| | Dear Friend, More than ever, your support matters. In 2020 you secured incredible victories for clean water and our climate. Our tenacious team of community organizers, scientists, and lawyers fought hard for what you love. Check out our annual report for a roundup of incredible victories that slashed climate pollution, stopped corporate polluters, and lifted up the voices of people leading the charge for clean water. This year, led by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities, people came together, demanding an end to police brutality, structural racism, and echoed the call that Black Lives Matter. At Columbia Riverkeeper, we are investing more than ever in our vision of an inclusive organization and river communities that unite people to fight for clean water, abundant fish and wildlife, and our climate. You make Columbia Riverkeeper a force for good in these challenging times. I’m energized for a 2021 that keeps the momentum going as we stare down a climate crisis and dwindling salmon and orca numbers. With gratitude, Brett VandenHeuvel | | | | | | | | Here are six success stories in 2020 powered by you! | | | | We Sued the Trump Administration. A lot. Over the last four years we’ve initiated 10 lawsuits against the Trump administration. During Biden’s first 100 days in office, we will continue to take on the most dangerous threats, biggest polluters, and thorniest problems. | | | | | | | | Oregon’s Only Coal-Fired Power Plant Shut Down Thanks to a lawsuit brought by Columbia Riverkeeper and our allies in 2008, Oregon’s only coal-fired power plant officially shut down. This marks the end of decades of dangerous air pollution at Portland General Electric’s Boardman coal-fired power plant. | | | | | | | | A Federal Court Denied Key Permits for a Fracked Gas Refinery We scored a major victory last month when a federal district court denied important permits for the Kalama Methanol Refinery, sending the proposed project back to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a full, transparent environmental review. Stay tuned for future permit decisions. | | | | | | | | Thousands of People Used Our Monitoring Data Throughout the summer we monitored Columbia River swim beaches. And over 60,000 people accessed the data on the Swim Guide app to make informed decisions about where and when to swim. We believe clean water is a right, and all people deserve the opportunity to swim and fish without fear of getting sick. | | | | | | | | Pressure Mounted to Clean Up America’s Most Toxic Site Through public engagement, Hanford stays front and center with public participation at an all-time high. Let’s continue to empower people to engage in one of the most importantㅡand complicatedㅡcleanups in the world. | | | | | | | | Gorge-Based Comunidades Grows Comunidades is a Latina/o/x-led organization that amplifies voices for environmental and social justice in the Columbia River Gorge. The group, which hired its first full-time staff member this month, aims to empower people to promote civic engagement in Latina/o/x communities. Columbia Riverkeeper is proud to fiscally-sponsor and lend staff support to Comunidades. | | | | | | | | Take Action: Virtual No Methanol Mondays: December 21. Join Columbia Riverkeeper and our allies every Monday in calling on Gov. Inslee and the Wash. Dept. of Ecology to do the right thing and deny the world’s largest fracked gas-to-methanol refinery from being built in Kalama, Washington.
Give for Clean Water: Now - December 31. Donate via Willamette Week’s annual Give!Guide, you will have the opportunity to win awesome prizes on big Give Days and through Columbia Riverkeeper’s amazing business partners. | | | | | | | | In the News - Guest Commentary: Chúush: Water for Warm Springs, Columbia Gorge News, December 8, 2020
- Environmental groups call for scrutiny of natural gas plant permits, OPB, December 7, 2020
- Twisted Logic: Why Washington State Should Reject a Dangerous New Climate Theory, The Revelator, December 2, 2020
- US judge voids permits for Columbia River methanol plant, OPB, November 24, 2020
- Fracked Gas on the Columbia, KBOO, November 23, 2020
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