Welcome to the Oregon 2nd. Congressional District Group

Welcome to the OR-02 Group!

Here is some quick information on our area from Wickipedia: We are the largest Congressional District in the State of Oregon and the seventh largest District in the United States. It includes all of Baker, Crook, Deschutes, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Hood River, Jackson, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wasco, Wheeler counties, and part of eastern Josephine county, including some of the Grants Pass area. So if you live in one of these counties you belong here!

We cover a land area of about 70,000 square miles which is roughly two thirds of the state with a population of about 700,000 people.

Our Congressman- Elect is Democrat Jeff Merkley, former Speaker of the Oregon House of Representives who defeated Congresssman Greg Waldan, (R) in a close election in November 2008.

The District was created on March 4, 1893 and since that time the office has only been held by two other Democrats. Walter Pierce from La Grand server from 1933 untill 1943, and AL Ullman from Baker who served from 1957 untill 1981.

The Second District in Eastern Oregon is a wild place with thousands of acres of Federal Lands administered by the US Forest Service and the BLM with seveal National Treasures like the Steens Mountains and Crater Lake National Park in our midst.

We are proud to be part of both the Old West and the new rural revolution! We are a land of cattle ranchs and beautiful resorts. Ski hills and trout streams. Saw mills and wind mills.

OR-02 is a land of vast energy potential too... We are seeing Utility grade wind farms in the Columbia Gorge area and in NE Oregon High Desert areas too. Many areas are developing biomass electric plants using the renewable forest resources like PrairieCity CoGen Co.

Other exciting energy projects include the Klamath Falls area where Geothermal Energy has been used for many years. They have a Downtown District Heating System, and Oregon Institute of Technology as well as their hospital is all heated by hot water wells. They are drilling a 4000 foot well at OIT right now to power electric generating equipment to make the campus the first one in the world to be totally powered by Geothermal.

The Town of Lakeview currently provides the Warrner Creek Correctional Facility with Geothermal heat saving the State of Oregon a thousand dollars a day in heating bills. They are adding a electric generator to that system which will generate enough power to make the prison facility the first one in the world to be zero net-energy as well. They are in the planning stages for a school and hospital system, and I am involved in a planning a Downtown District Heating System.

Collins Companies, a recognised Sustainable Forest Products giant is working with Marabini Energy to build a 13 MW Bio mass plant and several companies are leasing local lands for solar farms.

Thirty five miles east of Lakeview near Adel, Nevada Power Company is planning a Utility grade geothermal steam electric plant. North of Lakeview in Paisley they are looking at heating their school and looking for investors for a 10 MW electric plant. Lake County is on its way to being the Renewable Energy capital of Oregon!

Please tell me of other energy related projects in OR-02 and I will print them here.....

I will be posting more information on our Pickens Plan Activies soon...

Thanks for joining!

John Cogar
OR-02