LA GRANDE — Two Eastern Oregon residents filed an initiative petition Aug. 9 to recognize climate rights for Oregonians.

The petition — filed by Peter Fargo, of Baker City, and Christopher Burford, of La Grande — looks to amend the Oregon Constitution to include the people of Oregon’s right to a safe climate. The two aim to collect more than 160,000 signatures for the initiative to appear on the 2026 General Election ballot.

“I’m a father,” said Fargo, a former public affairs officer for the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon. “I’ve watched my kids grow up as I and so many of us have watched the world change dramatically around us, and I see it as my responsibility as a father to prepare a way for them … here in Eastern Oregon and beyond.”

Burford said he’s lived in Northeast Oregon for 34 years, and recognizes the region’s dependance on its natural resources.

“If you live in Northeast Oregon, it’s likely because your work is related to the landscape here. (It’s) never more than one or two steps away from that,” he said. “But also, you live here because you want to be here, because you love the environment. The mountains, all the things you can do through the seasons and the way of life here.”

What the amendment says

The amendment seeks to add a section to Article I in the Oregon Constitution that includes a deadline of 2050 for net zero greenhouse gas emissions — or sooner, as practicable.

“The people of this state have a right to safe levels of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, so that life, liberty, property, and economic stability will be protected,” the primary subsection of the amendment would read.

The phrase “safe levels of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere” is quantified by a global surface temperature at or below 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit above the global average surface temperature during the time period of 1850 to 1900.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the 2022 surface temperature was 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the pre-industrial period, which includes 1880 to 1900, when researchers first started to document global average temperatures.

It is widely accepted in the scientific community that Earth’s continual average temperature rise — an increase of 0.14 degrees per decade since 1880, according to NOAA — has been largely human-caused through industrialization.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration reported that 2023 saw the greatest global average temperature for the June and July months on record.

La Grande’s average July temperatures clocked in at 78.1 degrees, 1.5 degrees greater than the normal-average temperature in past Julys in the area, according to the National Weather Service, Pendleton.

The maximum temperature recorded from the city’s station was 100 degrees. According to the NWS July 2023 Month in Review report, all of Union County had an above-average temperature than normal that month.

“At the most basic level, this climate rights amendment is an affirmation that climate change is a matter of life,” Fargo said. “It’s a matter of basic human rights and of constitutional rights, and we think it belongs in the document that enshrines our most deeply held values statewide.”

The amendment would allow individuals to bring a civil action against the state for injunctive relief “to ensure this right is protected,” the document said.

Moving forward

The requirement for an initiative to appear on the 2024 ballot is 160,551 validated signatures, and Fargo expects this number to increase for their 2026 ballot target.

Fargo and Burford said that after submitting the proposed amendment language to the Secretary of State’s office, the petition was officially registered. Now, they’re looking to build momentum by forming an initiative petition committee.

“Once we have a committee that is robust and reflects the state, we’ll be ready to invite members of the committee and volunteers to gather signatures,” Fargo said.

He said the goal is to collect about 200,000 signatures to account for the margin of error.

Eastern Oregon Climate Change Coalition Chair Jeff Blackwood said he could not speak about the initiative on behalf of EOC3 at the moment.

“I think it makes a lot of sense as (humans) continue to stress our environment and climate change continues to be a big stressor,” he said. “I’m an older generation person and we’ve lived our future, but (younger generations) have their future ahead of them. I think we’re all very concerned about what that future may look like.”

Fargo said that the proposed amendment is a nonpartisan effort, and is reaching out to leaders across the state to have “conversations about what this means for us as Oregonians.”

“I think our desire is a conservative one,” Burford said. “We want to keep the climate and the natural environment that we know and love, and as much as possible minimize disruption to that.”