Tackling Climate Change

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.

Wyden, Merkley Announce $1.9 Million to Promote Sustainable Forest Health for Small-Acreage Forest Landowners

Washington D.C.—U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced a federal investment of $1.9 million for the Bonneville Environmental Foundation to connect underserved and small acreage forest landowners to emerging carbon markets that provide incentives to improve forest management, including reforestation and other sustainable practices, for a healthier climate.

Wyden, Merkley Announce $7.8 Million Investment in Oregon Schools

School facilities in Grant, Jefferson, Douglas, Josephine, Douglas and Tillamook counties earn federal energy investments Washington D.C.—U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced a $7.8 million investment in rural Oregon school districts to support energy improvement projects like new heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, lighting upgrades, alternative

Merkley, Wyden Welcome $400 Million to Combat Historic Western Drought

USDA’s New Water Savings Commodity Program Follows Call from Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, California, Arizona, Nevada, & Montana Lawmakers in April Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden welcomed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement of $400 million to address drought through investments at the

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