The carbon pollution in our atmosphere from burning fossil fuels like oil and coal is waging a direct and unchecked assault on our farming, fishing and forests – the cornerstones of Oregon’s rural economy.
When Jeff was young, his dad worked as a millwright. He spent his childhood in Southern Oregon timber communities, where timber jobs were what put food on the table and kept roofs over folks’ head. Fires and insect infestations are already killing trees at alarming rates across the Northwest, and climate change will only make these threats to our forests worse. Other iconic Oregon industries like our coastal oyster hatcheries are threatened by ocean acidification, and fishing and farming alike are facing threats from declining snowpacks and increased drought.
Congress needs to wake up. Climate change is real, and it’s bad for our economy and jobs, especially in rural Oregon and the places that most depend on our abundant natural resources.
Merkley Investigates Chemical Industry Insiders Taking Over Critical EPA Chemical Safety Office
Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley—the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) subcommittee overseeing environmental justice, chemical safety, and waste management—today sent an oversight letter following reports of former chemical industry lobbyists filling key positions at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical
Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Investigate Trump’s Repeal of Bedrock Climate Safeguard
Senators sound alarm over political motivations to undermine climate science and harm public health Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said today they have joined Senate colleagues in launching an investigation into Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin’s decision to repeal the bedrock scientific determination underpinning the
Ranking Members Heinrich, Klobuchar, Merkley, Huffman, Pingree, and Colleagues Call on Secretary Burgum to Halt Creation of Unified Wildfire Agency, Citing Dramatic Cuts at the Interior and Concerns with Fire Mismanagement
“Mismanagement of fire management has life-or-death consequences and places billions of taxpayer dollars at risk.” Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment,
Whitehouse, Sanders, Merkley, Fletcher, Cleaver Lead More than 80 Colleagues in Filing Amicus Brief Urging Court to Restore Illegally Terminated Solar for All Funding
“EPA has given no reason why its unlawful actions to unwind Congressional appropriations should stand,” wrote the lawmakers Washington, D.C .— U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW); Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and U.S. Representatives Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX-07)
Merkley, Salinas, Colleagues Champion Strong Federal Support for Regenerative Agriculture
Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Representative Andrea Salinas (OR-06) led their colleagues—including Senator Ron Wyden, Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), and Val Hoyle (OR-04)—in reintroducing the Soil Conservation And Regeneration Education (Soil CARE) Act. Their bicameral bill would create a training program and curriculum to ensure
Merkley, Rounds, Panetta, Moore, Carbajal Champion Bipartisan Effort to Strengthen Monarch and Pollinator Highways
Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and South Dakota’s U.S. Senator Mike Rounds partnered with U.S. Representatives Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19), Blake Moore (R-UT-01), and Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) to introduce new bipartisan legislation to support pollinator-friendly habitats along roads and highways in states across America. The Roadside Pollinator Program Amendments Act builds
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