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Doug Moore, executive director of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, announced March 1 he will step down at the end of the month.
After taking charge of OLCV in December 2011, Moore aggressively raised the group’s profile in Salem. In the 2012 election cycle, for instance, OLCV’s political action committee spent just $147,000. By 2022, that number had grown to $1.76 million, making OLCV one of the largest non-labor PACs in the state.
But Moore, who came to Oregon from Capitol Hill, where he served as chief of staff to then-U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.), brought more than just fundraising skills.
In a profession and state that have raised passive-aggressive behavior to an art form, Moore was more often simply blunt—and aggressive. He set the tone for his tenure in 2012 by publicly announcing that OLCV would help mount a primary challenge to five-term incumbent state Rep. Mike Schaufler (D-Happy Valley). It was then and remains today unusual for institutions to try to defeat a long-term incumbent, but with a big boost from OLCV, newcomer Jeff Reardon trounced Schaufler 66% to 34%.
Since then, OLCV has a been a major player in the big environmental policy battles in Salem, including the closure of the state’s last coal-fired power generation plant; the adoption of a clean fuels standard; the move toward greater reliance on green energy; and former Gov. Kate Brown’s executive order on greenhouse gas reduction.
“My goal in leading OLCV was always twofold: first, to build political power for the environmental community, and to use that political power to dramatically move Oregon forward on climate change, as well as protecting clean air, our water, our forests, and Oregon’s unique quality of life,” Moore said in a statement. Moore says he will stay involved in Oregon politics but isn’t yet ready to announce his next gig.
OLCV deputy director Lindsey Scholten will take over as interim director April 1, and the OLCV board, chaired by former lawmaker and onetime Multnomah County Commissioner Jules Bailey, now the CEO of the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative, will conduct a national search.
“Doug Moore gave the environmental community relevance and power,” Bailey says. “He did it by organizing people, by bringing in great staff and with brilliant political acumen. I’m grateful for the many years he gave OLCV.”