Welcome & Orientation to the 3-day Conference

Keynote Speaker: Ellie Cohen, The Climate Center

California, the bellwether state often leads on climate initiatives. Ellie will discuss solutions for all sectors to ramp up their efforts to meet the latest climate directives from scientists: They report what we are experiencing daily: the impacts of climate change are hitting harder and faster, posing grave threats to human health and well-being. We are already pushing against multiple global tipping points that could unleash abrupt and irreversible damage. Children, the elderly, and people living in low-income communities are disproportionately affected. Our only hope for a vibrant, healthy, and equitable future for all is to enact bold climate policies now, not decades from now. Solutions exist in every sector- from energy and transportation to natural and working lands. Ms. Cohen will highlight recent climate science findings followed by an overview of The Climate Center’s Climate-Safe California initiative and recent successes. She will inspire citizen action to ensure that California, the world’s 5th largest economy, steps up its climate leadership by enacting the bold policies required by science soon. She will conclude with a hopeful view of our future.

Ellie Cohen, CEO, The Climate Center

Ellie Cohen is a leader in catalyzing cross-boundary, collaborative and just solutions to climate change and environmental degradation. She has received numerous honors including the Beyond Duke Alumni Award for Service and Leadership (2019), the National Park Service Pacific West Region Partnership Award (2018) and the Bay Nature Environmental Hero Award (2012). She was named one of “100 Women Taking the Lead to Save Our Planet” in the US by the National Women’s History Project (2009) and she was selected to participate in the Climate Reality Project’s second training with former Vice President Al Gore (2007).

Most recently, Ellie served as President and CEO of Point Blue Conservation Science where she and’s 160+ scientists worked with hundreds of public and private partners to develop climate-smart solutions for wildlife and people. At Point Blue she and partners secured $100 million of conservation investments in 2 million+ acres of agricultural lands (rangelands, croplands, creeks, and forests) for water, carbon sequestration, biodiversity and local communities; and, guiding 95% of the urbanized coast of California (70+ jurisdictions) in preparing for sea level rise and extreme storms.

Among her collaborative leadership roles, Ellie served as an invited member of the National Adaptation Forum‘s Steering Committee, the California Adaptation Forum’s Advisory Committee and the San Francisco Bay Area’s Resilient by Design Research Advisory Committee. As an invited member of the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Climate-Smart Conservation team, Ellie co-authored the climate-smart conservation principles and communications chapter in the national “Guide to Climate-Smart Conservation, Putting Adaptation Principles into Practice.” Ellie also co-founded the Bay Area Ecosystems Climate Change Consortium and served as Chair of the California Landscape Conservation Cooperative as well as the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay Habitat Joint Ventures.

Ellie received her undergraduate degree with honors in botany from Duke University. Field studies and later received her Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Representative Pam March, Southern Jackson County, District 5

Topic: 100% Clean Electricity in Oregon: What it Means for You

Representative Marsh will discuss the recently passed Oregon 100% Clean Electricity Bill and what it means for Oregonians.

Pam Marsh was first elected to House District 5 in southern Oregon in November 2016 and reelected to a third term in 2020. She currently serves as Chair of the House Environment and Natural Resource committee, and as Vice-Chair of the House Special Committee on Wildfire Recovery. In addition, she serves as a member of the House Committee on Agriculture and Land Use, House Committee on Revenue; House Committee on Housing, and the Joint Committee on Information Management and Technology. She is a member of the State Broadband Advisory Council (OBAC) and the Oregon Retirement Savings Board (OregonSaves).

Prior to joining the Oregon Legislature, Pam served the City of Ashland as a City Councilor for four years, and as a member and chair of the city Planning Commission and a member of the Ashland Charter Review Committee.

Pam has lived in Southern Oregon since 1994, when she and her husband, Diarmuid McGuire, moved their four children from Palo Alto, California, to the mountains above Ashland.