“Enough is enough!”
Portlander Hami Ramani is pissed. He’s tired of what he sees as a lack of bold action against climate change from the Oregon Department of Transportation and their bosses. To do something about it Ramani has just launched a new ride that will happen this Wednesday (tomorrow, 7/21) to show support for Sunrise Movement PDX and their ongoing protest at ODOT headquarters in downtown Portland.
As you might recall from our story on this protest last month, youth climate activists organized by Sunrise PDX have staged twice-monthly protests outside ODOT Region 1 headquarters on Northwest Flanders. The protests have grown in size in recent weeks. This is in part because the clear evidence of climate change-induced catastrophes is unfolding here in Oregon and in many other places worldwide, as our leaders sit back and rest on incrementalist rhetoric and status quo decision-making. Also fueling these fires are recent decisions by the Oregon Legislature and at Metro to endorse funding policy that will lead to more freeways being built and more cars being driven.
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Late last week Sunrise PDX activists took the train to Salem to protest in front of Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s home.
Ramani says he wants more Portlanders to, “Support the people who will be most affected by the incessant degradation of our planet through the failed actions of ODOT et al.”
The Youth vs. ODOT Rally Ride will meet at Colonel Summers Park in southeast tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 9:15 am and then ride to the protest rally at 123 NW Flanders. The rally happens from 10:00 am to 12 noon, so please feel free to ride over and meet at the ODOT building from wherever you are. If you live in a different part of the city and want to set a meeting spot to ride in a group downtown, leave it in the comments or let me know and I’ll update this post and our other channels.
Enough is enough.
If you can’t make Wednesday’s ride, consider joining the Climate Defender Family Ride happening July 25th and August 22nd.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Love the idea of folks meeting up in different spots and leading rides to support the Youth vs ODOT Rally. Thanks so much for sharing this!
With the Delta variant now raging, and the even more deadly and contagious Lambda variant hot on it’s heels, be interesting to see if any kind of climate mitigation means anything. Mother Nature’s in charge now.