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Good morning, Portland! There’s probably going to be a little smoke in the air today, but temperatures won’t be terrible, with a forecasted high of around 80 degrees. In fact, the next week or so looks like it’ll bring similarly moderate weather (for this time of year), so that’s good news. In other news…read on.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• The Mercury‘s climate issue came out yesterday, online and in print. There are lots of great stories in there you should read! I will highlight our story about the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF), because that program has gotten a lot of attention in the news lately. PCEF is funded through a small gross receipts tax on local sales at big businesses, and it’s raked in a lot of money since it was implemented in 2019. Some people don’t seem to be aware of where that money is going, so the Mercury highlighted a few organizations and people who have benefitted from the clean energy funds. (In addition to the people and groups receiving direct grants/benefits from the program, we should all benefit from PCEF’s intended carbon emissions reductions, because climate change effects everyone, including those who think it’s not important.)
Featured in the article: Black Futures Farm, one of the first organizations to receive a major PCEF grant, which it used to build a water catchment system, install solar panels, and host hundreds of regenerative farming and resiliency training sessions. The Mercury also talked to folks who received electric bike rebates, which have helped them drive their cars less, and home retrogrades to make their houses more energy efficient, reducing emissions and costs. Check it out, along with the other stories in the issue!
• On Wednesday, Portland City Council adopted a term sheet for the Moda Center renovation that would commit nearly $400 million in city money to the project over the next 20 years. Yesterday, the Trail Blazers said they agreed to meet with the city for lease negotiations after essentially stonewalling city leaders for months. The team is scheduled to meet with the city’s negotiators Monday. This just goes to show: If someone is being withholding and manipulative, GIVE THEM EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT! And preferably, promise to send them a lot of money. It works every time.
• The Northwest Power and Conservation Council, a federal planning group, has recommended Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington must create billions in new energy infrastructure, partially to accommodate the influx of data centers in the region. They recommended wind, solar, and (BOOOO) gas-powered electricity construction, the latter of which makes it clear these recommendations are highly suspect. There is no world in which it’s reasonable to be building more fossil fuel infrastructure to power data centers, but that appears to be part of this group’s plan. It is true we need more clean energy infrastructure, with or without data centers, but without them, the region’s future power needs would be a lot more manageable and easier to predict.
• Check out the Mercury‘s latest movie review:
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• ICE has announced plans to outfit its officers in…*checks notes*…electric shock gloves, meant to inflict further pain on people they’re trying to detain. The Department of Homeland Security has given the devices one of the dumbest acronyms ever, dubbing them the Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, or GLOVE. ENOUGH with the cutesy acronyms, especially for something as horrifying as this. It’s moments like these I’m sure we are in a Hunger Games simulation. But no, this is real life, and real people will experience a lot of pain as a result of these new torture devices. Desperate people turn to desperate measures.
• GOOD NEWS FOR GRIFTERS AND THOSE WHO CANNOT KEEP A JOB: There is a new career path for you. It’s called “data center advocate,” and it pays well. Look, I’m not even talking about the merits of the data centers themselves here, but you’ve gotta admit data center PR has attracted some interesting figures lately. The data center/tech industry is desperate to change its image, considering how much everyone (70 percent of Americans) dislikes these loud, energy-gobbling facilities, so apparently industry leaders are pulling out all the PR stops. One new, paid data center advocate is former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was (unrelatedly) indicted for multiple counts of bribery, conspiracy, and fraud. The other, more recent entry into the field is Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who represented Oregon’s 5th District in US Congress for two years before she became President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Labor before she left the job in disgrace earlier this year. Chavez-DeRemer has now announced her new position at a PR company, where she said she will be focusing on advocating for data center infrastructure to power artificial intelligence. Some people really like getting boo’d at every public event they attend, huh?
• We are lucky enough to be avoiding a major heat event next week, but that’s not the case for a lot of the world:
• Federal contractors are destroying pristine land in Texas’ Big Bend National Park to create barriers to reinforce the “border” between the US and Mexico. I put border in quotes because it’s important to remember that these lines are arbitrary and fake and it shows immense hubris to dig up beautiful, natural land to prevent human movement. It’s easy to forget that we don’t actually have to do this. Per an NPR article: “Bright pink ribbons now mark a construction path where willow and mesquite trees once stood.” Construction will cost $1.7 billion and includes vehicle barriers and new surveillance technology. What a waste.
• Major Luigi Mangione news, which came right as I was about to post this article:
