Oregon Public Broadcasting

Hundreds of activists will converge on the Oregon town of Coburg this week, to discuss climate change.

Last year, a similar conference drew about 400 people to a rural community on the Washington side of the Columbia River.

That meeting centered on the liquefied natural gas terminal proposed at Bradwood Landing, in Oregon.

Brian Sloan is with the Rising Tide North America – the organization behind the Climate Convergence. He says LNG and car-related projects show that Oregon doesn't always walk its talk.

Brian Sloan: “We simultaneously have a lot of talk about long-term goals for reducing CO2 emissions in Oregon, but we have a four-point-two billion dollar project to expand the highway system through the Columbia River crossing. And we have this development of liquefied natural gas, which are moving us in the exact opposite direction we need to be moving in.”

Sloan says Oregon and the rest of the world need to move much faster to reduce the use of what he calls “dirty energy.”

There’s also a Climate Convergence taking place in New York City this week, and one just finished in Australia last week.

They tend to focus on what people can do to reduce their own carbon footprint, and how they can influence policy.