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Last Saturday, August 29th, 350PDX and Friends of PCEF biked to the Jade Night Market and learned about the climate investments revitalizing 82nd Ave along the way! Along our route, we used new bike and pedestrian infrastructure that is helping make the neighborhood more accessible. These green investments are possible because of the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) and the Jade Multimodal Project. This event showed us how PCEF funds have revitalized 82nd Ave and how important it is for us to protect them for the future. See photos below!

The post Going Green to the Jade: A Bike Tour of Climate Investments to the Jade Night Market appeared first on 350PDX: Climate Justice.

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk

It’s been a rough summer for outdoor sports. July was the hottest month ever recorded in the contiguous U.S., and wildfire smoke has repeatedly reached unhealthy levels across large areas of the country.

Soccer players competing in the World Cup had to grapple with potentially dangerous heat and humidity, two ski areas suffered major damage from wildfires this summer, trout streams in the Rockies were closed to fishing in the afternoons due to warm water, and the list goes on. Many people who love the outdoors are left with choosing between not recreating at all or doing so in marginal conditions.

But athletes, fans, and outdoor enthusiasts can all be part of the solution. Outdoor recreation is a potentially powerful constituency – it engages millions of people across many age groups, demographics, and geographies. Outdoor recreation is also a substantial contributor to the U.S. economy, with a lot on the line as a warming climate threatens outdoor activities.

“I think there is a role for outdoor recreation to step up more, be more vocal,” said John Burrows, the energy and climate policy director of the Wyoming Outdoors Council. “I think it's a really important constituency.”

Here are ideas for getting started. 

Athletes, teams, and recreational organizations have a powerful tool that the fossil fuel industry lacks: popular goodwill. Participation in sports can be an important part of people’s identities, so a brand or a team can have an outsize impact compared to its size or financial might.

Climate change is a polarizing topic, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t embrace it. “It's OK to say something and have people disagree,” said Chris Miller, senior vice president of sustainability at Aspen One, which owns four ski areas. 

“I get that it feels scary,” Miller said, “but being led by something real and authentic and rooted in values is an incredible competitive advantage.”

The clothing company Patagonia is known for its commitment to environmental activism. 

“Why is Patagonia constantly mentioned as one of the most authentic brands in the world?” Miller asked. “It isn't because they're a jacket company. Because there are a lot of jacket companies.”

The middle of the road may feel safe, but having noncommittal values can do lasting damage to a brand’s reputation. Miller described recent high-profile examples of companies that backtracked on their support for diversity, equity, and inclusion, which angered customers on both sides of the political spectrum.

“When someone disagrees with your point of view, the most important thing is not to say, ‘Oh, whoops, we made a mistake, we didn't really believe that,’” Miller said. “It's to lean in and say why you believe it and why it's important.”

“Have a bit of courage, stand for something. And people will respect you for it,” he added.

Read more: The ski industry is oddly quiet on climate change 

The Vermont Green soccer club in Burlington, Vermont, has made addressing climate change part of the team’s mission since its founding. The team promotes activism, social justice, and climate action at every game. 

Read: A champion soccer team is taking on climate change, too

“We're gonna not miss that. We're not going to let that opportunity go to waste and just watch soccer,” said Patrick Infurna, a cofounder of the team.

At home matches, nonprofit organizations set up tables and educate fans about actions they can take. Halftime includes a 15-minute talk about pressing issues in front of sold-out crowds, Infurna said.

Infurna said that the team’s stance on climate has helped it become more popular. 

“You might find a whole new audience of people that are more attracted to your thing, your products, your event, because you are showing not just a compassionate approach to things, but maybe a backbone as well,” Infurna said. “We've been fortunate to have a pretty cool fan base, and we sell out all of our games.”

Vermont Green’s men’s team had an undefeated season in 2025 and won the national championship.

“We're taking care of the planet, and we're winning as we do it,” Infurna said.   

Outdoor sports are subject to all sorts of weather conditions, and you can use recent research and free tools to help identify the role of climate change.

After some extreme weather events, the researchers at World Weather Attribution rapidly analyze the influence of climate change on the event. For example, the group found that a heat wave that caused dozens of ski resorts to close in the Western U.S. in 2026 was virtually impossible without climate change.

Climate Central, a nonprofit research organization, offers several tools that can help you determine how climate change is affecting your sport, including a marathon tool that shows how warm race-day temperatures are slowing running performance, a database of billion-dollar climate disasters that adds up the costs in each state, and the Climate Shift Index, which shows how much the temperature in your area has been affected by climate change on a given day. 

Meanwhile, NOAA’s Climate at a Glance tool makes it easy to look up temperatures, precipitation, drought, and other climate indicators over time. The data is available at the national, state, county, and city level and is easily customizable. 

A soccer player cools off during a match. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

Miller sees climate change as not just an environmental issue: “It's an economic issue. It's a jobs issue. It's a tax issue,” he said.

In fact, outdoor recreation is a powerful economic engine, generating $1.3 trillion dollars in economic output in 2024.

You can make that case to elected officials using a dashboard that shows the economic impact of outdoor recreation in all 50 states, including jobs, wages, and the contribution to each state’s GDP. This tool was compiled by nonpartisan researchers at Headwaters Economics. 

The Wyoming Outdoor Council works with groups around the state to address environmental challenges for public land, air quality, water quality, and wildlife.

“But in the last 10 years, the intersection with climate has just been so obvious,” said Burrows, the energy and climate policy director. “It impacts all these other things. And so I think that's how we justify working on it, even in one of the most heavily dependent states on fossil fuels in the country.”

During the last legislative session, the group worked at the state level to push for plug-in solar, which allows households to shave 10 to 20% off their electricity bills.

Burrows offered this suggestion for individuals or groups working on climate solutions: “Narrow it down to a few things that you and your group, or you and your friends, or you and your sports team can really digest and are passionate about, and focus on that.” 

“That's how you're going to make a meaningful impact,” he added. 

Ski resorts, stadiums, and other outdoor recreation amenities need electricity. And you can influence the climate footprint of that electricity by getting involved with your public utility commission, which makes decisions about energy sources, power plants, energy prices, and more. 

Public utility commissions offer regular opportunities for public input, including during the selection or election of commissioners. Canary Media wrote a beginner’s guide to public utility commissions, and Earthjustice has a detailed explainer that describes how and where action can make a difference.

It’s not too often that you can speak your mind directly to policymakers, and opportunities to do so can be especially valuable. A powerful example of this is the relentless public pushback on data center proposals, which are often reviewed by county commissioners.

The Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation at Harvard Law School wrote a short guide for giving effective public comments. This is a great time to make use of what you learned from the fourth item in this list: Show the ways climate change is affecting your sport.

Winter Olympians speak about the negative impact climate change is having on winter sports. (Image credit: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Many sports have organizing bodies and networks of guides, coaches, or athletes. These groups can be useful for communicating to larger groups, pooling resources, and building coalitions. For example, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation published a Climate Action Plan for Member Federations, which outlines steps for getting started. 

That said, many sports organizations position themselves in a safe, middle-of-the-road stance or nibble at the edges of climate policy with less controversial topics like access to public lands. For more assertive climate action, look for organizations that are unapologetically working to reduce fossil fuel development and burning, such as the Surfrider Foundation and Protect Our Winters.

Another option is to join nearby efforts to advance climate action. In many locations, you can find advocacy groups working to expand climate solutions and improve public policy. Joining an existing group is easier than trying to launch a new initiative from scratch.

“Look at groups that are doing that good work,” Burrows said, “and support them, however you can.”

Sponsorships of events, teams, and athletes can create a positive brand image and build consumer trust. Fossil fuel companies use sports sponsorships to boost their image – which has been termed “sportswashing” – even as the actions of these companies put athletes in jeopardy.

There are many efforts underway to remove fossil fuel advertising from sports teams and events, and this is an action that a team of any scale can tackle.

The Ski Fossil Free campaign is circulating a petition demanding sports organizing bodies publish a report that evaluates whether fossil fuel marketing is acceptable in organized winter sports. Over 25,000 people have signed the petition, and winter sports brands and organizations can sign up to join the campaign.

A similar effort is underway for soccer, prompted in part by Saudi Aramco’s sponsorship of the World Cup. A Dutch advocacy group is calling for Fossil Free Football.

Another group, called Cool Down, is advocating to end fossil fuel advertising across multiple sports and countries.

Burrows acknowledged it can be hard to know where to start with a new climate advocacy effort.

“I do think we kind of have this decision paralysis, like, ‘It's too big of an issue. I don't know how to even get started,’” he said. “We gotta get past that.”

Burrows advised new advocates to find an angle that they find especially motivating, and dig in to become a bit of an expert.

If only a small fraction of people did that, Burrows said, “I think it would really move the needle in good ways.”

This article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In July, when President Trump illegally decimated Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, SUWA said we would fight his actions in every way we can, using every tool in our toolbox, for as long as necessary. I’m writing today with an important update on that fight.

This morning we sued President Trump in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, to overturn his illegal reductions of the national monuments and see them fully restored. We jointly filed litigation alongside our longtime partners the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Earthjustice (the latter is representing several other conservation groups). We have asked the court to reopen our previous lawsuit against President Trump’s 2017 monument rollbacks (which was put on hold following President Biden’s restorations) and have updated the case to challenge both sets of illegal proclamations.

We expect Tribal Nations to file their own litigation against Trump’s unlawful actions soon, and we’re honored to stand alongside them. SUWA continues to work closely with the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalitions, which have spoken in opposition to the reductions. Two additional coalitions of monument supporters also filed to reopen their litigation defending the monuments.

Our goal is full and complete restoration of both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. Today was an important step, but the results could be slow to unfold. In the meantime, SUWA will be there to defend the ground. We will track—and fight back against—mining claims, oil and gas leases, off-road vehicle trail proposals, and any other actions that could damage the monuments. We’re already harnessing the national outrage over Trump’s actions and translating that into political momentum to advance America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, which would protect much of the land included in the monuments as wilderness.

Every day, we’re activating our members and activists in Utah and across the nation to step up and Protect Wild Utah; thank you for stepping up, time and time again. We’ll continue to provide opportunities to do so. If you’re able, please consider a donation to our work.

Stay tuned for more updates—good, bad, and otherwise—on the national monuments.

Thanks for all you do!

The post Our Next Step to Defend the National Monuments appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

The federal government has announced it will extend the current holiday on the federal excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuel for another 4 months, until January 31, 2027. New research from the Centre for Future Work confirms that extension will not solve the underlying problem of oil-fueled inflation that is hurting all Canadians, not just drivers.

The tax holiday first came into effect on April 20, and was originally set to end on Labour Day. It was intended to offset some of the impact of rising oil prices (resulting from the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz) on Canadian consumers.

While the tax holiday may be appreciated by drivers, it has not addressed the underlying inflationary shock arising from this latest global oil price shock. In fact, Canadian gasoline and diesel prices are higher now than they were before the tax holiday came into effect (and have been higher through most of the 18 weeks since it began). The full value of the tax holiday (to fuel consumers) has thus been more than offset by continued increases in the cost of petroleum products.

New national income data released last week by Statistics Canada confirms Canadian consumers are paying billions of dollars extra for petroleum products despite the cushion from the excise tax holiday. There are also signs that the price shock is spreading into other products beyond petroleum, including air travel, other transportation, and food. This raises the spectre of another spike in broader inflation, sparked by petroleum prices. Statistics Canada data also confirms the petroleum industry in Canada has received record profits as a result of the current oil price shock.

The Centre for Future Work has published a new briefing paper analyzing the latest Statistics Canada data on consumer costs, average prices, and petroleum profits. Highlights include:

• There was a large increase in consumer expenses for petroleum products, despite the tax holiday. This includes $3 billion in extra consumer costs for motor vehicle fuels in just three months April through June).
• There is a growing gap (called the ‘crack spread’) between prices of gasoline and diesel, and underlying prices for crude oil. This has exacerbated the impact of the oil price shock on Canadian consumers.
• There are some early signs of spillover from higher petroleum prices into other prices, and hence into broader inflation – enhancing the risk of future interest rate increases.
• The price shock has produced a dramatic increase in profitability for the Canadian petroleum industry, a direct result of the extra costs paid by consumers. Combined after-tax profit in the upstream and downstream sectors reached $23 billion in the second-quarter, more than double their profits in the first quarter.
• But just 5% of additional profits, and 2% of additional revenues, have been reinvested by the industry in new capital spending.

The paper concludes with several policy recommendations regarding how Canada can better protect itself against repeated cycles of oil-fired inflation, affordability crises, and higher interest rates.

Please see the full briefing paper, Another Band-aid: Extending Gas Tax Holiday Won’t Fix Fossil Fuel Inflation, by Jim Stanford.

The post Extending Gas Tax Holiday Won’t Fix Fossil Fuel Inflation appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

Diamondback Energy's acquisition of Endeavor Energy Resources will create the region's third largest energy producer.

The impact of the energy industry on Texas' economy shattered records, but that performance is not guaranteed to continue

The Texas power grid operator will add nearly $119 million to its annual budget.

The EPA last year announced aerial surveillance of “super-emitters.”

The all-Republican court narrowly found that the nonprofit corporation qualifies for sovereign immunity.

The energy firm leader's $37.8M salary is 366 times median employee pay.

The measure is the first in a series of GOP proposals aimed at “unleashing American energy production.''

The U.S. Department of Energy granted permission for power plants to release more pollution than is normally allowed — if grid conditions worsen

Texans will be bailing out energy providers haurt by the winter storm for decades.

 The proposed offshore terminal is one of four projects intended to expand oil export capacity.

The Texas Utility Help program has been reopened for low-income Texans to apply. 

In Texas' oil and gas fields, technology to curtail methane "just doesn’t work," environmentalists say.