The U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis is charged with coordinating and advancing policies, strategies, and innovations to achieve substantial and permanent reductions in pollution and other activities that contribute to the climate crisis. On Wednesday, August 3 at 10 a.m., the committee convened in Astoria for a hearing titled “Building Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities: Perspectives from Oregon’s State, Local and Tribal Partners.”
The hearing examined challenges facing Oregon’s coastal communities and ecosystems due to the climate crisis and explored opportunities for the federal government to help state, local, and Tribal partners build resilient, climate-ready coasts
Written testimony from each of the panelists is available on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis website.
Dr. Elaine Placido, Executive Director, Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership. Placido is a veteran of the Coast Guard and has twenty-plus years of local government and non-profit experience prior to working with the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership.
Dr. Francis Chan, Director, Cooperative Institute for Marine Ecosystem and Resource Studies; Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University. Chan leads the Institute’s research in conservation, protection, and restoration of marine resources; marine ecosystems; ocean acoustics; and ocean, coastal, and seafloor processes.
Tyler Bell, Director, Westervelt Ecological Services' Rocky Mountain Region. Bell primarily oversees the organization's restoration site planning and development, agency relations and coordination, business development, and management of regional staff.
Aja DeCoteau, Executive Director, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. DeCoteau leads the organization's strategic direction and team of more than 130 employees in four locations in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho to put fish back in the rivers, protect treaty fishing rights, share salmon culture, and provide direct services to tribal fishers along the Columbia River.