Oregon Research Institute

Dear ORI,

This is your chance. Your organization can be victorious. You can meet your goals without constructing on the banks of our river. You can find a suitable site, with minimal legal battle and  public uproar, and you can fulfill your obligation to the people of Eugene. We can help. We suggest at least one alternate site option that meets our needs as concerned citizens and environmental stewards. Are there other construction sites that haven’t been fully considered? Can we help make these sites meet your needs?

With the community polarization that is developing over this issue, does it remain in your best interest to construct on the Riverfront? It is likely that each step of the way will be contested by the community and bogged down in litigation. Is this arduous path the one you wish to take? Does this path fit your timeline? Does this path support your values?

The people of Eugene and we, Connecting Eugene, are not opposed to development. We want jobs and federal grant money. We want infrastructure and a sustainable economy. We want you, ORI, in our community. We say YES to ORI in Eugene, but we also say YES to a public riverfront!

Turn away from the Riverfront site and we will praise your aesthetic standards, your civic values, and your environmental ethics. Choose a different site nearby and we’ll lobby to leverage public money to help fund the infrastructure.

However should you continue to build on the riverfront may lose much more than you can imagine: You may lose the support of the people of Eugene.

It’s in your hands. Please make the responsible choice.

-Connecting Eugene

Tell Oregon Research Institute your vision for the Riverfront

Contact Cynthia Guinn, Executive Director of ORI. cynthia@ori.org (541) 484-2123

These are your values: Prove it to your community that you stand behind them.

Oregon Research Institute
Statement of Environmental Values, Objectives, and Goals

We must accept our responsibility for the environmental consequences of our conduct as consumers of products and services and as members of a larger community which we may inspire by our examples. We must also accept our responsibility to posterity who will need not only the adedquate resources and supportive ecosystems on which all life depends, but also the knowledge and wisdom which science can provide.

We, therefore, find and commit ourselves to the following objectives:

• Responsible social behavior in the consumption and expenditure of resources in connection with our work place, as consumers of products, and as a business;
• Providing future generations with the knowledge and wisdom that behavioral sciences can contribute to maintaining human settlements without degrading Earth and her systems which host us; and
• Providing leadership to our community by applying the knowledge of behavioral science to the complex problems of resource use in our society.

As an organization, we shall:

1. Strive to understand and accept responsibility for the consequences of our actions and economic activities in terms of their true and full cost;
2. Work toward becoming a model work place for the twenty-first century in terms of energy conservation, transportation policies, waste management, pre- and recycling, and reduction of other consumptive and polluting activities; and
3. Strive to conduct and support research on the above issues, developing and evaluating innovative methods and interventions that facilitate environmentally sound behaviors that lead to environmental justice now, and for future generations.