2025's Notable Leaders
Awards go to our members who showed up this session
Oregon lawmakers fell short on meaningful climate action in the 2025 legislative session, so this year, OLCV will not be giving out legislative awards. Instead, we are featuring stories from three of the hundreds of community members who came to Salem to make their voices heard and push for bold environmental leadership. Oregonians deserve leaders who take real, urgent action—not just make promises. At OLCV, we believe accountability matters, and we’ll continue pushing for strong leadership to deliver the bold climate action our communities and future demand.
Malcolm Costello (Bend)
Our electricity costs went up significantly between 2023 and 2024, though by the end of the year, we had fewer people living in our household, which meant we ended up paying about the same, but using less kWh. At the same time, given the negative impact of natural gas on the climate crisis, we’re investing more in electricity (induction cooktop, heat pump, …) as a cleaner energy source. I thought it would be hard to move from cooking on gas, but I absolutely love the speed and control of an induction cooktop. We also want to install solar, but have been waiting to replace the roof, though unfortunately, we likely will lose out on tax credits by waiting.
Brian Ettling (Portland)
I was a seasonal park ranger at Crater Lake National Park for 25 years. Since I moved to Portland 8 years ago, I have used public transit on almost a daily basis because it is more convenient and safer than driving. I want the freedom not to drive a car. I have that option by using public transportation in Portland. However, up to 30% of Oregonians can't drive or afford to drive a car. Public transportation is essential for them to commute to their jobs, buy groceries, access healthcare, and assist their families. I’ll keep fighting for a comprehensive transportation package that works for all Oregonians because this issue is personal for me.
Harper Hamblin (Corvallis)
This year, I had the opportunity to participate in OLCV’s annual Lobby Day. I shared with other volunteers why the OLCV priority bills were important to me and asked why others had chosen to attend. Like me, one woman shared she had also lost her only car a few years before and couldn’t get a new one. She desperately wanted the public transportation in her city to be cheaper, cleaner, and more effective. Someone else told me that she ran a local chapter of a sustainability club in her area, prompted by the lack of action by the government. When I met with my legislator, I just told the truth. These bills needed to be passed not because of statistics, but because of the real stories of everyone who had taken hours out of their lives to talk to their representatives.
Honor Roll
Three Senators (Sens. Neron Misslin, Patterson, and Woods), and 12 Representatives (Reps. Bowman, Chaichi, Fragala, Gamba, Grayber, Kropf, Muñoz, Nathanson, Nelson, Nosse, Rieke Smith, and Valderrama) all earned PERFECT 100% scores for the 2025 session.
