Dr. Robert Bentley is a Portland ophthalmologist with more than 30 years of experience.
As a physician and practicing ophthalmological eye surgeon with more than 33 years of clinical experience, I ll be among the first to tell you how important a different profession, that of optometry, is for overall eye health care. Optometrists perform valuable services, including routine eye exams and prescriptions for eyeglasses and contacts.
But optometrists are not medical doctors; they are not physicians. They do not have years of medical school education and post-med school residency or surgical training. Nor do optometrists have the direct clinical experience that helps ophthalmologists like me manage and avoid difficult, or even life-threatening, patient safety situations.
There s no escape from plastic.
Look around your kitchen, walk around your favorite park or beach and you ll likely find yourself in the presence of plastic pollution.
The United States produces enough plastic waste every 15 hours to fill Cowboys Stadium, the largest football stadium in the country. We eat about a credit card s worth of plastic every week because microplastics are so omnipresent in our environment. If our waste patterns continue, by 2050 the oceans could have more plastic than fish.
How did it get this way? It s not because people have been clamoring for more plastic in our lives. In fact, it s become nearly impossible to avoid plastic in packaging and consumer products.
February 12 2021
My generation needs Gov. Brown to get serious about getting all the state s polluters to clean up their acts. And do so before 2050
To grow up today is to grow up during the apocalypse. In the midst of a global pandemic and climate crisis, my classmates and I are just trying to finish high school. While already trapped in our homes, the record-breaking wildfire season destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and left Oregonians breathing toxic smoke for weeks. We re graduating into a world fraught with unprecedented tragedies.
Two global public health emergencies are harming Oregonians: COVID-19 and climate change. Smoke from wildfires, pollution from burning fossil fuels and a respiratory virus are all gunning for our lungs. Who is bearing more than their fair share of these burdens? The answer has always been the same: Black, Indigenous and people of color.
January 25 2021
Recent legislation helped, but many Oregonians - particularly Black and Hispanic families - face additional challenges
In December s one-day special session, Oregon lawmakers took action to ensure that Oregonians won t be evicted during the darkest days of winter as COVID-19 continues to disrupt our communities and economy.
Through the passage of House Bill 4401, the Oregon Legislature recognized the importance of having a safe and stable home.
Testimony in favor of the bill came from nearly 200 renters, landlords, faith leaders and service organizations, painting a powerful picture of the financial insecurity the virus has wrought on Oregon families in every part of the state.
January 25 2021
Legislature s BIPOC Caucus focuses on efforts to ensure everyone has the chance to thrive as we break down barriers
The members of Oregon s Legislature s BIPOC Caucus are state Sens. Lew Frederick, Kayse Jama and James I. Manning Jr., and state Reps. Diego Hernandez, Mark Meek, Wlnsvey Campos, Teresa Alonso León, Andrea Salinas, Khanh Pham, Janelle Bynum, Tawna Sanchez and Ricki Ruiz.
The members of the Oregon Legislature s Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Caucus envision a future for the state that is diverse, dynamic and equitable, where everyone has equal opportunity to thrive.
To work toward our caucus s mission of advancing equity and eliminating systemic oppression and racism in Oregon, we are focused on: