Why We Should Get Behind Debbie Boothe-Schmidt In Oregon-- A Guest Post By Mark Gamba

 

Most of the West Coast is still suffering one of the worst, if not THE worst fire season in recorded history. Contrary to the lies coming from the White House, the reason they are so bad is that humans have altered the climate, so things are hotter and drier than they have been for millennia. Add to that tinder box, unusually strong winds (also caused by climate change) and you have the perfect recipe for catastrophic fires. Portland Oregon, generally known as having pretty good air for a large city, had the worst air quality in the world, several days running. The Air Quality Index was off the charts. We were in unknown territory for the health effects on humans and every other breathing creature we share this region with.

If this were the first year with bad fires due to climate change, maybe you could forgive the Republican state legislators for their obstinance when it comes to passing some kind of climate bill. But it isn’t, and I don’t expect any change in that attitude in the foreseeable future. This matters, because even though the Democrats had super majorities in both houses and an exceedingly “fair minded” and thoughtful cap trade bill that looks to help the rural areas more (per capita) than it did the urban areas, the Republican members of both houses ran away from their jobs to deny a vote on the floor due to a lack of quorum.

So, if Oregon is going to pass any kind of worthwhile climate bill, let alone universal health care or any other truly progressive changes we will need a majority so big that the Democrats alone form a quorum. It just so happens that one of the seats that got us that supermajority is up for grabs because the Representative, Tiffiny Mitchell has decided to move out of the state.

Into this fray steps Debbie Boothe-Schmidt, a strong candidate who has deep roots in district 32. She raised her two girls as a single mom working two jobs to make ends meet. As former president of her union she has advocated for our working Oregonians and she also served as board chair on her local transportation board to improve public transportation in her district. She is now a small business owner and is running for state Representative to expand affordable housing and healthcare, funding for our schools and, of course, to fight against climate change.

This seat is one of the most competitive in the state with Debbie’s opponent being bankrolled by Timber Unity, Koch Industries, Chevron, Shell and many other large corporations. In the last two years, Timber Unity (responsible for the walkout against cap and trade) has become very strong on the North Coast. They staged a recall against Rep. Tiffiny Mitchell because of her vote for Cap and Trade and have also pledged to put $1 million behind Debbie’s opponent.

  If we want to pass any type of climate legislation in the state legislature, we are going to need to hold onto this seat to keep the house majority as well as hopefully flip a few more seats to expand the majority. This is a critical race.

The clock is ticking, we have 9 years to dramatically shift the way we function on this planet or we will doom our kids to a hellscape beyond the imaginings of worst post-apocalyptic movies.

Every city, every state and every nation should be addressing this issue like our lives were on the line. We can’t afford to let critical races like this be bought by the fossil fuel industry and their friends in the wall street timber companies.