CAT News offers a serving of Good News
Good news is a powerful motivator for action, and there is lots of good news about climate-change mitigation, adaptation/resilience, and justice.
21 June 2025
Electric grills are a climate-friendly option to fossil fuel grills. Summer grilling usually starts with filling a propane tank or buying a bag of charcoal briquettes. But some people are ditching these fuels for a more climate-friendly electric grill.
Humanoid robots learn waste sorting from real workers using VR headsets. Worker headsets capture motion data — including posture and hand articulation — to train TeknTrash’s AI robotic models.
Elliott State Research Forest takes major step with new wildlife protections
By Gina Binole May 28, 2025 4:02 p.m. Updated: May 29, 2025 12:20 p.m.
A long-running effort to turn a coastal Oregon forest into a living laboratory took a major step forward this week, as federal officials approved two key wildlife protection plans tied to the Elliott State Research Forest.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday it had granted the Oregon Department of State Lands an 80-year habitat conservation plan, or HCP. The plan outlines how the state will protect species like the threatened marbled murrelet sea bird and northern spotted owl while allowing for limited research-based logging across the 83,000-acre forest in the Coast Range, northeast of Coos Bay.
(HB 3546) The POWER Act passed the Oregon House and Senate and is now on its way to Governor Tina Kotek for her signature.
• Oregonians will no longer subsidize data centers on their electric bills.
• Data center utility costs will be tracked and billed to data centers, not Oregonians.
• Utilities can better plan for reliable electricity for everyone, including data centers.
OR HB 2081A Oregon Treasury "Net Zero" bill is approved. Text of bill
1 Climate Risk Assessment
The Treasury and OIC are required to analyze and manage the risks of climate change to the PERS fund by evaluating the Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions of the fund's investments.
2 Carbon Intensity Reduction
The bill sets the goal of reducing the carbon intensity of PERS investments by favoring investments with low greenhouse gas emissions, thereby supporting a transition to a net-zero future.
3 Just Transition
HB 2081 emphasizes investing in public equity holdings that incorporate the principles of a just transition, in an effort to ensure that the shift to a low-carbon economy is fair and equitable.
4 Biennial Reporting
The Treasury is mandated to report to the Legislature every two years on:
Progress toward carbon intensity investment goals.
Advancements in investing in public equity holdings aligned with a just transition.
Incorporation of new methodologies and advancements in measuring progress, acknowledging the evolving nature of carbon intensity metrics.
State offers EV rebates again
Alex Baumhardt (5-1-2025) in the Oregon Capitol Chronicle