Cycling, Rural Oregon, and Clean Energy: Why CUB Matters to Shelley Batty
Posted on November 9, 2018 by Samuel Pastrick
Tags, General Interest
Shelley Batty has a passion for bicycling and rural Oregon. She was raised on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Eastern Oregon where she grew to love the rural landscape and way of life. As an adult in rural Clackamas County, Shelley and her husband became avid cyclists to explore the beauty around them and eventually opened a bike touring company to facilitate bike tours throughout Oregon. That’s how they ended up in Lakeview.
“We thought that Lake County, with breathtaking views and 270 days of sunshine, was an ultimate bicycling destination”, Batty said. So when she landed a job as the Finance Director for the town of Lakeview, they decided to make it their home. Since arriving, they have given up the touring company but have established a booming outdoor retail store, Tall Town Bike and Camp. The term “Tall Town” refers to the fact that Lakeview is the highest sitting town in Oregon at 4890 feet (a mile is 5200 feet).
Shelley also feels strongly about clean and renewable energy: “Lakeview”, she says, “is the greenest county in the state – we have wind, solar, thermal, and biogas being developed here.” That is why she decided to get involved with CUB.
Batty was first introduced to CUB at Oregon City Chamber where she attended with CUB’s Development and Communications Director, Pamela White. She knew that CUB had been working on green energy issues and also knew that folks in Lake County had very little exposure to CUB.
Shelley became a CUB member and then joined the board because when she looked carefully at its makeup, it was clear that Congressional District 2 did not have good representation from the Southeastern part of the state.
“This area supports all kinds of clean energy as part of our economy. People need to know about the great stuff we’re doing in Lakeview, and Lakeview needs to know that CUB has amazing resources and expertise for energy issues,” Batty says. “I am hopeful that Lakeview and CUB can partner to share a model on how to effectively bring clean energy to rural communities throughout the state.”
To that end, Bob Jenks, CUB’s Executive Director, will be doing a Lakeview tour in February to establish new relationships with the community. (Watch for blogs about this early next year.)
Shelley says “People should understand what CUB does for our state and get involved. They should stop right now, go online, and join; it is so easy, yet makes such a difference!”
Thanks Shelley, we agree. So please if you are reading this blog and you feel compelled to join CUB during this #GivingTuesday month, visit our membership page and join today.
As Shelley reminds us, “Giving means that CUB can keep the pressure on policy makers and regulators to support clean energy development in all parts of the state.”
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09/05/22 | 0 Comments | Cycling, Rural Oregon, and Clean Energy: Why CUB Matters to Shelley Batty