– Direct link to episode MP3 file –
In this episode, I talk with Matt Glazewski about the politics of climate change in Portland.
Glazewski is a climate expert with 15 years of government experience who’s worked on disaster resiliency projects at the local, regional and federal levels. He’s worked with the Federal Emergency Management Administration FEMA and the National Weather Service where he once briefed U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (in photo). He also helped draft the first-ever climate action plan for Clackamas County. Glazewski was most recently a senior policy advisor for Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps. I wanted to share Matt’s perspective because earlier this summer he says left his job out of frustration with the lack of progress on climate change among other city staff and elected leaders. In his final days as a City Hall staffer, Glazewski shared his concerns publicly during the open comment period before a city council meeting.
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“It was a colossal failure, in my opinion, to redo the project the way that it was done, especially when we have bike plans going back 25 years that say we’re going to put bike lanes on Hawthorne.”
— Glazewski on PBOT’s decision to repave Hawthorne with wider auto lanes and no bike lanes
You might recall Glazewski from a story we did back in February where he suggested using green street and stormwater management infrastructure as a tool to deter vehicular violence. He also spoke out personally (not as a representative of Commissioner Mapps) about his support for bike lanes on SE Hawthorne Blvd, and don’t miss the part of our interview where I ask him more about that controversial project.
You can learn more about Glazewski on his website or follow him on Twitter @sentencesrunon. Watch and listen to his testimony at Portland City Council on June 21st via YouTube.
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— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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I really loved this episode. I missed Matt’s outgoing speech to city council and I’m glad to have heard it here. Is there somewhere I can find a transcript of his speech? I would like to follow up with the members of city council based on his critiques and suggestions. I hope Matt will run for city council. He has my vote.
Hi Monika, I’m still cleaning up the episode transcript… But here’s the part from his council testimony:
Begging the council to burn methane in trucks and using terms coined by the “fracked gas” industry to do so is not good policy.
To paraphrase Greta Thunberg:
Climate Action Plan (2015)*. Blah, blah, blah.
Renewable Energy Resolution (2017)#. Blah, blah, blah.
Climate Emergency declaration. Blah, blah, blah
Build back better. Blah, blah, blah.
Green economy. Blah blah blah.
Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah,
Climate neutral. Blah, blah, blah,
*If one subtracts the heavy industry that has left Portland Portland total CO2e emissions have dropped by only ~9% since 1990. And this metric does not account for Portland’s rapidly increasing consumption emissions.
https://www.portland.gov/sites/default/files/2020/2018-emissions-inventory_12_29_20.pdf
#RECS are not renewable energy. PGE and Pacificorp still burn enormous amounts of coal and natural gas and there are still no concrete plans to decarbonize utility energy provision.
https://www.oregon.gov/energy/energy-oregon/pages/electricity-mix-in-oregon.aspx
(Closure of Boardman led to increased open market purchase which are predominantly generated by coal and fracked gas.)
Thank you. I really appreciate it. I wrote to all city council members just now. I really appreciate your coverage of climate change. It is my top issue and concern and, as you made the point in the podcast, it relates to everything else.
This is really an amazing interview that reveals what many of us have shared concerns about: This city council lacks the political will and courage to address the existential crisis that is climate chaos. As Matt Glazewski says, the climate crisis is central to every issue we face; in my opinion, ignoring it is akin to denial of the impending catastrophe from the societal upheavals that will ensue (and have already started).
Matt, we need your voice as an elected official in Portland!
Jonathan, thank you for this timely and important interview.
This was fantastic. Matt’s heartfelt candor was really touching and refreshing to hear. Also, I still wonder all the time about what happened behind the scenes for the Hawthorne decision, so it was cathartic to hear an insider’s theory about that. Thanks for this interview, Jonathan and Matt.
This was a powerful interview, thank you to both of you. It confirms what many suspect—a lot of goals and aspirations, but failure on the follow through. It’s like, dare I say it?, performative governing. I’m glad that MG pointed out that there are good people within the bureaus, that’s been my experience also.
Hard to focus on climate change for a city with rampant shootings and a homeless crisis. Climate activists need to realize that cities need to provide basic law enforcement response and a climate of personal safety before the citizens will be able to focus on climate change.
I’m one of the people who have trouble focusing. However I do know two things:
–The chance I will suffer from direct interpersonal violence next year is probably less than 1 in 100.
–The chance that I will be seriously impacted by a climate related event next year is about 1 in 3. ‘Climate’ can injure or kill people just as dead as a bullet can, and a climate event effects every single person in the entire region. See:Heat Dome.
There are people who are literally better insulated from climate impacts than I am. Often those are the people wound up about ‘caravans’ headed for our borders. Climate policy = immigration policy.
X,
Downplaying the importance of personal safety won’t help us solve climate change problem.
“Climate activists need to realize…”
You act as if we aren’t the same as you. Climate makes these problems worse. They are tied together, not different. Your comment actually highlights one of the main reasons why we do not focus on climate – people think it’s a one or the other situation.
Fantastic interview! The response to Matt from city counselors reminds me of the sentiment that seems all too common in Portland, which is
“We’re Portland, everything we do is focused on climate, because we’re Portland.”
“We’re Portland, a Portlander driving a Subaru is the same as riding a bike, because we’re Portland.”
“We’re Portland, every City Council decision is green, because we’re Portland.”
Jonathan (and Matt). Thanks for sharing and informing. Very informative, saying such as a former city employee of a neighbouring city.
As I have shared in past comments: Portland’s march to reboot its commission form of government will likely not be the solution to its long term problems…as even a Strong City Manager + Weak Mayor are too weak to address the structural and ecological problems hitting Portland.
If you look to cities that have successfully battled “the big problem of the day” you need a Strong Mayor, and in modern times especially one that it not totally captured by party politics…some independence to push back against the scared cows of their party or base when needed for the good of the whole.
Nice comment Todd. The whole “strong mayor/weak mayor” dichotomy has me lost, or at least my understanding of it is different from everyone else’s. Portland has a weak mayor system now. Mayor has same power as the commissioners, except mayor also gets to make budget and assign bureaus.
I see mayor having more power under reformed system—true executive power.
The current commissioners aren’t qualified to even be hired by the bureaus they head. For a number of years now, I’ve viewed bureau heads as the chief tutor of the given commissioner, who we all hope will be a quick study.
Getting the students, er, I mean commissioners out of an executive role, basically out of the way, will be a huge improvement, at least as I see it.