Learn more about the work of the groups on the frontlines of transforming Portland’s toxic harbor into a green working waterfront:
Portland Harbor Community Coalition,
The Braided River Campaign
Portland Audubon
Willamette Riverkeeper
Columbia Riverkeeper
350PDX
Green Anchors
Portland Harbor Community Advisory Group
CedarAction Zenith Work Group
Extinction Rebellion PDX
UPCOMING EVENTS
February 28th, March 1st, March 2nd
PIELC 2025
The theme of this Public Interest Environmental Law Conference is
“Rising to the Challenge-Justice on the Horizon”.
Numerous panels and speakers from across the region and beyond will present during the three days. Free admission. Details here.
Rumble On The River #21 will be at PIELC this year
Nukes Across The Columbia? -Prepping for SMNRs in Washington to Power Oregon’s Data Centers
Friday, February 28th, 2025, 1:30 – 3:00 PM
Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, University of Oregon, Eugene|
Law School Building Room 184
The panel addresses the Big Tech surge to develop small modular nuclear reactors to meet the voracious energy demands of data centers, AI, crypto-currencies and cloud computing. The plan: build SMNRs in the Hanford vicinity of Washington to power data centers in Oregon. This would handily circumvent the 1980 voter-mandated law which bars new nuclear plant construction within Oregon without a voter reversal and the establishment of a federally licensed waste repository. Discussion will delve into the plan, treaty rights, economic and safety issues associated with SMNRs and rationality of feeding AI’s extreme energy appetite.
Thanks to Videographers Peter Dragovich and Jim Lockhart for recording this panel.
Moderator:
Barbara Bernstein is a musician, composer, performance artist and award-winning radio and video producer. Since 1991, she has hosted Locus Focus, a weekly environment program on KBOO-FM, on which she interviews many of the leading voices on a wide array of environmental issues. Her most recent documentaries are “Once a Braided River” and “Chasing Chimeras: The Lure of Deceptive Climate Solutions”.
“We’re being hoodwinked by two evil empires – big tech and big nukes – to re-animate the moribund nuclear industry in the name of needless energy.”
Panel:
Simone Anter (she/her) is a descendant of the Pascua Yaqui and Jicarilla Apache. She serves as a Senior Staff Attorney & Hanford Program Director for Columbia Riverkeeper, where she works in close collaboration with the Yakama Nation to support increased public engagement in Hanford Nuclear Site cleanup. Her work also includes lending legal support to other Riverkeeper campaigns. Simone earned her J.D. from UCLA School of Law, where she received a specialization in Critical Race Studies with a focus on Native American rights. Prior to joining Riverkeeper’s team, Simone was an extern at the Tribal Law and Policy Institute where she contributed to legal publications and policy letters. In addition, Simone clerked for the Honorable Allie Greenleaf Maldonado in the Tribal Court of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Petoskey, Michigan.
“Hanford has a future worth fighting for. This future includes people hunting, fishing, using the Columbia River and exercising Tribal treaty rights in the area. Siting SMNRs at Hanford puts that future at risk. Any development that threatens to delay clean up or increase our nuclear waste burden should be a non-starter.”
Damon Motz-Storey works as the Director of the Sierra Club’s Oregon Chapter, representing its nearly 58,000 members and supporters statewide to uphold their mission to explore, enjoy, and protect the planet. For almost 10 years, Damon has supported environmental justice and democracy campaigns in the Pacific Northwest including Oregon’s 100% clean electricity state law and the 2018 ballot measure that created the Portland Clean Energy Fund. A lifelong Quaker with family friends in Fukushima and an early childhood memory of protesting with nuns at a nuclear missile silo, Damon has long understood the harms and dangers of the nuclear industry from weapons to power reactors to a toxic fuel chain.
“The people have never rallied in favor of nuclear power because it’s inherently undemocratic with no benefits to our communities. We simply do not need this dirty, dangerous, and outlandishly expensive energy because we have better options like wind and solar ready right now.”
Kelly Campbell (she/her) brings more than 25 years of experience in environmental health and social justice to her role as policy director at Columbia Riverkeeper, where she works with the team to develop policy strategies and advocate at the local, state, and federal levels. Before joining Columbia Riverkeeper, Kelly served as the executive director at Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) for more than 13 years. Kelly was a founding co-director of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, an organization that has been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Don’t believe the hype. Small modular nuclear reactors are a false solution that divert funding from energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies that are safer, less expensive, and faster to deploy.
• Advisory Board member of CLDC Eugene
• Member of Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians •Member of Stop Nuclear Work Group
Waluulapum Cathy Sampson-Kruse – wife, mother, grandmother: ulla and kuthla. She lives with her husband on the Oregon coast and hopes to someday build on her homelands of the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, Walla Walla, Cayuse.
“Kwaliism ch’na – We are still here.”
~~ Rumble Ideas & Questions: rumbleontheriver@outlook.com ~~
Rumble On The River’s Sponsoring Organizations:
350 PDX, Alliance for Democracy, Arbor Lodge Neighborhood Association, Bernie PDX,
Bird Alliance of Oregon, Braided River Campaign, Breach Collective, Cathedral Park Neighborhood Association, Columbia Riverkeeper, Community for Earth/First Unitarian Portland, Cully Association of Neighbors, EcoFaith Recovery, Economic Justice Action Group/First Unitarian Portland, Extinction Rebellion-PDX,
Frog Ferry, Havurah Climate Action Team, Human Access Project, KBOO Radio 90.7,
Kenton Neighborhood Association, Linnton Neighborhood Association, Mosquito Fleet,
Mt Tabor Neighborhood Association, Neighbors for Clean Air, No More Freeways,
OPAL – Environmental Justice Oregon, Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club, Oregon Conservancy Foundation, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pearl District Neighborhood Association, P.E.S.T. Projection, Portland Committee on Human Rights for the Philippines, Portland Harbor Community Advisory Group, Portland Harbor Community Coalition, Portland Jobs with Justice, Portland Raging Grannies, Portland Youth Climate Strike, Portsmouth Neighborhood Association, St. Johns Neighborhood Association, Sauvie Island Community Association, Sunrise Movement PDX, Tank the Tanks, Third Act Oregon, Willamette Riverkeeper