Climate Change Puts Regions like Ours in Jeopardy, Impacting All of Us | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

Climate Change Puts Regions like Ours in Jeopardy, Impacting All of Us

Making Central Oregon a better place to live; Bright ideas for a changing community

Climate Change Puts Regions like Ours in Jeopardy, Impacting All of Us
Courtesy Jason Kropf
I've been proud to call Bend home for nearly two decades, and my wife and I are thrilled to be raising our daughter here. In Bend, we know that clean air, water and land are more than a perk of living in this magnificent part of Oregon. They're a bedrock of our local economy and our well-being.

We also know that climate change puts regions like ours in jeopardy, impacting all of us, and disproportionately harming communities of color and low-income families. Droughts and more severe wildfire seasons are creating a tougher world for our children. For some, climate change may feel too big to solve, but I'm confident we can take steps in the right direction. As I write this on Father's Day, I am thinking about how we can help pass down a sustainable planet to my daughter's generation—and beyond.

This was one of the driving forces behind my desire to serve our community in the legislature, and why I'm proud to support critical legislation for a sustainable future for Oregon. House Bill 2021 sets Oregon on the path to 100% clean electricity by 2040, and House Bill 2842 creates a Healthy Homes program to make it easier for low-income families and other environmental justice communities to retrofit their homes for sustainability. Together, these bills will boost our economy and reduce our state's energy utilization. I am proud to sponsor both bills.

We aren't going to solve the climate crisis overnight. But together, we can set Oregon on a path to a greener, more sustainable future. In our final week of our legislative session, I'm committed to seizing the opportunity to act on climate change. I hope you're willing to join me.

—Jason Kropf represents Bend's House District 54 in the Oregon State legislature, and also serves on the Bend Park and Recreation District board of directors.

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