The Trail to Stopping Trump Starts in Your Backyard
There is no doubt about it: we are heading towards some very dark times. A second Trump Administration threatens a relentless deluge of attacks on public lands, climate policies, environmental regulations, and our fundamental human rights like access to abortion, gender-affirming care, and keeping families together.
And things have already been hard: U.S. oil and gas production has steadily been climbing in recent years hitting an all-time global record high in 2023 (1). Deportations under Biden are on track to match deportations under the first Trump Administration, not including 3 million expulsions at the border under Title 42, the pandemic-era rule set by Trump in March 2020 and kept in place until May 2023 (2). Republicans won Congress and the White House this year in part by spreading hate and vicious lies about immigrants and transgender people.
We at the Sierra Club Oregon Chapter reject this scapegoating and stand fully in solidarity with all those who are targeted by Trump, Project 2025, and the extreme MAGA movement in America. We welcome migrants and asylum seekers who come to our state fleeing war, persecution, or climate-fueled droughts and disasters. We hold firm to our belief that the environment is for everyone, and none of us thrive until all families are healthy, happy, and whole. We will fight for justice for Black people, Indigenous folks and Tribal Nations, Latinos, Asians, Pacific Islanders, LGBTQIA2S+ people, and people living with disabilities.
Plants and animals in a healthy ecosystem depend on all of their different neighboring species to survive. Human communities also need everyone. We are all interconnected and we rely on each other in the same way that the spotted owl relies on the old growth trees for nesting. We will keep working together to build a world that values everyone’s safety and belonging – both people and animals alike.
So what to do about Trump? Well, I’ve got good news: You can make a difference and help stop Trump’s horrific agenda. And you need not look any further than your neighborhood, your city council, your county commission, or the state legislature. One thing you can do right away is sign up for our Climate Action Corps email list where we’ll give you the latest and greatest ways to take action locally to stop Trump and advance good policies everywhere we can. When you’re ready to take the next step, find an activism community and start organizing - you could volunteer with the Sierra Club Oregon Chapter for example, where you can learn and develop leadership skills while working with like-minded people to make real change.
We’re ready to work hard and resist fascism. And we’d love for you to join us.
Read on for more reflections on the 2024 Election in Oregon to get inspired about what might be possible in the years ahead.
Oregon’s Congressional Delegation & Statewide Offices
Janelle Bynum has made history by beating incumbent Republican Lori Chavez-Deremer and flipping Oregon’s 5th Congressional District. Janelle is the first ever Black woman to represent Oregon in Congress. Since Val Hoyle and Andrea Salinas both held onto their seats in OR-4 and OR-6, that means five out of our six members of Congress in Oregon are Democrats. We will need Representatives Bynum, Hoyle, Salinas, Bonamici, and Dexter to hold the line against the House Republican majority and protect major environmental policies from being gutted.
We are thrilled that Dan Rayfield has been elected Attorney General of Oregon, another critical position for resisting inevitable federal attacks on clean air, clean water, and climate progress. We also celebrate the victory of Tobias Read as Secretary of State, since we will need strong protections for vote-by-mail and elections integrity while promoting voter access and democracy in Oregon and across the country. Elizabeth Steiner will be our new state Treasurer, and we hope Steiner will work to take the 2024 Oregon Coal Divestment Act to the next level by eliminating all fossil fuel investments from the state pension fund portfolio.
We were dismayed to see the failure of Measure 117, which would have adopted ranked choice voting in Oregon’s elections for President, Congress, and statewide offices. Ranked choice voting helps keep extremists out of government and allows voices to be better heard on a range of issues like climate change and the environment. We hope voters will take this issue up again in the future and strengthen Oregon’s democracy by allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference.
Oregon State Legislature
We are very happy to see that Sierra Club-endorsed candidates did very well in the Oregon House and Senate. 92% of our endorsed House candidates are winning their elections including Hoa Nguyen, April Dobson, and Lesly Muñoz (who is currently winning by less than 120 votes). Anthony Broadman flipped the 27th Oregon Senate district from red to blue in Bend, and environmental justice champion Khanh Pham was elected to the Senate and its leadership team as Assistant Majority Leader.
If these results hold, then Oregon will have a supermajority of Democrats in the House and Senate chambers. This is a rare opportunity to pass real revenue reform to invest in the communities across our state who deeply need better funding for natural resources, free and frequent public transportation, fire resilience, local renewable energy projects, disaster relief and preparedness, and more. We call on the Oregon Legislature to be bold, defend immigrants and other vulnerable populations from the federal government, and lead on rapid climate action to save what we can of a livable environment for future generations.
Multnomah County, Lane County, and City of Portland
We were thrilled to see that both of our Sierra Club-endorsed candidates for the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners won their elections: Meghan Moyer and Shannon Singleton are both strong advocates for public and environmental health. We look forward to working with Multnomah County to require insurance bonds for dangerous fossil fuel tanks in Northwest Portland, to amplify the health impacts of gas appliances, and to support adoption of clean and efficient heat pumps for heating and cooling.
Portland City Council will look different starting in January 2025: voters just finished electing 12 councilors and a new Mayor, Keith Wilson, using ranked choice voting to position these new leaders at the head of a totally revamped city government structure where no elected officials directly oversee city agencies anymore. This is a welcome change in structure and makeup for Portland City Council: five Sierra Club-endorsed candidates won (Candace Avalos, Jamie Dunphy, Angelita Morillo, Tiffany Koyama Lane, and Mitch Green) and several more pro-environment candidates were elected (Sameer Kanal, Steve Novick, and Olivia Clark). The Oregon Chapter looks forward to working with Portland City Council to maximize the climate justice potential of the Portland Clean Energy Fund, hold the Zenith oil terminal accountable for its dishonest and polluting actions, and reclaim Portland’s role as a global leader in environmental policymaking.
Sierra Club Oregon Chapter is celebrating the rejection of a bad ballot measure in Lane County that would have allowed the County Commission to gerrymander their County district lines to give anti-environment voices an outsized say in policymaking. We endorsed a “No” vote on Measure 20-263 and the measure is currently failing by 74%.
In Portland, we lament the narrow failure of Measure 26-253, which had 49% voting in favor. This measure would have eliminated the archaic requirement in Portland’s city charter that prohibits any energy efficiency requirements from applying to buildings built prior to 1979. As we work to stop pollution from home heating and cooking appliances, requiring better standards for insulation and energy efficiency is an easy way to quickly and dramatically reduce energy bills and carbon emissions. Sierra Club Oregon Chapter hopes this measure can be brought back to voters with more advance notice and information so that it can be approved and the old buildings that need energy efficiency upgrades the most in Portland can get them.
Stay engaged and take action with us!
There are so many ways to get involved in resisting Trump and the MAGA movement in Oregon. The best way to hold onto hope is to take action and seek connection with fellow activists and friends. I hope you will stay connected with us, join our Climate Action Corps email list, and keep an eye out for more volunteer opportunities coming soon!