As reported last week by The Oregonian and Willamette Week, Governor Brown has indicated a willingness to work with Portland Public Schools to find funding for the relocation of Harriet Tubman Middle School. We’re grateful to see the Oregonian speak extensively to Adah Crandall, a former Tubman student and current Grant High School sophomore, about her concerns that PPS and the Governor need to be as worried about carbon pollution as they are about air pollution. The official No More Freeways statement is below:
“For years, No More Freeways has elevated community voices concerned about the pollution ODOT’s proposed freeway expansion would bring to the Albina neighborhood, and we’re thrilled to see Portland Public Schools join us in fighting for their students’ unambiguous right to clean air. It’s difficult to imagine ODOT’s expansion providing restorative justice to the Albina community when it’s evident the pollution from the extra lanes will give nearby residents even more asthma, dementia and cancer. Moving Tubman might allow ODOT to outrun poor air pollution for students, but it will be impossible for students to outrun the rising oceans or wildfires exacerbated by the freeway expansion’s bloated carbon emissions. We implore Governor Brown to demand an Environmental Impact Statement to fully understand the impacts ODOT’s proposed freeway expansion would have on our community, our lungs, and our planet. As smoke fills our state and drought threatens our waters, nothing less than an EIS is acceptable to current and future generations demanding action commensurate to the scale of the climate emergency.”