Climate Spotlight: It’s possible to avoid volatile gas prices while still keeping your home cozy. Heat pump heating-and-cooling systems run on electricity rather than methane — and thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, these appliances are increasingly affordable.
New local survey data is available for policymakers on how residents think about household energy and climate change. The bottom line: Residents support equitable policies to implement energy efficiency measures, expand solar options, and reduce our use of “natural” gas.
Barbara Cervone: “Reports of our inadequate response to the climate emergency roll in as regularly as the tides. The latest came from the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), telling us that the crisis is getting worse even faster than we’d imagined. It’s hard to envision a louder alarm, and yet we seem able to sleep through it.”
Alan Journet: “If global warming and its climate change consequences continue unchecked, they are likely to destroy our natural ecosystem (forests, woodlands, grasslands, deserts, etc.) by the end of the century, along with our agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. It’s difficult to imagine how the economic impact of this could be overestimated or ignored.”
Climate Spotlight: “Using ‘natural’ gas is one of the biggest sources of emissions in Ashland. The city needs a concrete plan to phase it out — and so do all the rest of us.”
“It’s mostly methane. It’s bad for our health. It warms the planet way more than carbon dioxide. And it’s flowing into a kitchen near you. Electrification is the best solution.”
Oregon House Rep. Pam Marsh sits in a good spot to drive state-level climate action in Salem. She provided a climate action recap for Ashland.news readers from the just-inked 2022 session.
“Electric school buses mean cleaner air and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Ashlanders should support the Ashland School District in applying for federal funding for its first electric school bus.”
“If we think of climate change as strictly an environmental problem, we may feel that we don’t have the right skills or knowledge to take action. Yet we all have experience as humans, community members, family members and caretakers.”
Changes in our transportation structure would help improve equity and housing options for Ashland residents and workers and also benefit the climate.
The Ashland Independent Film Festival announced Monday the nonprofit’s six on-screen film lineup as a documentary showcase coming April 14-20 to the Varsity Theatre. Each Varsity feature will be paired with a short documentary directed by a local filmmaker.
Oregon drivers who for decades have been banned from touching gas pumps could soon have the right to fuel their own cars, under a bill the state House overwhelmingly approved Monday.
After announcing last week that the ski-snowboarding area broken its all-time season attendance record, Mt. Ashland Ski Area managers announced Sunday that its season has been extended to April 23, adding two weekends on to a schedule that typically would have ended on April 9.
During a visit to Central Point Sunday, Deb Haaland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, announced $21 million was on its way to Oregon to help reduce the risk of wildfires. Joining her were U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, and Mike Shaw, chief of fire protection at ODF.
A procession celebrating spring wound its way from the ice rink on Winburn Way to the Ashland Plaza on Saturday afternoon, drawing an estimated 150 participants with a like number of spectators.
Reader photos: Carlyle Stout of Ashland took these photos in Lithia Park after the last storm on March 1.
(It’s free)
