On May 15th, the Hillsboro City Council voted unanimously to work with the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives to reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions, and authorized Mayor Tom Hughes to sign the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. This was a landmark moment in the effort to make the city more sustainable. It's importance, however, was lost on the press; the city newspaper, the Hillsboro Argus, has not reported on the victory, and does not plan to do so. An Argus reporter was present at the public city council meeting at which the vote was made, but does not consider the decision to be worth writing about. This is a confirmation of a sad fact; even at this time when "green" issues are getting more attention from the public than they have for years, even in the environmentally renowned Northwest, it is hard to convince people that the health of the planet is not just a "side issue" to the mainstream news.
THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE. CLICK HERE TO PROTECT OREGON'S ENVIRONMENT
Twice in the past year, the Argus did report on the city's efforts to do something about global warming. The first article was as much a human-interest story as an environmental one, as it covered the role of a Hillsboro student in convincing the city council to look at further reducing greenhouse emissions. The second article, a 223 blurb printed five months later, briefly stated the city council's intention to vote on the resolution that ended up passing on May 15th. With a third, slightly higher-profile article reporting on the adoption of the resolution, the Argus could have done a reasonably decent job following the global warming story. But no such article is going to come out of the paper. The reporter who wrote the first two articles states that she feels she has "already covered [global warming] sufficiently." Apparently, environmental crisis is a minor concern, worthy of a short piece here and there when the paper has a shortage of good stories. This generation of Americans' response to global warming could be the defining feature of the early twenty-first century. But someone forgot to tell the Argus.
With or without a blessing from the press, we must make real environmental change. VISIT LOCAL SUSTAINABILITY'S ACTION DASHBOARD TO GET STARTED
THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE. CLICK HERE TO PROTECT OREGON'S ENVIRONMENT
Twice in the past year, the Argus did report on the city's efforts to do something about global warming. The first article was as much a human-interest story as an environmental one, as it covered the role of a Hillsboro student in convincing the city council to look at further reducing greenhouse emissions. The second article, a 223 blurb printed five months later, briefly stated the city council's intention to vote on the resolution that ended up passing on May 15th. With a third, slightly higher-profile article reporting on the adoption of the resolution, the Argus could have done a reasonably decent job following the global warming story. But no such article is going to come out of the paper. The reporter who wrote the first two articles states that she feels she has "already covered [global warming] sufficiently." Apparently, environmental crisis is a minor concern, worthy of a short piece here and there when the paper has a shortage of good stories. This generation of Americans' response to global warming could be the defining feature of the early twenty-first century. But someone forgot to tell the Argus.
With or without a blessing from the press, we must make real environmental change. VISIT LOCAL SUSTAINABILITY'S ACTION DASHBOARD TO GET STARTED
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