, and in our legislators’ offices – making sure they know how important it is to pass climate legislation in 2020. The Oregon Greenhouse Gas Initiative (SB 1530 and HB 4167 – identical bills) is broadly supported throughout the state. Thousands have submitted testimony and published opinion pieces, from public health providers, to your League. We recognize the urgency to address this Climate Crisis. If you have legislators who might walkout over the climate bill, please contact them immediately to let them know how important it is to you that they remain to vote. Find Your Legislators Here. If you are uncertain of their stand on the Oregon Greenhouse Gas Initiative, thank them for supporting this thoughtful approach to reducing our emissions. PLEASE JOIN US DURING THE NEXT WEEKS IN SALEM! WE WILL MAKE SURE LEGISLATORS KNOW WE ARE COUNTING ON THEM TO VOTE! Because schedules shift daily (even hourly now!), we encourage you to sign up for “Get Involved” updates from Renew Oregon, for the most up-to-date information on what is happening in the capitol. We rely on Renew Oregon, the large coalition LWVOR works with on climate legislation.

See the November All-Members Newsletter here.

LWVOR Action for Climate 2023 Proposed Rulemaking! Time-Sensitive Deadline: On or Before Oct 13, 2023, 4pm Date: October 9, 2023 To: All League Members From: LWVOR Co-Presidents Lisa Bentson & Rebecca Gladstone (Advocacy Chair) Claudia Keith, LWVOR Climate Emergency Portfolio Coordinator Arlene Sherrett, LWVOR Climate Emergency Portfolio ACTION: Contact DEQ RE: Climate 2023 Rulemaking REQUEST: We are asking local League members throughout Oregon to protect this critical piece of climate rulemaking by emailing DEQ at cpp.info@deq.oregon.gov. EMAIL YOUR COMMENTS to DEQ: Tell DEQ what matters to you! See our DEQ letter and tell DEQ what matters to You! We feel the Climate 2023 Rulemaking should: Ensure direct benefits for Oregon communities by only allowing biomethane (aka Renewable Natural Gas) compliance credits for production within Oregon, not from out-of-state. Restrict hydrogen for CPP compliance unless DEQ ensures it is green electrolytic hydrogen. Other hydrogen sources and types are far more polluting, with more risks for our energy system. Strengthen emissions reduction requirements for industries. BACKGROUND: DEQ is developing rules to implement the Climate Protection Program (CPP), passed with overwhelming community support after 18 months of work. These rules have been developed and won’t be reviewed again for another five years. The LWVOR Climate Emergency Team feels changes are still needed to close loopholes and guarantee robust emissions reductions. The CPP’s Community Climate Investment (CCI) program is designed to play a key role in generating community benefits and limiting greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon. However, those benefits have been cut back by utilities’ input. This is our last opportunity to persuade DEQ to make changes before the proposed rules are presented to EQC for final approval in November!

We are deeply saddened by the loss of our dear colleague, Alice Bartelt, who has been President since May 2023 and long-standing Action Chair, trusted informally as Parliamentarian for the League of Women Voters of Oregon. Read more about Alice's life and legacy in her obituary. A Celebration of Life for Alice Bartelt has been set for 4pm October 13. Lisa Bentson, our First Vice President, and Rebecca Gladstone, Second Vice President, will be Acting Co-Presidents of the League of Women Voters of Oregon. Please contact lwvor@lwvor.org with any questions or messages you would like to share. Responses from members: I always felt connected to Alice by her responsible activity on behalf of all us Leaguers and by extension all Oregonians. A loss for all LWVers of Oregon. My condolences you — and to family. Fran Greenlee, Bend This is so very sad. I send ALL of us sympathies for this unwelcomed event. She was one very special person. Barbara Klein This is truly sad news. What a loss for the League and all of us who worked with Alice for so many years. Marge Easley Oh dear! She will be so missed! She really cared so much about doing the right thing! Josie Koehne This is such sad news. What a great loss. Katie Riley Alice gave so much to the League for so long, as well as to her work as a parliamentarian. A great loss. Debbie Kaye Alice was a model for many of us. She could be responsible to groups, keeping up with her political commitments, but also keep an individual life. She could be generous and kind, and also keep things in order with Robert’s Rules. One of the lights in the room we were blessed to know. Jody Wiser Oh, my deepest sympathies to her family and friends. I had many positive experiences working alongside her at the capitol and in meetings. Alice, thank you for all you did for the people in this state. John Bartholomew My sympathies to Alice's family, friends, and her League family and friends too. Carol Moon Goldberg Condolences to all her family as well as to the League family. Abigail Bok In sadness I join you to mourn the passing of Alice Bartelt. What a woman. What a leader! Please continue to keep all of us in the loop regarding any memorial service and how her memory can be honored. Most Respectfully, Kathleen Mason A profound loss. Our condolences to Alice's loved ones and the LWV of Oregon community. League of Women Voters of the United States We will miss Alice, not only for her expertise, but for her grace. Carolyn Buppert Alice's passing has shocked and saddened so many of us. My sympathy to her family and to all those that love her. She had an impressive memory for Robert's Rules of Order and League protocol. At meetings I attended where she was Parliamentarian, she never referred to the rule book. She was organized, knowledgeable about so many things, gracious in conversation, and devoted to the League. Her passing is a loss to so many people. Judy Froemke, LWVPDX Member Education Chair I knew Alice as a dedicated, knowledgeable, respectful, and generous League leader. She was committed to helping the Oregon League achieve its advocacy priorities. She also kindly shared her time and expertise to serve as a parliamentarian and a speaker for local Leagues as well as LWVOR. Her death is a sad loss for all of us who knew her and who benefited from her service to the League and to Oregon. Margaret Noel We mourn the loss of this hardworking, effective leader. As chair of the League of Women Voters of Oregon's action on state issues, she made a difference to all Oregonians, and she will be sorely missed. Peggy Bengry I was so saddened to hear of the death of your president and wonderful League leader, Alice. I know her family and your league family are in mourning and devastated. I am reaching out to let you know that we are here to help in any way we can and mourn along with you. Take care and extend my condolences to your board and membership. Yours in League, Deborah Turner My deepest sympathies on losing Alice. She was a guiding light in our League as Chair of the LWVOR Action Committee and newly elected President. Her contributions and work ethic were an inspiration to us all. It was an honor to be a member under her leadership in the state Action Committee. She was a remarkable woman and her work will live on both in the League and in our hearts. My sincere condolences, she will be dearly missed. Fondly, Nancy Donovan, member of the LWVOR Action Committee, and Chair of the LWVPDX Education Committee I knew Alice in a variety of contexts — the American Association of University Women of Oregon and the Oregon League of Women Voters. I am profoundly saddened that I won’t see and hear her leading the LWVOR State Public Policy team, receive her informative emails about the legislature or experience her keeping AAUW of OR members on track with her wise leadership as Parliamentarian. I don’t usually use the signature I typed in below, but I thought it might give you an idea about how Alice and I intersected. There are many qualities I admired about Alice, but perhaps the most important to me was her generosity. When I took over from her, Kappy Eaton and Marcia Kelley as the AAUW of OR State Public Policy Chair some nine years ago, Alice was always helpful in getting me going, answering questions and so on. I frankly felt that she wasn’t given enough credit for the work she did before I came on, but I hope she heard my appreciation. Although I didn’t see her organize things, I experienced the results of that organizing talent. It’s hard for me to believe all the “balls in the air” that she balanced. Alice was very perceptive and I so very much appreciated her willingness to be honest. It is a quality I cherish and one which is all too often in short supply. I have some wonderful memories sitting at a luncheon table, trading a chuckle or two about this or that — sometimes about the state legislative world, sometimes about the AAUW and LWV worlds. I sought her company when she wasn’t sitting at the head table, although we shared that assignment as well. My sincere condolences to you, her family. I will miss Alice. Warm regards, Trish Garner, J.D., M.S.W. Member, State Action Committee, League of Women Voters of Oregon Member, Board and Portland Justice Interest Group, League of Women Voters of Portland, Oregon Member, National Inclusion and Equity Committee, American Association of University Women State Public Policy Chair, 2014 - 2022 and Current State Diversity Chair, American Association of University Women of Oregon I am so sorry to learn this. I worked with Alice on the state Higher Education study and was immediately impressed with her wealth of knowledge about the League and other matters, as well as her organizational skills and ways of dealing with people. She was one of the major influences on my becoming active in LWVPDX. We have all suffered a major loss. Linda Mantel, LWVPDX Development Chair Sorry to hear about this, she has been a dedicated and effective activist for so long. The world is a better place for her commitment and work. Mike Hiland What a devastating loss! Alice was an amazing woman and leader. I had the privilege of working with her on several league projects. Alice's attention to detail never flagged, so it's no surprise that she was a parliamentarian par excellence. I offer my sincere condolences to Alice's family and friends, and to her league family as well. Alyce Prudden, Past President, League of Women Voters of Curry County

President's Report Dear Members and friends, It’s a new League year and a very new board. The Board had its retreat in June and there was much enthusiasm and creative ideas from our members. I am definitely discovering the many talents that this group has, and I very much appreciate all of the energy and willingness to take on new tasks. In an effort to be more inclusive, board meetings will be held on Zoom and will occur on the 4th Monday of the month at 7:00 pm. We are hoping that this might make it possible for more members to join the board. Alice Bartelt LWVOR President Save the Date Fall Workshop – October 7, 2023 in Eugene Legislative Process Day – November 7, 2023 at the State Library in Salem Youth Voter Summit – January 19, 2024 in Salem You will receive more information about these events in the near future. Help Wanted LWVOR has an open board position: Voter Services Chair (formerly, Voter Education Chair). Voter Education includes Youth Outreach, Mock Elections, civics educational programs, etc., and no longer will oversee Vote411, Voters' Guides, or other General Election activities. We know that local activities are important, but we cannot be effective during the next election cycle without state volunteers to cover these important tasks. The specific duties can be sent to you if you have an interest in doing any of these. We want to thank Susan Cobb for leading the effort to revamp this position so that several folks can do the work for Voter Services at the state level. More News The Sine Die Legislative Report (sign up here)will be coming soon. It had to wait to confirm which bills would be signed or vetoed by Governor Kotek. This was a fairly successful legislative session in many ways for the people of Oregon. We hope that you will have time to read it to see how much work our volunteers do. As promised at the Convention in May, the Farmworker Issues position was amended by the State Board to replace “farmworker” with “agricultural worker.” This broadens our position to allow workers who do agricultural work to be included when we use our position in advocacy. This is especially important in this time of rising temperatures and other risks for these workers. If you have not visited the LWVOR website in the last month, you will find that it has been updated by Sarah Andrews and Abigail Hertzler. It looks fantastic and we hope that it is more user-friendly. You will need to sign up to access members-only information but most of it is available to the public. This was a huge undertaking and we appreciate the work of our staff on this. The Youth Council and the board advisors who liaise with them are very busy. They are planning the Youth Voter Summit in January, but are undertaking many projects before then. We are hoping to have a presentation by them at the Fall Workshop as well. If you were at our Convention in May, you had the opportunity to meet some of these energetic folks. We are extremely fortunate that this group has formed and that they are doing outreach to other youth.

Today, the US Supreme Court affirmed the importance of our system of political checks and balances. The Court rejected state legislatures’ exclusive and independent authority over federal elections as seen in the dangerous “Independent State Legislature” theory. The case, Moore v. Harper, involved the “independent state legislature theory” (ISLT), a fringe political theory that would give state legislatures nearly unrestricted authority to set the rules and manipulate the outcomes of federal elections. The case that brought the issue to SCOTUS - Harper v. Hall - raised concerns about the extreme partisan gerrymandering of North Carolina’s congressional maps. Though this case was overturned by the North Carolina Supreme Court on April 28, 2023, the question of ISLT at the US Supreme Court remained. In today’s decision, the Court rejected the ISLT. How the Ruling Affects Oregon If the US Supreme Court had ruled in favor of ISLT, it would have meant that the Oregon Legislature could gerrymander the state districts, and there would have been no avenue to appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court. Furthermore, if “legislature” was narrowly defined, then initiatives would not have been included. Fortunately, six justices decided that the rule of law and our system of political checks and balances was more important than the strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. “LWV Oregon stands with all 50 state Leagues of Women Voters to protect our elections from state government partisan gerrymandering.” - Rebecca Gladstone, Former President, LWVOR (October 2022) On October 26, 2022, the League of Women Voters of Oregon, alongside every state League in the nation and the League of Women Voters of the US, filed an amicus brief urging the Court to rule against the Legislature and protect state courts’ power to use state law to protect free and fair federal elections. Today’s SCOTUS decision is a major victory for our democracy because it rejects the dangerous idea that state legislatures have free rein to determine the rules for elections in their states. LWVOR applauds the Supreme Court’s decision to reject the ISLT and choose people over politics.

Date: June 24, 2023 To: All League Members From: Alice Bartelt, LWVOR President; Rebecca Gladstone, LWVOR Action Chair; Barbara Klein, Election Methods Lead; and Norman Turrill, Governance Coordinator Support Ranked Choice Voting bill, HB 2004! Our League supports Ranked Choice Voting bill, HB 2004. We are now so close. The bill is up for a vote on the last day of the legislative session—which is this Sunday, June 25. Write as soon as you see this, no later than the Senate floor convening at 10am, Sunday. HB 2004 is the 6th vote on the roster, but they will be busy! Please consider writing your senator in support. There are 3 Senators that might be in need of hearing some encouragement to vote "yes": Senators Woods, Frederick, and Meek. Please send a short note asking them, or other senators, to vote yes. Contact them directly at: Senator Woods, Sen.AaronWoods@oregonlegislature.gov Senator Meek, Sen.MarkMeek@oregonlegislature.gov Senator Frederick, Sen.LewFrederick@oregonlegislature.gov For those in Benton County, please remind your senator that RCV here is appreciated; and it's easy to use and understand. We would like to see the option on the 2024 ballot. We are so close. Contact your senator now.

Personal information for nearly 3.5 million Oregonians could be vulnerable to a June 1st international “MOVEit” data breach. LWVOR supports increased cybersecurity awareness, by educating individual consumers and advocating in the state Legislature. Here’s what happened A cyber attack exploited vulnerable software Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) uses from a private vendor. ODOT uses “MOVEit” to securely transfer files and internal data. The vulnerability enabled hackers’ access to entire systems. Hundreds of government agencies and private companies that use this software have been affected by this global breach. According to ODOT, we should assume active Oregon driver's license drivers’ permit, and ID card information is part of this breach. ODOT imposed additional security measures to safeguard their systems when they learned of the MOVEit vulnerability. But defenses were breached for a significant amount of Oregon DMV data, from millions of Oregonians. While much of this information is available publicly, some of it is sensitive personal information. According to ODOT, we should assume active Oregon driver's license, driver’s permit, and ID card information is part of this breach. Protect yourself Make sure your personal information is not misused. Check your Credit Report(s). ODOT urges Oregonians to monitor their credit reports. Under federal law, you have the right to a free credit report every 12 months from each of the three consumer credit reporting companies. You have to ask for them at www.annualcreditreport.com or call: 1-877-322-8228. Check report entries. Recognize the transactions or accounts? See who got your credit history. If you see anything you don’t understand, call the phone number on the credit report or visit the Federal Trade Commission’s Recovering From Identity Theft. If necessary, ask each credit monitoring agency to freeze your credit files: Equifax: equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services or 1-800-685-1111 Experian: experian.com/help or 1-888-397-3742 TransUnion: transunion.com/credit-help or 1-888-909-8872 Start with Ask ODOT, for information, services or resolving ODOT issues. Email: AskODOT@odot.oregon.gov.

Date: February 7, 2023 To: All League Members From: Rebecca Gladstone, LWVOR President Alice Bartelt, Action Committee Chair Josie Koehne, LWVOR Forestry Climate Action Portfolio Contact Your Legislators to Support SB 530! ACTION: Contact your Legislators (2023 Find Your Legislators) and Senate Natural Resources Committee members: Sen Jeff Golden, Sen Fred Girod, Sen Floyd Prozanski, Sen David Brock Smith, and Sen Kathleen Taylor REQUEST: SUPPORT SB 530, Establish a state policy for Natural Climate Solutions. We are asking local League members throughout Oregon to advance this critical piece of climate legislation, to build support before the first public hearing. DEADLINE: ASAP, before February 15 A first hearing is expected as early as Feb 15. We need to build support to “give this bill legs!” Tell Legislators what matters to you. Background information on SB 530 can be found in Oregon Conservation Network's "Oregon’s Untapped Climate Solution" 1-pager. Tell Legislators that SB 530 will: Position the state to leverage federal funding and private investments in natural climate solutions on natural and working lands Create a source of state funding for voluntary actions to remove climate pollution from the atmosphere and store it in natural and working lands Fund and direct state agencies to provide incentives and technical support to forest owners, farmers, and ranchers to implement natural climate solutions on natural and working lands and Invest in a comprehensive Oregon natural and working lands inventory and study opportunities for workforce development and training.

Date: May 14, 2023 To: All League Members From: Rebecca Gladstone, LWVOR President, Peggy Lynch, Natural Resources Coordinator This is a key moment to stop HB 3382! Passing this bill would pose a serious threat to Oregon’s largest estuaries, ecologically vital habitat areas where careful land use review is especially important. Share your personal story about why these Ports and critical estuaries are important to you. Ask them NOT to pass HB 3382 even with the -3 amendment. DEADLINE: 5pm May 16 Public Hearing 5pm May 18 for testimony Sign up NOW to testify in person or remotely. Attend the public hearing if possible. Write and submit testimony to the Joint Committee on Transportation before 5pm May 18. CONTACT: Joint Transportation Committee and your State Senator and Representative. HB 3382 exempts major Oregon ports from land use and environmental regulations, including allowing extensive dredging and channel modification in estuaries without local jurisdiction, public input, or environmental review. The current -3 amendment as proposed sets a dangerous precedent, allowing certain interests to fast-track development and bypass input and Oregon’s land use laws that protect communities, ecosystems, and economies across the state. League testimony explains our opposition. LWVOR has strong positions supporting our land use planning program, coastal management, water quality and quantity and climate change. Oregonians expect our elected leaders to support processes that allow public participation and protect Oregon’s special places. This bill says local elected leaders and the public who engaged in Comprehensive Plans, specifically Estuary Management Plans, other planning and zoning requirements and related regulations adopted by a local government…no longer matter. We implore the committee to reject this concept and oppose the bill. Proposed -3 amendment changes allow selected parties to apply for a new Goal 16 exception and provides an extensive list of “purposes” that would automatically be allowed to gain that new Goal 16 exception. Estuaries are nurseries for a wide variety of fish and wildlife species, including our iconic salmon. Eel grass that would be destroyed is essential habitat for many species and functions to improve water quality to support ocean health. HB 3382 is also at odds with Oregon’s Climate Goals by removing critical protections for estuaries, which sequester carbon 10x more efficiently than forests and serve as key species nurseries. The bill as submitted poses an additional threat. Land use regulations as applied to coastal areas are part of Oregon’s integrated Coastal Management Program under the Coastal Zone Management Act. This bill would weaken that program, triggering NOAA review for compliance with the CZMA. The CZMA-approved program provides the state leverage and review when faced with federal projects (including, for example, dredging in a federal navigation channel), as well as funding through CZMA grant programs. The bill could eliminate this “federal consistency” under the CZMA, at least where these estuaries are concerned. Thank you for adding your voice to stop HB 3382.

Dear Members and friends, Here’s to the most beautiful May Day! I’m sending virtual May Day doorknob baskets to each of you! As our LWVOR Convention nears, I invite you to look forward with me. We are seeing transitions, new growth in the League, and promising new leaders as we face chilling challenges to step up and defend our values. The last few years have been, well, an example of the probably English expression that is both a blessing and a curse: “May you live in interesting times!” With thanks to our hard-working Board, our members, our committees, our lateral communications work groups, our donors, our staff, and to our colleagues, I urge you to take care of yourselves and each other. To pace yourselves for the work ahead, to include time to refresh. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as President and to keep in touch with these 1st of the month newsletters. I am crossing my fingers to be elected as incoming LWVOR Action Chair and looking forward to hearing what you’ll each be doing! Thank you for being part of the League Team! Becky Gladstone, outgoing LWVOR President _________________________________________________ CONVENTION UPDATE It is truly time to REGISTER for the LWVOR Convention! Delegates, please register through your leadership (leaders will register their delegates as a group). Observers, we can still make room for you. One Action member, who will be coming and handing out bumper stickers, asked why she should attend. Here are some reasons: Speakers: Come to hear our keynote speaker Les Zaitz, a publisher of local Oregon newspapers, on “Free Press and the Survival of Democracy”. Feels *so very local* and newly urgent–last week, OPB reported “Rogue Valley station KTVL to lay off all news employees, staffer says.” Action! Talk to our Action volunteers about news from the Legislature. Bring your questions from reading our Legislative Reports and find out how you can help. Voter Service Reps: Meet and thank them! Vote411.org is live now and ballots are in the mail for our May 16 primary! All their work behind the scenes, collecting candidate contact info and reaching out to them, inviting them to share their campaign info with voters! Youth Outreach: Come to meet newly elected Youth Council leaders and members attending. They are extraordinary. They are *our future*! Bylaws changes: VOTE on a gradual transition to annual meetings and Nominating Committee changes. This will be a start to talk about our processes. Studies: VOTE on proposed studies. Workshops: A pre-Convention tutorial, Youth Engagement, a 1st Amendment Panel, and Climate Change, LWVUS activities. Caucus! Set up and offer one of your own, spur of the moment! RECOMMENDED READING Eugene author Lauren Kessler’s just won the Oregon Book of the Year for General Non-Fiction! "95% of the millions of American men and women who go to prison eventually get out. What happens to them?" From the book description: There's Arnoldo, who came of age inside a maximum security penitentiary, now free after nineteen years. Trevor and Catherine, who spent half of their young lives behind bars for terrible crimes committed when they were kids. Dave, inside the walls for 34 years, now about to re-enter an unrecognizable world. Vicki, a five-time loser who had cycled in and out of prison for more than a third of her life. They are simultaneously joyful and overwhelmed at the prospect of freedom. Anxious, confused, sometimes terrified, and often ill-prepared to face the challenges of the free world, all are intent on reclaiming and remaking their lives. What is the road they must travel from caged to free? How do they navigate their way home? A gripping and empathetic work of immersion reportage, Free reveals what awaits them and the hundreds of thousands of others who are released from prison every year: the first rush of freedom followed quickly by institutionalized obstacles and logistical roadblocks, grinding bureaucracies, lack of resources, societal stigmas and damning self-perceptions, the sometimes overwhelming psychological challenges. Veteran reporter Lauren Kessler, both clear-eyed and compassionate, follows six people whose diverse stories paint an intimate portrait of struggle, persistence, and resilience. The truth—the many truths—about life after lockup is more interesting, more nuanced, and both more troubling and more deeply triumphant than we know. Thank you for reading! To each of you, please accept my heartfelt gratitude for making this team work with your curiosity, dedication, dogged persistence, senses of humor, and civility. I am proud to be part of this organization and I hope you are too! Here’s to progress and sharing the joy with our new members! Becky Gladstone President, LWVOR

Hello Oregon League members and friends, **What does the state League DO for us??** 🡺 LWVOR State-Wide Convention! With only one month until the convention starts, we need you to commit to being there!! We will meet for the first statewide, in-person event we’ve held since our 100th Anniversary Centennial Celebration in Salem, March 7, 2020! 🡺 Be sure your leaders REGISTER your Delegation. Check with them to be a delegate! Read for more info on the May 19-21, 2023 LWVOR Convention, in Eugene, OR. Your State Board is SO excited to welcome you to Convention 2023! Join us in-person and meet members from our local Leagues, Advocates, Voter Service Reps, our new Youth Council and students members, scholars, and our speakers! _____________________________________________________ Here’s an Overview: LWVOR Convention Hotel Rooms Convention delegation/ observer registration Silent Auction Caucuses LWVUS All- Members’ (short) SURVEY: deadline April 22! Transformation news from LWV President, Dr. Turner (full letter) Recommended Reading from LWV Coos Voter Service (Inspiring!) LWVOR Convention LWVOR Convention Hotel Rooms: we have filled our initial room block and the hotel is expanding our initial discounted room allotment. Please make your hotel reservations ASAP so we can try to cover you with the discounted rate. Sooner is better! Details are on the LWVOR Convention page. Convention delegation/ observer registration: League leaders are registering their delegations. Please check with yours to be sure you’re included. Registered League observers are welcome. To avert any possible confusion, double check with your local leaders to be sure you do get registered and don’t get double-booked. We are looking forward to seeing you in-person! Silent Auction: Local Leagues, bring a Gift Basket to the LWVOR Convention, enter it in our traditional Silent Auction and take your top bid proceeds for your League! You’re Welcome! Caucuses: use these caucusing opportunities; reach out now and network in advance. Be sure your fellow strategists know You Want to Meet! One group (the local and state Fund Raisers?) are having breakfast together early Saturday morning. We know that our MLD, and Nominating Committee Groups are planning to get together.! For the rest of you, network in advance for the “lateral communication” we keep talking about! Strategize for 2024! LWVUS All- Members’ (short) SURVEY: LWVUS All- Members’ (short) SURVEY: deadline April 22! This survey of ALL members around the country is outreach to get your feedback on the TRANSFORMATION PLAN. From Dr. Deb Turner, President, LWVUS (full letter): Over the past few weeks, I have shared Transformation Journey updates and our current phase, Framing the Future. League voices are the foundation for this process, so we have assembled four core working groups and launched a League-wide membership experience survey. Thank you to the 7,000+ League members who have completed the survey! If you have not done so already, I encourage you to take our short survey and share it with your fellow League members. It is crucial that we hear from everyone in our League community, because all your voices are critical to our transformational success. The survey closes Saturday, April 22. If you have already completed the survey, you still have time to share it with your League members and in your internal League communications. This link is not personalized to you: you can share or forward the link directly to other members. For more information, please visit www.lwv.org/framingthefuture. As we celebrate National Volunteer Appreciation Week, I wanted to thank you for all that you do. I hope you take time this week to celebrate yourself! I am honored and proud to serve with you and power our democracy every day. –Dr. Turner, President, LWV (US) Recommended Reading As a special treat to yourself, read this inspiring report from our Coos County Voter Service Representative. Abigail, thank you! Hi, Leaguers, from rural Coos! In this area we have a very active political group called Citizens Restoring Liberty (CRL). Associated with a local evangelical church. CRL has promoted hyper-conservative issues for several years. They sent 14 to the January 6 demonstrations in Washington. It is not clear whether any participated in the subsequent attack on the Capitol. In 2022 they started running members as candidates for local office and supporting other candidates. One was elected by a razor-thin margin as one of our three County Commissioners. They have also repeatedly sued our County Clerk over election issues, and they populate the Coos County Republican Party board of directors. So I wanted to meet them! I approached the new Commissioner at a town hall and asked if he thought CRL would allow a League delegation to attend one of their meetings and give a presentation about the League and its programs. They eventually agreed and I went with Carol Ventgen, a past president and longtime Coos League member. The Commissioner, I might add, bucked the trend last year by posting campaign info on Vote411 and participating in our candidate forum, afterward giving us mostly positive feedback. So I felt he was at least open to the League and willing to listen. He gave us a very cordial welcome and the group followed his lead, applauding and praising us for “having the courage” to show up. Carol led with a brief League history and a discussion of our “two hats,” advocacy and voter service. We picked the most neutral studies we could as examples of the way the League deeply researches topics and then brings them to members for consensus before adopting a position or advocating. (They loved the Privacy and Cybersecurity study especially.) We talked about Voter Service, detailing steps we take to make our forums as evenhanded as possible. The Commissioner backed this up. We talked about our current election efforts to reach many different groups to solicit candidate questions for our three League School Board forums. For instance, I was invited by the Democratic Party to a meeting to ask for question suggestions, so I immediately wrote to the Republican Party to do the same. When I didn’t get a response, I based some questions on a right-wing candidates’ campaign flyer I found and sent those to the Republican Party. I still got no responses, but some party officers were in the room when I talked about it. We stressed that the public is invited to submit questions. We talked about how our Voter Service programs are free publicity for cash-strapped local candidates, and how these programs serve our mission of promoting a well-informed and engaged electorate. Then we went into how Vote411.org and the Voters’ Guides are assembled. One of the group’s lawsuits last year cited a “partisan voter guide” the County Clerk had put outside the Elections Office in the primary, naming the League’s Voters’ Guide. So we explained that Voters’ Guide text is the same as on Vote411.org, word-for-word what candidates supply to us, and the ONLY difference is that the Voters’ Guides have a shorter deadline, so if candidates don’t respond quickly, they get onto Vote411 but not into printed guides. We suggested that if candidates CRL is interested in don’t appear in these publications, it’s because those candidates chose not to post, not because we didn’t ask them—and if CRL members want to see more of their candidates represented on Vote411 and in our forums, they need to pressure them. And we told them how to get candidates contact info. Then we asked if anyone wanted to join and opened it up to questions. Many questions were friendly or simply asking for more details or clearing up misunderstandings. One member had done his research on the League and pointed out that it was Republican women who were behind its founding as the primary women’s suffrage movers. (We added a pitch for the new Votes for Women board game.) A local right-wing radio personality was quite aggressive, detailing many National League positions as tracking with Democratic Party positions and demanding to know why conservatives should trust us if that’s the case. We agreed that both the national League and, to an extent, the state League lean left, but pointed out that the League is a grassroots organization, and choices are made by people who turn up in the room. (One of the most aggressive members of the group immediately stood up and asked for a membership form.) We were able to communicate a bit more about our process for reaching positions and the meaning of “nonpartisan,” using the Bucks County op-ed currently on the National League’s website (we’ve also put it on our website). One thing they really disliked was our practice of screening forum audience questions. Carol did her best, pointing out that we try to combine similar questions to reduce repetition, we don’t allow slander or profanity, and we usually get far more questions than there is time to ask. But for a group that is into performative political direct action, that answer wasn’t entirely satisfying. The Commissioner spoke up again to say he thought the questions were fair and on important topics. (We mentioned that it didn’t do him any harm to participate in our programs, because he won.) They tried to trap us into hot-button issue political discussions, especially “biological woman” and trans people in women’s sports questions. Sticking to the League’s “brand,” we said the League hadn’t studied women’s sports so we had no opinion, but maybe they could get back to us on in 3-5 years. We talked about ethical neutrality requirements for League leaders and noted that one Coos League board member resigned last year because she didn’t want to give up her partisan activity. I don’t know if we changed any minds, but I do think we made it harder to demonize the League or to spread misinformation about us, and if we’re lucky it MIGHT get more candidates to participate in our programs. We received a thank-you note from the Commissioner. It is exciting to be in the middle of our expanded Voter Service for the 2023 Oregon primary election season with many local races! Our Action Committee is meeting weekly during this intense, long legislative session. We’ve reviewed 147 proposals so far this session to speak to issues. Our Convention is coming together and you will be getting more frequent updates as we get closer. Happy Volunteer Appreciation Week! Please accept my heartfelt thanks to all of you for contributing to our efforts to defend democracy! I truly hope to see you at Convention, Thank you! Becky Gladstone President, LWVOR

The Oregon State Legislature (The Joint Ways and Means Committee) will be holding a series of hearings statewide over the next several weeks. They are asking the public to tell them which state programs they consider important and should be funded this biennium with state funds. These town halls will allow Oregonians to provide input into the 2023-25 biennial state budget. All of these hearings will probably have standing-room-only crowds. They will have very strict time limits both for individual testimony (2/3 minutes) and total hearing time. If you want to testify make sure you get there early. This is Ways and Means; if you have programs you want to be funded be sure and tell them how they should be funded because unfortunately there is not enough money to go around for everything people want. If you have ideas for additional revenue then let our Legislators know these ideas also. We feel that it is important that these hearings away from the capital are monitored. We encourage local League members and friends to attend the hearing in your area and help by being the eyes and ears of the action team. The state League will not be testifying so all you need to do is listen and pick up any of the handouts (and send them to the state office). A short written report of what occurred would also be helpful. We encourage members to attend as individuals and express their opinions on any of the state funded programs that are important to you because it is your taxes they are spending. If you wish to testify please leave your League pin at home but if you are just helping us as monitors wear your League pin for everyone to see. They would like to see and hear from everyone. Friday, April 14th 5:00 PM Newport Newport Performing Arts Center 777 W. Olive St. NEWPORT Register Friday, April 21st 5:00 PM, Roseburg Umpqua Community College Jacoby Auditorium 1140 Umpqua College Rd. ROSEBURG Register Friday, April 28th 5:00 PM Ontario Four Rivers Cultural Center 676 SW 5th Ave. ONTARIO Register Wednesday, May 3rd 5:00 PM Salem at the capital This meeting is being held in person at the Capitol. To view a livestream of the meeting, go to: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Committees/JWM/Overview Register

Date: March 13, 2023 To: All League Members From: Rebecca Gladstone, LWVOR President Alice Bartelt, Action Committee Chair Claudia Keith, Climate Emergency Coordinator Arlene Sherrett, Climate Emergency PortfolioContact Your Legislators to Support ACTION: Contact your Legislators (2023 Find Your Legislators) and Senate Energy and EnvironmentCommittee members: Sen Janeen Sollman, Sen Lynn Findley, Sen Jeff Golden, Sen Cedric Hayden and Sen Kate Lieber REQUEST: SUPPORT The Resilient Buildings Package (SB 868-1, 869-1, 870-1, 871-1) Oregon's legislature must take action in 2023 to give more Oregonians access to more resilient and safer homes and buildings. Align state policies for Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Reduction in the Residential and Commercial Buildings Sector. We are asking local League members throughout Oregon to advance this critical piece of climate legislation, to build support before the first public hearing. LISTENING SESSION: March 14, 2023, 1:00 PM HEARING: March 16, 2023, 1:00 PM TESTIMONY DEADLINE: ASAP, before hearing date, March 16, or up to 1pm March 18. Tell Legislators what matters to you. Background information on the Resilient Buildings Package can be found at: We Are Building Resilience Tell Legislators the Resilient Buildings Package will: Align energy efficiency programs with state climate goals and establish a one-stop-shop information source for energy efficiency technologies and incentives. (SB 868-1, Healthy Heating and Cooling for All) Align building codes with Oregon energy and emissions targets and establish a goal of 60% reduction in energy use in the construction of new buildings. (SB 869-1, Build Smart from the Start) Establish a standard for large commercial buildings to reduce their energy use and climate emissions over time. (SB 870-1, Building Performance Standard) Remove barriers to accelerate energy retrofits and upgrades in state buildings. (SB 871-1, Smart State Buildings) Address the 30% of greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon that come from the residential and commercial buildings sector.