Our wish for the New Year is that we all have clean water, strong salmon runs, and healthy communities. Right now our basic rights are threatened by fossil fuel exports and toxic pollution in the Columbia River.
But we are not taking this lying down. The River has a voice because you are willing to fight for a future where families can enjoy a picnic by the river free of coal dust, eat the fish they catch, and swim without fear of toxic pollution. Update: We met our $100,000 year-end fundraising goal, thank you!
Your support powers our work because we are a member-funded organization. This past year your support accomplished so many things, including:
- Helping convince Oregon to reject Ambre Energy’s coal export plan for the Columbia;
- Organizing 538 people who came together on Love Your Columbia Day to remove over 5 tons of litter and pull invasive weeds on over 8 acres of riparian area;
- Forcing the Army Corps to reduce toxic oil pollution from eight hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, a settlement that Bloomberg News called “historic” and The New York Times described as having “national implications”;
- Standing up to plans to pave over family farms adjacent to high quality salmon habitat at Port Westward;
- Protecting the Estuary from Oregon LNG’s plans to export gas; and
- Pushing for faster and better clean up of Hanford’s nuclear waste.
Our winning combination of community organizing and citizen enforcement of clean water laws brings together thousands of people to speak for the River and our communities. With a relatively small budget we are taking on the corporate polluters and developers. And we are winning.
Your year-end gift to Columbia Riverkeeper amplifies your voice. Decisions are being made now that affect your future and you deserve to be heard.
Please visit us online at www.columbiariverkeeper.org to make a secure donation for your year-end tax deductible contribution. Make a phone contribution by calling: 541.387.3030. Or mail your gift to: Columbia Riverkeeper, 111 Third St., Hood River, OR 97031.
Your contribution to our year-end fundraising goal means we start the New Year ready to:
- Challenge plans to turn the Columbia River into the nation’s fossil fuel highway by fighting coal, oil, and gas terminals that threaten our region;
- Push regulators to take action on leaky radioactive tanks at the Hanford nuclear site;
- Test water quality and ensure the Columbia is safe to swim in;
- Reduce toxic pollution by enforcing the Clean Water Act; and
- Build strong coalitions in rural and urban areas to achieve our common goal of clean water and healthy communities.
At the close of 2014, we are inspired by the many people working for a better future. From water quality monitoring volunteers pulling on their waders to kids asking our governors to protect the climate, we are all protecting the Columbia. It’s easy to get discouraged by the fossil fuels export proposals emerging on the Columbia. But is there any better place in the nation to have this fight than here in the Pacific Northwest? We like our odds here. We care, we act, and we prevail. When Bill McKibben came out to tour the oil terminal site in Vancouver he told us that we have the honor of being at the epicenter of the climate fight. We have the honor of making a difference. The threat of exporting dirty coal, oil, and gas through our communities is a defining issue of our time.
And together we can win.
Here is to being a part of another year of wins and a group of people united by our passion for clean water and healthy communities. We hope we can count on your continued support.
