The Public Record
Jeff Alan Merkley is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Oregon since January 6, 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Merkley has focused on issues such as healthcare, climate change, and economic inequality throughout his tenure. He has been an advocate for progressive policies and has worked to address the challenges facing working families in Oregon and across the nation. Merkley is known for his commitment to transparency and accountability in government, often speaking out against perceived injustices and advocating for reforms.
Is it fair for me to describe environmental justice as a recognition that pollutants are often concentrated in low-income communities, and communities of color, and we need to make a special effort to address that challenge and remedy that…
It is now estimated that each of us, because of how microplastics now permeate our air, water and food, eat the equivalent, or consume the equivalent of a credit card's worth of plastic every week.
I do like President Biden's budget with his commitments on climate change, environmental protection, justice, community, resilience, and they are not empty gestures.
A number of colleagues have raised the question of environmental justice, and I am so glad it is becoming part of the regular discussion.
After 10 years of painful budget caps, EPA's budget today is 25 percent lower in real dollars, than its fiscal year 2010 funding level.
Well, that is pretty important. And I was very struck that almost half your workforce is retirement-eligible in just 5 years.
Last summer, devastating wildfires incinerated several of the towns in my home State of Oregon, destroying hundreds of homes, leveling businesses to the ground, tragically killing 11 individuals.
We have increased prostate and breast cancer that many believe is being affected by the endocrine disruptors that come out of plastics prevalence.
I will just say that, despite Oregon's recycling, because it has a returnable deposit on bottles, it still--it still recycles only a very small proportion of plastics.
These levels would help reverse the funding and staffing losses EPA has suffered.
It is an essential step environmental protection funding that enables a robust response to the threats communities face across our Nation.
We need to rebuild the EPA and provide long overdue relief to its State, Tribal and local partners on the frontlines of implementing our environmental laws.
In Oregon, and all over United States and the world, climate chaos is a fact of life.
Do you support diplomats from the United States not attending the 2022 Olympics while China is engaged in genocide?
I condemn Hamas' use of the rockets against Israel, but I am also concerned about Israel undermining the possibility for peace.
The previous Administration and State Department under Secretary Pompeo found that China was engaged in genocide in its treatment of the Uyghur community.
I think that will be very valuable in your efforts to guide the Forest Service and our efforts to help fund what you need.
Is it the case that these CCC projects, both existing and the proposed play a significant role in giving a lot of youth a second chance?
There is hundreds of miles of old timber roads in our national forests that often are eroding and creating silt in the streams, which really affects our salmon runs.
I am anxious to both see the mobile biochar report that you referred to and to actually do a little bit of research to make sure to understand better the results of this experiment.
We are very concerned about understanding exactly the role of forests in carbon absorption and storage or as often referred to as sequestration.
Politicians like Jeff Merkley
